*he
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14358223 and marked it off-topic.
Of course, because having an opinion that isn't internet SJW hivemind is illegal.
Chelsea Manning released from prison
281–290 of 307 posts
Re: Chelsea Manning released from prison
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
No place is safe considering the majority violent cause of death among trans people is suicide.
I wonder why that is... Maybe the social isolation and pervasive hatred and mocking attitude of society has something to do with it?
Fear, confusion, rejection, hostility, being cut off from your family...
I worried about all these things and all I was doing was coming out as gay. And I live in the UK, which has strong legal protection against discrimination on the basis of sexuality and gender, and a relatively accepting culture.
I can only imagine it was a thousand times worse to come out as trans. Or even to understand it in yourself - again, this took me years and I was "merely" discovering that I was gay.
Re: Chelsea Manning released from prison
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the "having been a whistleblower in the most powerful government on the planet" part of Chelsea's story is considerably more risky than the "is transgendered" part. There aren't many people running around "gunning for" trans people in the same sense that there are people "gunning for" informants. Primarily in the sense that in the latter case they use actual guns.
You might be surprised at how dangerous it is to be trans. Wikipedia maintains a list of unlawfully killed trans people at this page[1] I guess there are more trans people than informants so maybe there's some statistical point to be made there, but frankly I'm not sure why you picked this nit to begin with. I think it's important to recognize, rather than downplay the risks faced by marginalized groups in the US and…
I wasn't downplaying anything - and suggesting that I'm "downplaying the risks faced by marginalised groups" kind of poisons the well doesn't it? I was just questioning the idea that there are people out there "gunning for" trans people in a sense that is comparable to the rate that informants and whistleblowers are killed. I also have to point out that quite a small proportion of the linked murders seem to be hate crimes - and that trans women in the sex trade are at an even higher risk of murder or violence due to their work. I have every sympathy for victims of hate crimes, but to suggest that the average trans person is somehow at comparable risk of violent death to a government leaker is fallacious and that's what I was pointing out.
Re: Chelsea Manning released from prison
#284I have very mixed feelings about what Manning did. I also respect the moral courage it took to do them, and to face the consequences.
I think she served a more than adequate punishment for her crime (if anything, she should have only had serve something less than 5 years).. and I wish her all the happiness that life has to offer.
Her punishment was illegal under the 8th amendment, and her "crime" was protected whistleblowing.
Re: Chelsea Manning released from prison
#285Re: Chelsea Manning released from prison
#286This is long overdue. Chelsea will probably be doing interviews soon, and since [she's already been pretty outspoken about internet freedoms][1], she may even bring some much needed attention to issues like net neutrality, government surveillance and the never ending erosion of our online rights. Let's hope the media doesn't tear her apart. [1]: https://twitter.com/xychelsea/status/847264510247190532
Unfortunately, many of the people that need convincing with regards to net neutrality and online rights also view her as a traitor with mental problems and thus "normal, patriotic Americans" should not worry about these things, except to prevent "liberals" from creating more "regulations" for companies and putting up barriers to keep our law enforcement from finding the "terrorists'" plans.
Also unfortunately, those pro net neutrality are never willing to accept they may be wrong or may not see the complete picture and therefor assumptions they are correct follow with no chance of changing it. I suggest you and those like you get your ego in check and quit trying to convince people that what you believe to be correct is in fact the only truth because it's pure opinion, on both sides of the argument and the "I'm smarter than you" liberal/left-leaning attitude is way beyond old already.
Re: Chelsea Manning released from prison
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
There aren't really any eggshells to walk on unless you're inventing them (and the person you replied to was not impolite about the correction). Chelsea Manning identifies as a woman. This isn't something that happens overnight; it's impossible for you or I or the great-grandparent to know when Manning decided to come out to family, friends, that sort of thing. As such, it's incumbent upon us to use the most currentl…
We're just gonna have to respectfully agree to disagree on some of this. I don't go out of my way to be insensitive, but I'm not going to flush my DVD of The Matrix down the Memory Hole because it has "Wachowski Brothers" stamped on it. If the Wachowskis put out a new movie today, I'll reference them appropriately as the Wachowski sisters who produced it, but they simply weren't sisters when they created The Matrix,…
Just out of curiosity, what happens to your perception of the importance of what someone should be called when a change of gender is taken out of the mix?
For instance, when Muhammad Ali won a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics and the heavyweight title in 1964, he was still going by his "slave name" of Cassius Clay; do you think it is reasonable - either for anyone or for someone who watched the matches at the time - to refer to the 1964 heavyweight champion as Cassius Clay, or should they just call him Muhammad Ali?
Women also frequently change their name, sometimes more than once, throughout their lives; if a woman marries and takes the name of her husband, or divorces and resumes use of her maiden name, would you continue to refer to her by her former name, even in reference to events that took place during her use of it, or would you simply update your nomenclature without complaint?
Re: Chelsea Manning released from prison
#288I hope she's alright after this; there might be people literally gunning for her, even if she wasn't trans.
I don't think political murders targeting individuals are that common in the US. Or am I completely wrong?
Especially not AFTER they've done all the damage they can do! What's the point of killing her now?
Re: Chelsea Manning released from prison
#289Re: Chelsea Manning released from prison
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem here (and the reason you are getting downvoted, I believe) is you think your anecdote of your friends' opinions trumps falcolas' anecdote about his/her family as untrue, instead of imagining the colorful world it is with various shades of conservatism living side by side. For what its worth, I have family that believe like grandparent's family. Your anecdotes cannot convince them or me what their beliefs…
We know the real reason for down votes is it's voicing support for conservative views and questions the HN group think bubble. You can dress it up with whatever fancy logic you want, HN commenters are as bias and unthinking as any others.
You can not change what you do not try to understand, you cant deconstruct something you keep from trespassing in your mind.
If you put the fingers in your ears and sing lalala i cant hear you- you end what might have been a discussion. I found most conservatives i met not to reactionary dictator supporters. They are just people with reasonable concerns, finding and in constant fear of some radical social discussion dominance bombers showing up shutting any chance on discussion with a warcrime down.