thegestianpoet:

I sort of tire of people acting as though there’s no middle ground between the stupid liberal message of “reach out! talk to everyone! coexist (:”  and the more radical/left idpol stance which is “i cannot afford to talk to people who hate me because it endangers me and if you say i should, you’re privileged.” 

like while I am not into “coexist” or whatever I DO think that the vast majority of people who disagree with me about things are not radical hatemongers, and can be talked to, and are worth talking to. it’s so fucking maddening how much flack people get these days in so-called “radical” spaces (esp. lgbtq spaces!) for suggesting that some people are worth reaching out to. like I think when people hear that, they somehow are assuming that the person suggesting it is implying that they should just normalize the act of justifying their existence, when in reality that’s …not true. 

trying to raise consciousness is an act of work, and of course in a perfect world we SHOULDN’T have to explain ourselves, but it really floors me how many people just…stop at “shouldn’t.” there is obviously a grey area! there are levels! no one wants someone to walk up to a violent homophobe on the street and give them a hug but in some cases your annoying cousin on facebook is just a few calm exchanges away from ‘getting’ it, you know? it just seems to be part & parcel of a new sect of thinking that is way, way too comfortable remaining angry and isolated and thinking that the answer to living in an unjust world is to isolate yourself and be resentful instead of trying to work for change.