I've got a rant brewing in my head that I will definitely lose followers over, so I'm warning y'all ahead of time and politely asking that if you're going to unfollow me over it that you instead block me so I can save some time.

From time to time, I talk about the bullshit performative allyism and stupid "I gotcha now!" Games People Play in the name of transgender allyism, however, I will take the time to elaborate both of these concepts for you.

Performative trans allyism includes things like "denouncing the harm JK Rowling has done to trans people while still buying HP Merchandise, and passive aggressively making trans people feel guilty because you can't enjoy this anymore."

First off, nobody is telling you you can't enjoy Harry Potter. I invite you to;
1- Pirate shit
2- Support small artists who make fanart/merchandise instead of buying official anything.

Pirating is easy.
Buy your HP shit off Etsy and redbubble. Small artists need the money.

Performative allyism also comes in another form which conveniently tangents into the next fucking point so we're going to take a moment and ask you to buckle the fuck up.

If you're willing to harass a complete stranger on social media for what you perceive is transphobia, and yet allow people in your everyday IRL get away with it, that's performative.

If you aren't calling out family for voting in a transphobic manner, you're enabling them.

Performance makes you look good, but it's not fucking helping.

It's just a good rendition of Shakespeare in the park so your friends don't call you a piece of shit for basing your entire personality around a buzzfeed quiz that put you in Slytherin when you were 12.

Tangentially, by playing a stupid fucking "I gotcha, you're forever branded as transphobic" game by changing your bio after a person makes an honest fucking mistake while YOU are attacking THEM, just to "win" an argument isn't helping, either.

Not only do trans people see you doing this, and very often see it as a mockery of themselves, it actively makes their life harder.

Policy makers dismiss advocates for trans rights because of this fucking shit and it's pretty fucking hard to defend against their dismissal.

Worse, these games embolden trolls to do it, and when it is happening within our community, it makes it really hard for cis people to discern whether or not the person is trolling.

There are real fucking problems in this world that face trans people. Not only are officials getting away with open transphobia, they're winning "community support awards" for doing it.

You want to spend your energy better?

Lobby against them. Call them. Write them letters an emails supporting trans people and their rights. Be supportive. Be kind. Stop playing stupid fucking games and making trans people feel guilty for speaking up against harm.

You can block me if you don't like it but I'm tired of fucking seeing this shit every fucking day on this platform.