If anybody wonders why I get so pressed about the expectations forced upon queer creators, I just saw a book reviewer on God's internet call-out an established writer for having the wrong personal identity labels and publicly hope their books tank because of it

So

I mean

"That's just one reviewer"

It's not though

It's the "disclose your identity or you're an oppressor or abuser" rhetoric

The "be the correct identity or you're hurting readers" rhetoric

The "this didn't tell *my* story so the writer is a harmful" rhetoric

The "it made me feel sad so the writer should be culled" rhetoric

The state wants you starving and sick while the seas rise and the skies turn red, but it's these problematic writers who won't validate you -- that's the real evil. We need to root out everybody who isn't the right label or traumatize them into outing themselves

That will fix it

I hope you enjoy your handful of morally correct, socially acceptable queer books the next time the state casually reminds you're a pawn to feign progressive values, while you starve between election cycles

If you think I'm being dramatic, it's because I'm very aware of the life-and-death stakes of life for queer and trans people while those in our own communities grind us into paste over books and cartoons

People have died, are dying, and will die while we argue over happy endings