It's kinda brutal, I actually started this night completely on their side.

It's actually a community about us, so...

It's an instance that is federated and it's not like there aren't people from other federated instances popping in to offer absolute bullshit.

I am a leftist.

Go on . . .

We can't downvote either, but a quick sampling shows over 3x as many hexbear users commenting as blahaj, so...

See the first sentence, you can see where we come from. An admin isn't going to mistake hexbear users for blahaj users, as you demonstrated with your sampling. Noted on the voting part.

I am actually trying to improve the situation with the cards that were dealt and for some reason you ridicule all of that.

When the game is rigged, sometimes the only response is to upend the table.

You might not be familiar with queer history in the US, but one of the pivotal moments in it- Stonewall, was an actual riot, with cops beating the shit out of trans girls and everything. It immediately got whitewashed and co-opted by liberal elements to the point where now people routinely have cops at pride!

It's a convenient fantasy that rights can be won by passively participating and voting. Rights are won by fighting for them, and making people uncomfortable until they give you what you want.

The problem is that they are in support of regimes which are currently or historically anti LGBT+. There is no further discussion to be had. Even if they claim to be whatever, they are against us.

we're not against you. We are you. We all want a better world and work towards it however we can. Painting us as queerphobic feels pretty disingenuous

I never will support an authoritarian regime, especially if they are anti LGBT+. Supporting anything like that is such an leopards ate my face take and on the same level as Polish or Jewish Nazis.

If you're a trans USian who supports NATO living in for example Florida that exact leopards ate my face take is unfolding in real time.

The US is incredibly authoritarian if you don't have money- which is a large part of why it has such a high prison and unhoused population. I view trans liberation as a part of every one elses liberation, because there's a lot of trans people who can't afford gender affirming care, don't have access to it, and don't even have access to a safe place to live, and don't have resources if their family abandons them.

Oh, so you are anti NATO then, yes? You are outspoken against every country that has ever had anti LGBT laws? Or are you being disingenuous because you are an anti communist? 🤔

I don't know why NATO even matters

NATO encompasses tons of homophobic contries. That and it supports Western hegemony which is harmful to most of the world, including queer people.

It's context, not whataboutism. Keep in mind that queer interests are working class interests and vice versa.

Support Stalin: which country liberated Auschwitz? What country wrested control of Berlin from the Nazis? The Soviet Union. "Every Party member must raise his revolutionary qualities in every respect to the same level as those of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin" -Nelson Mandela

Support modern Russia- Russia opposes NATO, and anything that hurts the west is good. Also the current Ukraine government was founded by guys who want to "lead the white races of the world in a final crusade … against Semite-led Untermenschen." Anyone killing Nazis is good, and Russia is currently doing so. "Russians are Asians. They have a completely different culture, vision. Our key difference from them is humanity" -Aleksy Danilov, head of Ukraine national security and defense council.

In both cases, it's less of "these guys good" but of "the other guys worse."

The Soviet Union pioneered many modern trans surgeries and research, particularly modern trans male surgeries. These were done in Riga for trans men with significant dysphoria and the bravery to deal with a largely queerphobic world. Remember to compare two countries from the same time period, gay and trans rights were never even thought of by any society at large in the 50s and 60s.

Also as an anecdote, my grandma was a party official in communist Czechoslovakia for a major union and had a lot of ploy in our region, almost everyone important knew her. She didn't know what being trans was until I came out to her. She immediately became the most supportive person in my life (outside of my amazing bf) and began advocating for trans and queer issues to her cadre of commie grandmas to great success. I fully believe that if the communists were still in control, LGBT rights would be much better in Eastern Europe. The issue with communists back then was largely ignorance and not knowing that anything LGBT even existed.

China has clinics dedicated specifically for trans people, especially trans youth ( https://www.gingerriver.com/p/story-of-teens-at-a-transgender-clinic ). I believe earlier in the thread someone linked sources regarding LGBT people in the Soviet Union, I don't have the sources on hand bu,t I can circle back to this comment when I get home from work.

We do not support Russia, even though our comments are frequently misconstrued as such. Please, understand that criticizing politics in the western world does not equate support for Russia. Also, please understand that Hexbear is not a monolith. We have a wide range of users with a focus on left-unity, but we aren't a hivemind with the same uniform opinions.

We do not shy away from mistakes that past socialist projects made, we attempt learn from those mistakes to build something better. Many socialist revolutionaries (Che and Fidel, to name a couple off the top of my head), recanted their backwards opinions upon learning more about queer issues.

Am I saying that China or the USSR are perfect? Of course not. They've both made mistakes. The important thing is to realize the progress that has/had been made regarding minority rights in those nations.

I know you're mostly going on vibes but I'm curious if you have intel on Mao's personal stance on homosexuality. It's surprisingly easy to find solid evidence that Stalin was decidedly personally homophobic (something which I don't think anyone at Hexbear denies unless they just don't know the Lore), but I haven't found information one way or the other on Mao's personal stance, just the usual concern trolling from neoliberals.

Yes, recently you took many steps backwards especially in Florida and the problems are real, but it is still a better situation than just a few years ago.

Tell me you're not following news in Florida without telling me you're not following news in Florida.

Seriously, it is just annoying at this point. It is ridiculous that you believe that you are somehow special and won’t be prosecuted by dictators like Putin, killed by Stalin for “anti communist behavior” etc.

Quite literally nobody is saying this. But to be completely fair, Cuba, a communist state, currently has better protections for LGBTQ+ people than any state in the US. ESPECIALLY Florida.

That was then, this is now.

While I agree with a lot of what you said (apart from Ukraine not having a chance, I'm not an expert in the matter (and surely it's their choice?)) And I see the benefit of some cathartic release and generally having a space to complain/rant (god knows I've done it many times in more private spaces) I dont see the appeal to anybody who is not already very far down their leftist journey and worry it actively pushes people away. And hey maybe that's intentional, maybe hexbear only wants these views but I get the impression from the comments defending the instance in other instance communities that this isn't true?

If it's intentional then I'm all for you having that space, benefits of the multitude of instances. That reminds me I need to create a new account elsewhere anyway

You do realize that NATO and it's member states routinely prop up regimes that persecute the queer community, right? Basic example, universally exerting military pressure in defence of commerce and logistics for trade with Saudi Arabia, a place where we would be executed. They don't stand for our rights or safety, Turkey and Poland are member states for crying out loud! This is a multinational organization who's purpose is increasing arms trade and conflict, not crusade for queer liberation - it would be doing it's business (and does) regardless of human and queer rights violations going on within it's boarders. Queer people outside the west see it and have very negative sentiments towards NATO, do you really want to silence their voices when they'll tell you directly how organizations like this have directly contributed to their suffering? It's a government/military organization, not a human rights organization, it doesn't need anyone here to be running cover for it.

NATO is a modern day imperialist organisation that most in the third world/global south hate. The vast majority of the world's population hates NATO. It is a contemporary imperialist organisation. I have met almost no one in South Africa that is pro NATO, or Western military organisations, in my entire life. The kind of people in South Africa that are pro NATO or Western military operations are also the kind to be pro apartheid, racist and homophobic/extremely transphobic. I have lived in South Africa for nearly 25 years, and this is a constant trend with almost no exceptions. I implore you to think why that is.

Works by authors such is Michael Parenti, Samir Amin and Vijay Prashad could be very helpful to understand why people outside of the west hold anti NATO views.

If the goal of this instance is to be inclusive of LGBTQIA+ people from the entire world (like me), I don't see how you can do that without allowing for anti NATO attitudes. NATO countries constantly push bigoted anti LGBT propaganda abroad while gaywashing at home.

"Death to NATO"

I don't really understand this one, why is it bad to call for the dissolution of an organization?

and being ok with comments like "Death to NATO" etc.

sounds about white.

Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I would allow "wishing death on the people of NATO". And I grew up with ol' Jens as my homeland's prime minister! I've got American soldiers in my backyard and Russia declaring my dear Norway to be "hostile" twice!

It's like, I just cannot really imagine what "wishing death on the people of NATO" even means. Who exactly would wish for the extermination of the citizenry of exactly 31-to-be-32 nations because of their membership in one specific organization? Are people out here wishing death on the people of the European Union as well? "Down with the people of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact?" Or are the "people of NATO" supposed to be those who willingly chose to support this organization through personal involvement in it?

It's easier for me to imagine maybe that people from Hexbear were expressing loud contempt for the imperial core... But if the citizens of the richer part of the Walled World feel uncomfortable because of that, then even for an instance that "want[s its] community members to be guided by compassion and empathy for others.", I just could not bring myself to care if I were an instance admin. As a citizen of the imperial core, if people in the imperial periphery want to talk about how much they hate people like me, even if they go so far as to say "death to Norway", then let them. In fact I said "hell yeah!" when I saw the Mapuche graffiti reading "GUERRA A NORUEGA" when I learned about Statkraft's decades of violation of Indigenous rights in Chile.

As a gentile, Jews can tell me to drop dead; as a white person, BIPOC can tell me to drop dead; as a sedentary person, travelers can tell me to drop dead; as a sighted person, blind/visually impaired people can tell me to drop dead; as a hearing person, deaf/HOH people can tell me to drop dead; as someone who unfortunately still eats meat, vegans can talk serious trash about me for not kicking the habit already; and so forth. And contrariwise as an autistic trans person, I should be free to talk as much trash as I'd damned well please about neurotypicals and cis people. Part of reckoning with one's privilege should be understanding that those oppressed by systems that one personally benefits from shouldn't have to show you any respect. They should be allowed to get mad as hell and tell one to drop dead! Putting up with that is real respect. Putting up with that means that you understand the hierarchies at play in your life.

That is my opinion: That if we are not allowed to use even the harshest words towards our oppressors, that we will only be a community that preaches the aesthetics of empathy and compassion, rather than living it as fact. I have absolutely enjoyed my time as a Blåhaj Lemmy user, I wish for this instance to grow and flourish, and I wish for this to be my criticism of your administration.

wishing death on the people of NATO (not just memes/quips about dismantling the organisation)

That is not what the phrase "Death to NATO" means, setting aside that "NATO" doesn't have a "people" as it is a treaty organization, unless you mean, like, the heads-of-state and such who run it, vote in it, etc. In that case, phrasing it as "people of NATO" is the most pseudo-populist thing I have heard in years.

Glad to get clarification, I wasn't sure if you'd given an explanation anywhere.

Yup, it's my home instance and it's a great space all around