Opinions

I’ve been reading some pieces on Twitter about politics, TERFs, the harm the Catholic Church has done over many decades / centuries, and the ocean being on fire in Mexico.

I love Twitter; it’s a great professional network that I value. It’s also the place where I get most of my personal support. I’m much less honest on FB, for a number of reasons.

But sweet baby cheezus there are some asshats out there. I worked with a woman once who I felt, if you fell face first in a puddle, would put her foot on your neck to make sure you drowned. Turns out, she’s not a one-off.

It amazes me how little compassion and empathy is out there. It’s incredibly sad. A lot of the time I speak up against the shit opinions, especially around disability and the transgender community. Sometimes I let it go because I don’t have the energy. I think if we can speak up, we should, otherwise the haters win.

When your privilege shows

I’m (slightly) hesitant to write this, but angry enough I will anyway! I won’t use the sportsman’s name because he doesn’t need more publicity. A prominent sportsman is raising money via GoFundMe to fight a legal battle he can well afford form his own bank account.

He says it’s about religious freedom, but no one is stopping him practising his religion. The problem is him using his sports profile to spread anti-gay anti-transgender etc hatred. That’s dangerous, especially when he was a serious following in Pasifika youth.

The page has raised a lot of money very quickly, which is sad when other pages, such as for kids with cancer, are struggling. Now people are giving money to LGBTQ causes instead, in anti-him pledges. That makes my heart sing.

My family is rainbow – I won’t bother trying to explain, because who cares? They’re all awesome people who we love. We have a mix of pronouns and, again, who cares? I use she/her, some use he/him and one is – I think – opting for they/them over ze/zir.

My friends and colleagues are rainbow too. When people attack the rainbow community it’s deeply personal to me. If your god makes you hate people, find another god, because your god sucks. If you have a god, and I don’t, I’d hope they encourage love, kindness and respect. If you interact with me on social media, please show  respect – thank you!