Current Post On Trae’s Blog:
Tomorrow, April 1st 2025, we have a massively important State Supreme Court election here in the state of Wisconsin. It will decide the balance of the state supreme court, and it's vitally important that we get Susan Crawford elected. Elon Musk has literally poured millions of dollars into Brad Schimel's campaign, and we are fighting for our lives here. I've already voted, and if you haven't yet and you live here... make sure you do.
But no matter what happens tomorrow, no matter what the result is, the fight is far from over. ICE agents are grabbing people off the streets, our public institutions are being systematically destroyed, and our international and diplomatic relations with historically close allies are just, honestly, fucked right now. Today is Trans Day of Visibility, and trans and queer rights have been under steady attack by the right. As a nonbinary person and member of the trans community, I'm genuinely scared for a lot of my friends right now.
But we fight. We stand up. We survive.
If we accept defeat, we are handing victory to those who want us dead. By living and fighting, we carry on to the next day and then the day after that. I know I posted it right after the election last November, but there's a pretty famous Joe Hill quote everyone should keep in mind: "Don't waste any time mourning. Organize!"
Go out, hug your friends. Build a local community if you can, and get involved in your local politics. Make sure you call your Reps and Senators every day if you can, and for pete's sake fucking vote.
We can make it as long as we don't stop fighting.
Remember that on April 5th at 11AM Eastern/10AM Central you can join me for the Critical Thinking Witches' Collective's April Brew virtual event! Attendance is free, and you can register here!
![Nerd & Tie[dot]Social Forums](https://www.nerdandtie.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/natsocial-nicepreview-square-300x300.png)
The ship is sailing. I repeat: the ship is sailing! <3
Was it Kierkegaard or Dick Van Patten who said “When you label me, you limit me?”
There’s a wonderful youtube video by my man RJ Aguiar about being bisexual and monogamous and one of the things he covers is labels, like people telling him that since he is committed to this one guy, “Why don’t you just come out and say you are gay?” Sigh. Anyway, he gives very similar advice to what Ruth does: that labels work as a shorthand but the minute they don’t fit, throw them away.
Another trouble with labels, they don’t always mean the same thing to different people. I might say something intended as a compliment, only to have it taken as an insult, or vice versa.
Other Person: Eew! That movie looks weird!
Me: Ooh! That movie looks weird!
I’m really not a fan of the whole identity politics schtick. I think it gets used to divide people far more than anything else currently.
But Lynn’s advice here is the best advice I can possibly imagine and, should I ever find myself stuck in the position she’s in in this scene, I pray that I’m able to offer something as effective.
“I’m really not a fan of the whole identity politics schtick. I think it gets used to divide people far more than anything else currently”
Spoken like a straight white dude who has no clue what it’s like to not be the socially acceptable default.