The past week has been absolutely devastating for me as an individual. As I am writing this my Twitter account is on lock down because of an aggressive remark I made to someone claiming that trans men don’t deserve financial support and have male privilege. It made me realize just how dependent I am on social media and on my existing audience. I’ve been anxious and on edge partly due to the news of Trump deciding to take a huge shit all over trans rights but also because of many personal issues. On top of that, Brazilian Hitler is now president in Brazil and I’m deeply worried for the safety of a close friend of mine.

Being trans is but one aspect of myself, and thus the setbacks that I face for being trans in a cis normative and heavily cissexist society are far from what I am limited to. I also suffer extreme drawbacks due to my many mental issues such as my agoraphobia, depression, social anxiety, complex PTSD, and likely from borderline personality disorder. I’ve thought deeply and heavily about what will happen if I ever need to turn to illegal activity just to live as my true self.

I have come to the conclusion that even if the worst case scenario occurs, I still owe it to myself to fight to the end. If I need to throw a brick or punch a Nazi or TERF I will do so in order to protect those close to me. Before my account was locked I made a statement saying that the nice and pacifistic Annie Gallagher was dead. I also deleted my “Radical Feminism and the Trans Movement” article to demonstrate this.

And yes, I just said my deadname. It doesn't matter anymore. Post it as much as you want. It doesn't mean anything anymore. — AnnieGal (@Iyamtebist) October 22, 2018

There is a paradox present in political activism in that you want to unite multiple people under a cause while also being true to your beliefs. In the past I thought I wanted to unite people of different political ideologies but the truth was that I just wanted to do whatever I could to win them over. I put persuading others to join our cause over supporting existing members, this was a big mistake on my part.

While I am more than welcome to speak to those with a genuine desire to better understand our cause, I’m not going to go out of my way to appeal to those who only care about us if we stay in our lane. I should probably not be saying this since it got my account locked on Twitter, but I’m in the mood to ready that guillotine.

There is a lot of emphasis placed on voting right now. While I agree that voting alone is not enough to guarantee a revolution and for us to acquire our rights, it’s a major first step. That is why I IMPLORE anyone who reads this to get out there and vote blue! Yes even said blue candidate is a moderate centrist.

The reason I say this is not just because said centrist is the lesser of two evils and will fuck up the country less, but also because it’s far easier to push back against a moderate centrist then a full on fascist. Voting may not be enough but the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Any guillotine jokes aside, I am hoping we don’t reach Civil War 2.0 territory. But even if it comes to that we need to remember to stand strong. Oppression happens because we are convinced we are too weak to combat it, and because abusive types specifically target those they believe are easy to manipulate.

The truth is that none of us learned how to stand up to a bully back in Elementary school. They tell you to just tell an adult but they never know what to do if said adult IS the bully. They never tell you what to do about the bullies in law enforcement and in politics. Right from the moment we are born we are made to feel powerless. We are made to feel as if the life we live is absolute, that this is just how life is and that it’s ours to provide.

If this revolution starts, it needs to be based on far more than “Cheetoh man bad.” Trump is a piece of shit but this society we live in is a gigantic septic tank. Even if we get President Pussy Grabber and Electric Fence Pence out of the white house and into Gulag or whatever place we put them (probably the Guillotine but I’ve used that enough in this article), it won’t change that we have a LOT of cleaning up to do. Of course no one person will be enough to do it all, but no one person ever did shit.

Every great invention or great creation only exists because of who was there before them. People make the mistake of assuming that the figurehead of any movement is also the source of it. This isn’t a video game where you kill one giant bad guy and suddenly all the rest disappear. Trump only got elected because some people were willing to get him there. The good news is that many have come to regret their decision.

Caitlyn Jenner recently pinned an Op-ed about her regret for assuming Trump would help trans people. Yes yes I know, something something leopards eating people’s faces yadda yadda. The point is that this is NOT an uncommon perspective. Those naive enough to vote for Trump are turning on him. On top of this, remember the amount of people who likely didn’t vote in 2016 or who voted for Johnson or Stein who may have had enough time to change their minds.

At the rate things are going, it is unlikely for Trump to win in 2020. While I seriously hope they don’t pick Hillary Clinton again, it is important to remember that she won the popular vote. It’s not as if this country overwhelmingly supports Trump. The reason that all of these violent racists, transphobes, homophobes, and anti Semites are coming out of the woodwork is because Trump has emboldened them. They are NOT normal, and they never will be.

They will still face the repercussions for their actions and toxic behavior. Even if the system supports them WE WILL NOT! What we need to do is not lose hope. Many of these pricks thought that Trump winning would just get us to finally shut up but it only made us louder. The fact that the odds are stacked against them is what allowed the alt right to gain such a strong presence. They know how to take anything and use it as a sign that they can rise up against the tyranny of political correctness. Unfortunately for them, less and less of us are going to assume that the populace has our best interests at heart and will protect us.

Instead we need to learn how to protect ourselves. The alt right and their follower base is afraid of any “SJW” who knows how to stand up for themselves and not take any shit. It’s why they continuously mob any of those who show even the slightest bit of resistance; they hope to drain our will to fight. So here it is, here is the answer to how to stand up to a bully no matter how powerful they are.

Stand your ground and show you aren’t afraid. Maintain a level mind and fire back at every prick who gives you shit. That doesn’t mean to shoot back at absolutely everyone but show them that you won’t take their shit. Meanwhile show how little impact they have on you, make their bullying sound as ineffective as possible. Don’t give them what they want. They want to be as loud and obnoxious as possible and say or do whatever stupid thing comes to mind without consequences. Fight back in any and every way possible.

Also remember that you are not alone. You are more powerful than you think you are. Stand up for not only yourself but also for others. For any “allies” reading this, I thank you for the support you have given to us. I’m also going to ask you whether I can count on you to give more if it ever becomes necessary. Would you be willing to throw a punch or toss a brick in our defense even if it harms you? How far would you be willing to go?

I’m not here to say that anyone who wouldn’t is a fascist, but I am getting sick of those who don’t understand why anyone would. I’ve talked in the past about “centrists” who continuously lash out at minorities fighting for their rights. It doesn’t matter what one’s reasons for being there are when you are starring down a gun barrel on the battlefield, all that matters is that you are in our way and we are not obligated to be nice to you if you aid our enemies.

Someone important to me often told me that “if you want peace, prepare for war.” I didn’t know what that truly meant until recently. It means that “peace” can only be acquired if all parties desire it above all else. Neither of us are willing to compromise our beliefs, so it’s best we prepare for war.

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