Look! It’s The Virtue Signal!
To The Troll Cave!
“Do you support LGBTQA+?” “Are you a trans ally?” “Are you on the Trump Train?”
I’ve often been asked by folks online where I stand on this or that political or social issue, especially during trying times when the retro-thinkers attack the “unfamiliar” or the “other.” But in the past few years I haven’t been playing in that X Twitter swamp. Life is swift and short. I needed to find more time out in the sun. Gotta get that Vitamin D.
So why not signal some of the things that I find to be a virtue for anyone googling my stance? Like my acceptance of what is different that doesn’t harm others? Sounded good. And that’s why this page exists.
Mind you, while I can easily be labeled a raging liberal, I do not support jettisoning nuance in favor of “cancelling” people. Nor do I support any cause that goes so far to its extreme as to arc over into oppression and harm. I like warm water. Sometimes hot. But I don’t like to burn myself or others. (Unless it’s a sassy reply online.)
To that end, here is much of what I support. Where my heart is.
I stand with
LGBTQA+ Rights and Awareness,
Racial and Ethnic Identity and Rights,
Gender Equality and Feminism,
Disability Rights and Awareness,
Mental Health Awareness,
Combating Discrimination and Promoting Inclusivity,
Social Justice and Activism,
Animal Welfare,
and Protecting the Environment.
Essentially, if you’re putting money, religion, bigotry, fear or ignorance above people or the planet, you’re on the wrong side of history.
“Hope will never be silent.”
– Harvey Milk
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr
“Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood.”
– Coretta Scott King
“The hostile attitude of conquering nature ignores the basic interdependence of all things and events—that the world beyond the skin is actually an extension of our own bodies—and will end in destroying the very environment from which we emerge and upon which our whole life depends.”
– Alan Watts
“I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.”
– Malala Yousafzai
“Transgender people are some of the bravest people on earth. Because they’re dealing with the fact of living in a world where they’re not supposed to exist. I hope they know that even if we have a long way to go, they have already changed the world.”
– Laverne Cox
“Mental health is something that we all need to talk about, and we need to take the stigma away from it. So let’s raise the awareness. Let’s let everybody know it’s OK to have a mental illness and addiction problem. It’s okay to love yourself enough to take care of your mind, body, and soul.”
– Demi Lovato
“Homophobia is a social disease.”
– Ty Cobb
“Racism is not merely a simplistic hatred. It is, more often, broad sympathy toward some and broader skepticism toward others.”
– Ta-Nehisi Coates
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”
– Audre Lorde
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
– Angela Davis
“We should indeed keep calm in the face of difference, and live our lives in a state of inclusion and wonder at the diversity of humanity.”
– George Takei
“Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.”
– G.D. Anderson
“I hate the word homophobia. It’s not a phobia. You’re not scared. You’re an asshole.”
– Morgan Freeman
“Disability is not a brave struggle or ‘courage in the face of adversity.’ Disability is an art. It’s an ingenious way to live.”
– Neil Marcus
“We should conceptualize gender as a spectrum rather than a binary. Non-binary people have always existed, but we haven’t always had the vocabulary to talk about it.”
– Jacob Tobia
“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
– Maya Angelou
“The power of the people is much stronger than the people in power.”
– Wael Ghonim
“Feminism is not a dirty word. It does not mean you hate men, it does not mean you hate girls that have nice legs and a tan, and it does not mean you are a bitch or a dyke. It means you believe in equality.”
– Kate Nash
“We seldom realize, for example, that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society.”
– Alan Watts
X / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / TIKTOK
And if it still isn’t clear to you let me speak in the lingo of the internet:
#AAPIHeritage, #AcceptanceMatters, #AccessibilityMatters, #AceWeek, #ActuallyAutistic, #ADHDAwareness, #AllyshipMatters, #AntiRacism, #AntiRacist, #Aromantic, #AromanticAwareness, #AsexualAwareness, #AsexualPride, #AutismAcceptance, #AutisticPride, #BelieveSurvivors, #BelieveWomen, #BiVisibility, #BiVisibilityDay, #BisexualAwareness, #BisexualPride, #BlackBoyJoy, #BlackExcellence, #BlackGirlMagic, #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlackTransLivesMatter, #BlackWomenMatter, #BLM, #CheckYourPrivilege, #ClimateChange, #ColorOfChange, #ConsentMatters, #CulturalCompetence, #CulturalHumility, #DisabledAndProud, #DisabledLivesMatter, #DisabilityAwareness, #DisabilityInclusion, #DisabilityJustice, #DisabilityPride, #DisabilityRights, #DisabilityVisibility, #DiversityMatters, #EarthDay, #Eco, #EndHomophobia, #EndPatriarchy, #EndRacism, #EndSexism, #EndTransphobia, #Equality, #EqualityForAll, #EqualPay, #EqualPayDay, #EverydaySexism, #FeministFriday, #Feminism, #Feminist, #FightHomophobia, #FightRacism, #GayPride, #GayRights, #GenderEquality, #GenderEquity, #GenderFluid, #GenderIsASpectrum, #GenderJustice, #GenderqueerPride, #GlobalWarming, #GoGreen, #GreenNewDeal, #HateCrimeAwareness, #HispanicHeritageMonth, #HomophobiaIsReal, #ImplicitBias, #InclusionMatters, #IndigenousPeoples, #InstitutionalRacism, #IntergenerationalTrauma, #InternationalWomensDay, #IntersexAwareness, #IntersexEquality, #InvisibleDisabilities, #IWD, #LatinxHeritageMonth, #LatinxPride, #LesbianPride, #LesbianVisibility, #LesbianVisibilityDay, #LetTransKidsPlay, #LGBT, #LGBTQ, #LGBTQIA, #LGBTQIAVisibility, #LGBTQEquality, #LGBTQRights, #LoveAlwaysWins, #LoveIsLove, #LoveWins, #MarriageEquality, #MasculinitySoFragile, #MentalHealthAwareness, #MeToo, #Misogyny, #NativeAmerican, #NoH8, #NoHate, #NoHomophobia, #NonbinaryAwareness, #NonBinaryIsValid, #NonBinaryPride, #NoToRacism, #NoTransphobia, #NotAllMen, #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs, #PansexualPride, #PansexualVisibility, #PatriarchyMustFall, #PlasticFree, #Pride, #PrideMonth, #ProtectTransKids, #ProtectTransLives, #ProtectTransYouth, #QueerPride, #QueerVisibility, #RacialEquality, #RacialEquity, #RacialJustice, #RacismIsAPandemic, #RacismIsAVirus, #RainbowPride, #RenewableEnergy, #RepresentationMatters, #SayTheWord, #SexismIsReal, #ShowYourPride, #SmashThePatriarchy, #SpeakOutAgainstRacism, #SpreadLove, #StandAgainstRacism, #StandUpToHate, #StandWithTransKids, #StopAsianHate, #StopHate, #StopRacism, #StopTheGenocide, #StructuralRacism, #SupportLatinxBusiness, #SupportSurvivors, #SupportTransKids, #Sustainability, #SystemicRacism, #TDOR, #TDOV, #TimesUp, #TransAwarenessWeek, #TransDayOfVisibility, #TransEquality, #TransgenderAwareness, #TransgenderDayOfRemembrance, #TransgenderEquality, #TransgenderRights, #TransIsBeautiful, #TransLivesMatter, #TransMenAreMen, #TransphobiaIsNotOver, #TransphobiaIsReal, #TransphobiaKills, #TransPride, #TransRightsAreHumanRights, #TransRights, #TransVisibility, #TransWeek, #TransWomenareWomen, #TransYouthDeserveSupport, #TwoSpirit, #UnconsciousBias, #UnitedAgainstRacism, #WhitePrivilege, #WomensHistoryMonth, #WomensRights, #ZeroWaste