Transphobic right-wing broadcaster Matt Walsh has received death threats and criticism after a video resurfaced of him mocking trans people’s suicides. His comments resurfaced shortly after the suicide of Charlotte Fosgate, a 17-year-old trans teen whose body was discovered by Oregon rescue divers after she published two Twitter posts suggesting that she would jump off a bridge.

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[–] renard_roux@beehaw.org 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I get what you're saying.

I think it's worth considering that for what you're saying to apply in this particular case, his hard-wired being-better-than-others reflex is being triggered by his not having committed suicide. A feat currently being pulled off by roughly 8 billion people.

Even if we ignore the nauseating specifics of what he said, this has to be the most pathetic brag in history. Imagine being such a loser that this is what makes you feel good. It's difficult.

I'm guessing that there's probably a large amount of shitty childhood, perhaps trauma, powering the engines of becoming this proficient at being an asshole, but I find it hard to care enough to contemplate how he could be fixed. It's certainly too hard to feel sorry for him.

At the very least, I think the lack of giving a fuck about his current plight, and possibly the wish to see him punished, could easily be just as hard-wired in us.

There's also your comment about him not learning the right lesson from this backlash. I'd argue that not all punishment is meant to reform the perpetrator; sometimes they're sacrificed, as it were, to teach the rest of us a lesson.

[–] poppichew@piefed.social 4 points 5 days ago

I love two very sweet trans suicide survivors. One of them, you'd never know. The other has to wear their attempt openly. Life is fucking brutal for a lot of queer folks, let alone trans folks. I think a lot of people see them as ill, or not even human. I watch White Underbelly from time to time (I think that's what it's called). There are a handful of queer/trans individuals on there, including someone who de-transitioned and later unfortunately took their own lives. A lot of people aren't going to talk about it, because saying things out loud can a) make you a target b) get you sent to some kind of ward but I think a lot of transgender people are actively suicidal (I mean you can just look at the statistics). I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of moral support they get as a whole from other people. I think being in state of transition (as in say, not having the medical support you need) is already rough. But when you live with the fact that there are very limited spaces in this world you can actually navigate "safely." Or the fact that most people think you're a freak and would prefer if you would just be "normal" but being "normal" is basically like killing yourself anyways - it's just a brutal space to be in. A lot of the community as a whole is vulnerable. When I was coming up, I had two audacious gays comment about how they don't even understand why we celebrate Pride anymore. It seemed so surreal to me, as they seemed to have been really coming from some kind of place of privilege to not even understand why so many people turn inwards to the community for support. So many people have to live in this space where they are tolerated but not truly accepted. They lose their support networks, and many tend to never make anything as compared to their counterparts. They deal with a lot of emotional baggage that most people never have to bring to their doors. There's a beauty, and curse in the found-family aspect of the queer community. As I think community as a whole is wonderful to cultivate (we're social creatures), but that lot of the queer scenes can promote bad habits (addiction). I think that one comes from the spaces we've been forced to be at so long, but eh!

I don't know who this man is, but I am kind of thankful for that. Personally, I often say a little prayer for folks who are so broken that they find their money through reving folks up via the spin machine spouting hateful shit their kid selves probably would have looked shock to hear them say. We buy in to our bullshit, even if it starts as an act, humans aren't as quick as we'd like to think we are and it's really easy to get lost in the sauce when we socialize as a wave.

I don't know too much about Andrew Tate or his brother. I do know that there is a sort of cruelty that comes with certain individuals who relish in Trump's political gain. They think that the world has gone quite soft, and that survival of the fittest means brute "strength." That it's a dog eat dog world, and they would rather be "top dog," than "bottom bitch." I think sex trafficking is bad, but I often wonder - why is there a market? What cultivates this scene? Cause it can't just be the rich. There's something we're not addressing that very clearly is the elephant in the room. Something between our inherent belief that life is a) precious yet seemingly b) cheap at the same time. Or that socioeconomic status denotes actual value or something. Or even that rowdy women need to shut up or some shit. Idk. There's something that is some very ugly belief that is out there and perhaps even held by the majority of people alive that we either academically/socially have buried that we cannot address because it's something people (used to) just say behind closed doors. I've heard in on all sides too from the poorest to the richest, and all the colors of the rainbow. People are hiding their true feelings as to not ostracize themselves in public (I don't believe in the shit above, I am just saying there is something we're not addressing that needs to be addressed in an intelligent (and perhaps even subversive) way that educates individuals and shifts their skewed views to healthy ones). Eh. I forgot what I was saying as a whole, I am pretty tired of expressing myself here and I wanna go do something I enjoy instead hahaha!

I guess I am just saying - there is an cruel joy that I have seen a lot of people who enjoy media like this hold. I was working with youth when Trump got elected the first time. There are a lot of well of white guys celebrating and laughing in the faces of the various multiethnic folks (especially the black and brown women) when it happened. I don't think these people see punishment of their movement as something healthy. Instead seeing it as an example of how "we the gestapo" would lock all those that don't believe in ANTIFA values up for life if we could. Which puts everything in a us vs them mindset, and they already came to fight which just fuels the fire.

I don't have solutions, and I am not saying individuals who commit crimes shouldn't be punished (is this a double negative?). I am just saying that it's a complex issue, that is made perhaps more complex by the unified idealisms behind the bigotry. For movements grow stronger with unification, and liberalism tends to be a pick and mix smattering of individuals who believe in human rights, but are not as unified. Which outside of the actual cult-like worship - makes the entire republican movement look like cultist. Regardless of how hardcore people are or not.

EH!

Idk yet again, if any of this made sense - it's just what came to mind in response. I hope it makes sense to you and I am not trying to pick a fight or anything. I just am a me =P! And while I would love to still invoke the angry feminist I was growing up, I really have mellowed out with age and just kinda like...wanna chill even if everything is shit. Cause if they're coming for folks, they sure as fuck are coming for me. So I guess I might as well enjoy what I got, while I got it and plan for the worst if I gotta hit it.