The Danger of Too Much Safety 1/2
(A blog post by Violet Rose.)
From the point when it was just an idea, to todayâs reality, Beyond the Plus has always been envisioned as a public organization, serving the community proudly in the open. We could have chosen a safer, easier path, being more secretive and building community privately by word of mouth, but while that would have avoided some controversy and hostile attention, taking the easy road has never been what Bt+ is about.
We want to stand up for what we believe in, lead by example to fight the climate of fear that leaves so many paralyzed and isolated, but most importantly of all, weâre here to bring community and support to beings who donât already have it. There are far too many beings out there who have no idea that real community can exist for them, and thatâs why itâs so important that the word gets out as much as possible!
Weâre very proud of the community of members weâve already gathered, and we want to do a lot more. But, at the same time, we have to acknowledge that while publicity lets potential friends know we exist, it also draws less friendly attention, and itâs going to be essential that we all work together as a community to keep each other safe. But what does that mean, in practice?
A relatively popular idea for that purpose is adopting a policy, as a community, of enforcing social norms based on three rules constituting a high standard of safety: that information which enemies could use to harm us is to be considered sensitive, that sensitive information is to be treated as strictly need-to-know and not disclosed or even alluded to unless necessary, and that members of the community whose adherence to these standards is sufficiently lax are to be distanced to prevent trouble that befalls them from spreading.
This is an eminently practical solution, and due to how effectively it counters most threats when fully implemented, has clear appeal. However, itâs critical to remember that every solution is optimized for a specific context, and applying the wrong solution for the job can be counterproductive, even harmful.
The thing is, this set of ideas was, broadly speaking, originally designed as protection for direct action (illegal activities undertaken for the purpose of activism). And in addition to being designed to protect extremely dangerous secrets â much more dangerous than simply being radically queer â more importantly, itâs designed for beings who view themselves as soldiers, placing everything personal second to their causes.
That isnât the kind of organization Bt+ is. Not only are we a law-abiding organization, weâre an organization made by and for beings who ideally want to exist openly as our authentic selves â an organization of pride, connection, and acceptance. We cannot, and will not, ever reach a point where we can exist openly as ourselves by suppressing our authentic existences; that idea is a contradiction.
We make the friendships founded upon mutual acceptance of each other by being open about who we are, whatâs important to us, and the things we go through. We change the minds of beings who otherwise would have remained ignorant and intolerant by showing them that the subjects of their hatred â ourselves â arenât what the propaganda theyâve consumed claims we are. And the more of us are bold enough to exist openly, the easier existing openly will become for all of us.
#queer #beyondtheplus #gay #lgbt #lgbtq #identity #paraphilia #para #orientation #transid #transidentity #radical #radicallyqueer