Transcript

This weekend, a man with an assault rifle opened fire in a LGBT nightclub during an event celebrating latinx music and culture, murdering 49 people and injuring 53 more.

There is no place in the world where LGBQ and trans people enjoy the same level of safety, security, and respect as straight cisgender people. This massacre is a brutal spike in an exhausting trend of resentment, fear, and hate towards us.

Are you overwhelmed? Are you scared? are you angry? I know I am.

Here's how I've been dealing.

1. Be kind to yourself. You are valuable and you are important, and it is radical and transgressive to treat yourself well.

2. It's ok to take a break from news, social media, and other conversations about this. Right now it's a constant bombardment that can leave you numb, so remember that it's ok to stop and recharge. You don't have to engage with everything.

3. Look after each other. Check in often, walk each other home, hang out, talk, and listen.

4. Find ways to act that feel meaningful. Donate $5 to your local LGBT advocacy group, write your representative about gun control, attend a vigil, volunteer for a queer rights event. Take your pain and put it towards something positive, even if it's tiny.

5. Don't let them use our pain to further their hate

We know people are using the deaths of queer folk, many of whom were latinx/POC, to further an agenda of islamophobia and racism. This must not be permitted - our bodies must not used as bricks to build their hateful walls.

The people who want to use our pain to punish others are not our allies. They do not care about our lives. They care about our deaths, because our deaths are useful to them.

Our community at its best is still fighting for basic human rights - the right to government and social recognition, the right to resources and support, the right to access services and work, and above all, the right to exist and to be safe and happy. It would be the ultimate perversion of our movement to let people use our pain to take away those rights from others*.

It is Pride month. We're here. We exist. We are grieving, and we are heartbroken, and we are furious. We are diverse. We are incredible. We are together. We are distinct. We are not your tools. We are a revolution. We are Proud.

Be kind to yourselves. Look after each other. Look after everyone else, too. I'm glad you're all here.

* And i am seriously not talking about the 'right to own assault rifles' so help me god don't you fucking dare.

Forty Nine

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Robot Hugs

New comic.

A Swedish version of this comic can be found here (translation credit: A. Eberhag)

I hope you're all ok.

This attack on the Pulse nightclub was motivated by hate towards queer folk, and it feels very close to home and scary. We're grieving the loss, and even in a city of relative safety, we feel less safe. It's...strange being in Canada and watching the US endure massacre after massacre. It's right next door, but it feels impossibly far away. We just don't have to exist in that environment of constant, unending mass shootings. I just...I can't imagine. I can't imagine having to face that reality over and over again. I'm sorry. I hope you're ok.

While a few US politicians are not being shy about using this tragedy to condemn all Muslim folks, it is hardly not a US-only phenomenon. People all over are eager to use this incident to justify hate and discrimination. Not only does this needlessly compromise the safety of Muslim people, it also affects 'associated' demographics such as Sikhs (the ignorant don't see a difference), and erases the existence of queer and trans Muslim folks.

Don't let straight people use our deaths to justify their ugliness and hate. Anyone who uses tragedy to codify hate is not an ally; they'll be looking for their next target soon enough.

I hope you're all ok. I hope you're as safe as you can be.