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People, Not Ideas

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People, Not Ideas

A scrapbook of thoughts.

Evan Fleischer
Feb 19, 2023
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People, Not Ideas

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Twitter avatar for @the_Willard
Chris Sosnowski @the_Willard
"What did Rowling do/say that's transphobic?" is virtually always a bad faith question from people looking to justify or excuse either their own transphobia but, in case anyone wants an answer, may I present the following incomplete list:
9:43 PM ∙ Feb 16, 2023
18,700Likes5,201Retweets

In a recent op-ed in The New York Times — often referred to as ‘the paper of record’ — former Books Editor Pamela Paul assured her readers that she looked at “all of [J.K.] Rowling’s books … and came up empty-handed” when trying to find examples of Rowling’s supposed anti-trans bigotry — that is, of course, if you overlook the time Rowling publicly mocked trans-inclusive language, as well as if you overlook Rowling’s claim that trans women are an attempt to erase women; also, of course, if you overlook the time Rowling promoted a store that sold virulently anti-trans merchandise, which itself shouldn’t obscure the multiple times in which Rowling has suggested that trans individuals are simply criminals, and on and on and on it goes … you get the idea.

The examples listed here are pulled from a Twitter thread put together by Chris Sosnowski, which we’ve posted a link to above.

Here’s how I addressed the matter on Twitter the other day:

Twitter avatar for @efleischer
Evan Fleischer @efleischer
No one who follows me will find this particularly new or novel, but it’s wild to watch anti-trans bigots treat being trans as an idea as opposed to — you know — being a person.
3:41 PM ∙ Feb 16, 2023

There is a difference between educating yourself on a topic versus using your platform to ask to be educated on that topic, oftentimes using vague, ill-defined rules that can never actually be satisfied in practice. There is a difference between using your platform to ask to be educated on a topic versus using critical reading skills that might actually fall well short of that term, whether it’s in defense of J.K. Rowling —

Twitter avatar for @RottenInDenmark
Michael Hobbes @RottenInDenmark
lmao Pamela Paul starts her column with a bunch of "pro-trans" statements by JK Rowling. Turns out three of them are from a single paragraph — which she immediately nullifies by saying trans people pose a danger to women.
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5:05 PM ∙ Feb 16, 2023
5,095Likes691Retweets

— or in a years-late defense of a book regarding a situation you, yourself helped create —

Twitter avatar for @alex_shephard
Alex Shephard @alex_shephard
Just as a factual matter, the mainstream backlash to American Dirt kicked off with two reviews in the section of The New York Times that was then edited by Pamela Paul
nytimes.comOpinion | The Long Shadow of ‘American Dirt’How a literary world uproar changed book publishing.
2:52 PM ∙ Jan 26, 2023
339Likes41Retweets

I’ve had writing workshops with trans women. I’ve grabbed coffee with trans men. The world didn’t end.

Twitter avatar for @TheOnion
The Onion @TheOnion
It Is Journalism’s Sacred Duty To Endanger The Lives Of As Many Trans People As Possible bit.ly/3S5Lh6r
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5:15 PM ∙ Feb 17, 2023
88,115Likes24,301Retweets

All this being said, with all these scraps of links scattered throughout this post, maybe we could summarize what this post might be attempting to say: there are people going about living their lives; there are others who are interested in punishing these people for living their lives; and then there are those who only seem capable of registering the general tone in the air, how that tone makes them feel, and — apparently — nothing more.

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People, Not Ideas

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