Texas Gov. Greg Abbott begins gruesome persecution of trans children and their parents

It’s been almost thirty years since a trans friend first asked me to stand guard outside the bathroom for him which is an unfortunate reminder that none of this is new. If we cis people have been unaware it’s only because the reporting of stories like this makes it seem like things are worse.

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It’s always been bad. But the conscious and public bringing of the machinery of the state to eliminate us is new over the last 50 years. Though not in the Nazi era, of course.

Years ago - you might be able to disappear somewhere new and people weren’t as conscious of your existence. In the Information Age there’s no privacy and no ability to disappear somewhere else. I remember an online friend long ago who was able to avoid even the FBI as a dissident for something like 7 years after they transitioned and moved. Your records were paper & they weren’t coordinated nationwide like now - especially since 9/11.

Those days are gone. You’re in every database just for changing your ID and all listed out at the touch of a button. If a purge starts - there’s nowhere to hide.

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Frightening and true.

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I find this concept terrifying. I have done a very good job removing evidence of “old me” from my contemporary life but there will be evidentiary traces if somebody has the resources to look hard enough. The odd government database.

I didn’t come out years ago intending to end up on a hit list but fuck, that’s a possible and maybe even likely future now.

So I’m the resistance. Every trans person is.

*pic by me

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great pic

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Thanks :hugs:

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Resist and persist.
Quotes
“Wednesday evening, the district attorneys in Dallas, Travis, Nueces, Bexar and Fort Bend Counties put out a statement, stating they, “will not irrationally and unjustifiably interfere with medical decisions made between children, their parents, and their medical physicians.’”

" The White House responded to Texas’ new directive, stating in part, “Families should have the right to seek health care that will enable young people to live healthy and fulfilled lives. Conservative officials in Texas and other states across the country should stop inserting themselves into health care decisions that create needless tension between pediatricians and their patients.’"

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and I gladly join the resistance.
tv show sabine GIF by Star Wars

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Where is Beto in all this? I saw a very weak Tweet/short statement earlier:

“Foster kids have been forced to sleep on the floor in Abbott’s CPS system where harm to children is “overlooked, ignored or forgotten.” Texas leads the nation in uninsured kids. Now @GregAbbott_TX is cruelly and obsessively bullying children. Texas kids deserve so much better.”

Is that the sum of his outrage? His support for the children and parents now afraid they’ll be hunted down?

I did get email from him asking for money.

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“Allies” have been failing trans people for a while now. Your statement above reminded me of a tweet I came across earlier today…

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I saw this earlier.

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That is a little better than his other statement, but not nearly enough.

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One hopes. But they’re enforcing it on these kids until those court cases get resolved in a few years. Assuming that we live in a democracy then.

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and being able to sue random people for having abortion isn’t legal either, but that hasn’t stopped the abortion ban. As long as republicans control the courts it seems like anything goes

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Nope.
Not vast.

I’ve been in Austin since 1990.
There’s a whole bunch of us who have never and don’t ever support the kind of raw meanness that has unfortunately come to be some bizarre point of pride for the Texas GOP.

Abbott was elected by a 13.3% margin. Not vast.

And still we fight.
Heck, I got a friend running for a county commissioner’s seat as an independent, and hope to do some blockwalking for her when this norther finishes blowing through. She didn’t even want to throw her hat in the ring, but our current county precinct commish (Republican) was running unopposed and she just couldn’t stand that. She’s got no budget and no staff. We’re in primaries now, and the big final round is of course November.

And still we fight.
@navarro has been working the problem for years and I say thanks for putting in that time and effort.
Austin’s been the punching bag for the whole state and yet people are practically stampeding on each other to move here. Ugh. People who live in Texas can’t all be as horrible as Gubner Abbott, and we’re not.

It’s fine if y’all don’t want to come visit or come stay.
But please be aware that Texas is neither monolithic politically nor ethnically.

We’re also one of the most gerrymandered states in the U.S. We make the news, regularly, due to our especially newsworthy drama drama drama:

I’m not making excuses here.

I’m making it clear the work for justice, equity and staying human and hopeful in Texas is not for the faint of heart. It’s a long road to walk, with friends and allies. I’m grateful for all helpers I have found along the way.

ETA: grammar

ETA2: amending this post in response to @Mongrove 's point downthread:

I hear you.
I was sloppy and got the quote function wrong myself.
My apologies.

Therefore:

Ok then @jaded , I am responding to your term “vast” here from your post upthread:

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Hey, that sign is the wiki link is in Praha! My dad’s family is all from around there near Flatonia. A bunch of Bohemian/Czech immigrants. My grandma was born in Texas, but spoke with a Czech accent.

But yes, Texas is diverse.

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I went to http://www.governorabbott.com for clarification… Was reassured that there was full transparency.

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traditionally, pink triangles

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Since we’re on a website that attracts people who play video games, I’d like to remind everyone that Gamestop is headquartered in Texas. Find a local shop to buy, sell, trade at. They exist, and some can even fix your malfunctioning controllers.

@gracchus Given the heavy influx of cars with Texas plates we’ve seen in metro Detroit over the last couple years, the exodus is on.

@anon97585346: Hadn’t thought of Sabine as anything other than a rebel against extreme authoritarianism. :thinking:

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HOW ABOUT THIS: make each and every Native American reservation, individually and separately, a state, with two senators each

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