Several months ago I started working on principles for my own activist group I hope to have. It would be the first time I actually participate in any organized political work, as opposed to doing something on my own or co-working with other m/yaps apolitically (nnia administration, etc.).
- Approach activism from a pro queer, pro trans, pro ethnic minority, and otherwise pro marginalized people perspective.
Even though I want to do m/yap activism first and foremost, this cannot be a neutral or centrist place when it comes to rights of other marginalized people. It’s important to analyze how the same hegemony of the norm that hurts us is also hurting others, and it’s important to give more spotlight to maps who are simultaneously oppressed in other ways. This also means refusing collaboration with alt right, antisemitic, antifeminist m/yaps.
- Do not endorse romantic/sexual youth age gap relationships. This applies to: romanticization of the past, approval right now, or believing they are a good future goal.
This point is about not falling for the “golden age” rumors, not siding with people who claim that everything was great with child/adult relationships before the modern times. It is also about not endorsing contemporary adults who choose to involve themselves romantically or sexually with children or young teenagers (below 16), and about not planning or working to make such relationships acceptable in the future. It does not apply to your thoughts about your sexual experiences in your own childhood.
- Do not collaborate with antis on anything that could lead to them receiving more information about particular maps and their lives (explicitly includes: reporting predators, excludes: making art together or other irrelevant projects).
Probably the most straightforward point on this list. Do not give antis any private insight about the community and its people, even if some antis are your friends, even if you want to stop someone from harming others, even if you want to just laugh at someone. Do not work with antis on any “predator hunting”, vigilantism, and similar. However, that does not mean you have to completely cut off all antis from your life immediately, I understand that this may be impossible or dangerous.
- Trolling and misinformation is not activism. Don’t organize any campaigns that aim for generating outrage, don’t spread ideas that you know are not true.
Spreading deliberately incorrect or exaggerated information for the sake of getting a momentary advantage in discourse is a self destructive strategy. You’re not doing discourse for the sake of pissing antis off, you’re supposed to inform and educate closeted m/yaps and potential allies. Memes like the Halls study are undermining our credibility.
- Oppose assimilationism. Making sure your words and actions don’t appear hostile to bystanders may be useful sometimes, but should not be a primary goal and should not stand in the way of fighting for your rights and protecting your community. Our goal is not fitting in norms and standards of the current society, but changing it and creating a new one.
This rule is mostly for combating potential harmful self-policing. It’s important to understand that we look bad to bystanders by definition, and their opinion about us will improve when we gain more rights and control over the narrative, not the other way around. So in any situation when you have an opportunity to appear like “one of the good ones”, but the price is attacking and limiting your own community’s pursuit of liberation, do not take this opportunity. This especially concerns policing words like “rights”, “liberation”, “revolution”, and shifting the discussion towards “help” and “therapy”. This, however, does not include aggression for the sake of aggression.
That’s about it as of now. I’m sure I will change or correct something further. Since the actual place where I and the people who already told me they’re interested is still in a discussion stage.
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