
Photo credit: Ray Whitehouse, Institute of Politics
Columnist and founder of the “It Gets Better” project Dan Savage and IOP fellow Ana Marie Cox discuss the role of social media in activism.
I get it. I mean, I understand that people who prefer to be identified by the pronoun “it” might be offended by a word containing any letters other than I or T. But therein lies the rub.
No, I’m not saying I want to “get” it, or rub up against it — the transgender youth named Hex. That would be a thoughtcrime.
I’m saying “It Gets Better” if we talk about these things.
Shit. I think I need to consult my lawyers on what the definition of “it” is.
I mean, Hex, you’re a darling, but if the — if it — if “it” means it and nothing else, it is not — that is one thing. If “it” means “he” or “she” but not “xe” or “thon” then it was a completely true statement. I mean, my statement that repurposing words can be empowering was completely true and not a T-slur.
Now, if you — it — not xe or thon — had asked me on that day, if you — it, Hex — were offended by reclaiming “tranny”, that is, if you had asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no, because it — what I said — wasn’t directed at you personally. It — son of a bitch! — my statement — was an attempt to discuss strategies for overcoming its — NO! Not you! It! The word “tranny”! — negative and hurtful associations. And it — the statement — would have been completely true. Which means that you — Hex, it — would have been completely wrong, and I would have been completely right.
So I can’t understand why anyone would start a petition accusing me of hate speech. I also can’t understand how it’s possible — No! — that I agree with Reason that there is “no better way to reaffirm a word’s evil power than by making it unsayable.”
Okay. That settles it. I’ve had it. (No, I haven’t “had it” in the biblical sense – I “hate” trannnies, remember?)
Hex, you’re a prude.