These last nearly four years of the Trump administration have been, well, trying to say the least. It seems like each day, there was some new outrage, some new national embarrassment, some new foolishness happening. It has been so very easy to be angry. Even now, 37 days after Joe Biden was elected by a margin of more than 8 million votes, the outrage and the embarrassment continue.
In fact, it seems to have gotten even worse over these last 37 days as Trump and his minions literally try to flush our democratic processes down the toilet in his desperate efforts not to be a one-term president.
Like I said, it has been easy to be angry, to be frustrated, to be flabbergasted by the things we’ve seen happening. But you know, despite all the anger and frustration, I have never felt or expressed the desire to vote a certain way for the chance to piss off somebody else, and I cannot comprehend this burning need some people seem to have to do just that.
How many times have you seen someone on the more “conservative” end of the political spectrum declare that they have, in some way, “owned the libtards”? Have you seen similar sentiments from the other end of the spectrum? Why? Why is it so satisfying for these people to feel like they have somehow “put one over on” someone with whom they disagree?
In the last few months, it seems, we have seen more and more people coming to the Dallas Voice website, commenting on articles to let us know how much they hate us and everything we stand for. I’m not talking about non-LGBTQ folks, either. I am talking about commenters who are — or at least claim to be — LGBTQ people who are just disgusted with the fact that other LGBTQ people actually want equal rights, equal responsibilities and equal treatment.
I mean, how dare we!
Surely we know we are destroying the fabric of our society by expecting that we not be fired from our jobs simply because of our sexual orientation or gender identity, that we be given the same access to civil marriage as non-LGBTQ folks, that we not have someone else’s religious beliefs forced on us, that we not be beaten and murdered because someone hates us for being LGBTQ.
Of course, we at the Dallas Voice are certainly not strangers to hateful comments and insults and even threats directed at us because we are an LGBTQ media outlet. But like I said, it seems in the last few months — as our country dealt with a pandemic, with unrest over injustice and the growing lunacy of an outrageous and hateful presidential administration — the trolls have come crawling from beneath their crusty old bridges at an ever-quickening rate.
And I just cannot understand it.
I mean, if you think Dallas Voice publishes dreck, why come to our website or pick up our print product to read that dreck. I have in the past been able to understand why some LGBTQ people supported the Republican Party; they put what they saw as economic concerns over civil rights concerns that they didn’t think impacted them. But I have never understood how any self-respecting LGBTQ person could continue to support the GOP as it has skewed ever more extremely toward the LGBTQ-hating right-wing extreme.
How can you justify support for a political party that promotes hate against you?
And yet, those people are out there. And they have decided (at least some of them have decided) that their favorite thing in the world is trolling Dallas Voice and those of us who work here.
At first, back in about July or so when the influx started, I tried a few times to reason with them through responses to their comments. I even tried to do it politely. It made no difference.
Then, I got disgusted enough with their hatefulness and obvious self-loathing that I decided to troll them in return. There was one, in particular, who chose a screen name declaring themself to be gay and a Trump supporter (they never use their actual names, of course). This particular commenter had repeatedly insisted on calling people names and posting comments intended just to insult whomever had written the article they were commenting on or sometimes another commenter.
At first I politely informed this person that comments using anti-LGBTQ slurs or promoting unfounded and insulting accusations against victims of crimes would be deleted. But they persisted, seeming to find special delight in insulting transgender murder victims and using anti-transgender slurs. Then I trolled back and, in one exchange, got this person to inadvertently expose their own internalized homophobia: “People like you make me ashamed to be gay.” “I don’t think you need any help with that.” And then, fed up with the childishness of it all, I told this person I felt bad for them and that I felt sorry for them because going through life filled with such hate for one’s self must be absolutely exhausting.
Their response: “Whatever, tranny.”
Ah, there it is, this person’s idea of the ultimate insult.
At that point, I just began deleting the insults and the slurs because it is unacceptable that such slurs would be allowed on an LGBTQ website where someone whose skin is not so strong as mine could be hurt by them.
I don’t understand it, though. Why do these people feel the need to try to hurt others with their insults and their slurs? Why would one LGBTQ person want to pull down other LGBTQ people? Is there any way they can ever clean the hate — for themselves and for others — out of their souls?
In the meantime, we at Dallas Voice will just keep deleting the insults and the slurs, letting the hate bounce off us as we try to shelter others who aren’t as strong from those barbs. Go ahead and send in the trolls. We knew there had to be trolls.
Tammye Nash is managing editor of Dallas Voice. The opinions expressed here are her own. Prohibitions against insults and slurs in comments on DallasVoice.com will be enforced.
Thank you for this affirming column. The trolls only serve to show you are pissing off the right people.
Tammye,
Let’s be clear. I for one, have never attacked you personally. I do not care one IOTA about your sexuality or the fact that you are transgender. It has no effect on my life. If you are happy with your decision, I’m happy for you. I’ve known a couple of transgender people in my life and one in particular, was one of the most interesting, intelligent and funny people I’ve ever known.
I’m here to attack the misguided Leftist ideology that comes out of these weekly “opinion” pieces. I usually respond because I realize that most of the readers are probably much younger than I am, and therefore received a skewed education (by design), especially regarding history and in any subject that ends in the word “studies”.
They probably won’t take the time to verify these opinions being presented as facts. They only believe what they see on TV and the opinions in this publication are just a repeat of those same talking points. To quote Howard Beale:
“Right now we have a whole, entire generation that doesn’t know a thing that didn’t come out of this tube” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi6dVYinQt4).
Worth noting that this was 40 years ago but is truer now than ever. I fear you, Hardy, Leslie and the Creep of the Week fall into this category too. Either that or you’re willing shills for the “cause” usher in a Marxist/Fascist global government. After Leslie’s last article, I can only assume that’s the case. I’m sure she won’t act on my suggestion because It might actually change her mind.
The media is no longer in the business of reporting facts. They are a propaganda machine designed to shape and sway public opinion in favor agendas that ultimately only benefit the super-rich and the globalists; people who want to control every aspect of your life. Their plans are right out in the open (just go read Agenda 2030 or listen to any speech by Klaus Schwab). The ideas sound so wonderful on paper. No more poverty, equality for everyone, a clean environment. Yeah, until you read between the lines and realize that none if this can be accomplished unless every nation on earth gives up its sovereignty and agrees to be ruled by a central, un-elected government body. You will no longer be allowed to own a car, or property. You will be taxed simply because you exhale CO2. That’s not hyperbole.
The European Union was their test run for this agenda. An un-elected, centralized government that dictates policy for sovereign nations, including who can migrate into and live in their country, complete with a common currency controlled by a central bank. How’s that working out? The last time I checked, the Europeans didn’t seem too happy with that deal any more.
I posit that all your opinions about the current political situation have been entirely shaped by mainstream media. You don’t dare find out if they’re lying to you, because you actually LIKE the lye. It affirms the victim mentality of the left.
So what exactly are all of these national embarrassments you speak of?
A record stock market?
Record Unemployment, especially for minorities?
Bringing manufacturing and jobs back to this country?
Tax reductions?
Making other countries pay their fair share to the UN?
Brokering unprecedented peace agreements in the middle east and getting our troops home?
Having the first president since Jimmy Carter not to start a war during his first term in office?
Taking down and arresting record numbers of child traffickers and pedophile rings?
Pulling out of the Paris Accord that would tax you simply for breathing?
Cutting off Funding for the corrupt W.H.O? Do you know who Tedros Adhanom really is?
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yD3o6_QGJI)
He, Bill Gates and Anthony Fauci should be tried in Nuremburg.
Or maybe you mean the spectacle of the Russian Collusion hoax?
Or the Impeachment hearings?
We now know that everything the Democrats accused Trump of doing, was something they themselves ACTUALLY did. It’s called “projection” and is a tried-and-true tactic of Marxist ideology. Have you read Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals”? Educate yourself. Hillary and Barack, by their own admission, considered this guy a role model.
Was this also a national embarrassment? https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-administration-launches-global-effort-end-criminalization-homosexuality-n973081
I didn’t see Obama making any efforts in this direction. Or did I miss something?
All this to get to the real point – nobody here is attacking you for standing up for LGBTQ rights. There are, most definitely, still areas of society that discriminate against gay people and it should be corrected, where it can be, through laws. No one should be denied employment or fired because of their sexual orientation, or the color of their skin, or their religious beliefs. That said, you cannot legislate away prejudice and bigotry. You are always going to run into an Archie Bunker now and then, and there’s not much you can do about that. Ignore them, move on, live your life.
But let’s also be honest about what some LGBTQ people on the far left really want – they want to shove their sexuality and lifestyle in other people’s faces and demand that it be accepted. They think it’s fine for a leather-clad master to walk his slave into a Walmart on a leash like a dog. They think it’s totally appropriate for drag queens to read stories to kids in kindergarten. It also seems that a lot of lefties like to make themselves as hideous and strange looking as possible and then wonder why no one wants to hire them. I don’t want to see any of that in public any more than I want to sit next to a straight couple making out in a movie theater (unless I’m at a gay pride parade or the Eagle, where I expect to see it). Now we’re even teaching kids as young as eight or nine to question their gender. THAT is unacceptable.
And I’m not a prude. Far from it. I’ve experienced just about everything the gay world has to offer (and I do mean *everything*) – but only where it’s appropriate; with other like-minded, consenting ADULTS.
But the Left (especially the gay Left) expects everyone to embrace every aspect of their sexuality and lifestyle, in all places at all times. That is never going to happen and it shouldn’t be expected to happen. No, the Left is never satisfied. You cannot apologize to them, you cannot appease them. If you give them what they want, it’s either not enough or they then want the opposite. Their rules about what’s acceptable change like the tide. They contradict themselves constantly and they are an infinite source of hypocrisy.
No, what you’re being attacked over is your erroneous assumptions (presented as fact) that all of the problems in this country are somehow Trump’s fault. That’s all you’ve obsessed over for the last few years, as if none of these issues existed before. You had eight years of Obama. Where is all the “Change you can believe in”? Even during his last term with a majority house and senate plus a very Left Leaning Supreme Court, NOTHING changed. In fact, we still have a democrat majority in the House and they’ve done absolutely nothing for anyone during the last four years (never mind the gay community). They’re too busy trying to oust Trump to protect their own asses and maintain the status quo.
I’ve got news for you. This is not about Republican vs. Democrat. Except for a handful of folks on either side of the aisle, they are ALL corrupt. They don’t care about you or me. They don’t care about gay rights or human rights. They are working toward an agenda that keeps them at the top of the power structure at the expense of everyone else. They are controlled by people you’ve never heard of. This whole illusion of right vs. left, gay vs. straight, republican vs. democrat is a just a parlor trick. It’s a diversionary tactic to keep everyone so busy fighting each other, that no one has time to notice the real enemy. This is another well-known tactic used by totalitarian regimes to gain power. While you’re busy blaming the right and fighting for the left, you’re too busy to look UP and notice the big fucking boot of REAL fascism coming down on your head. You’re what Yuri Bezmenov calls a “useful idiot”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfvXwuZ-bok) Just and excerpt – I would watch the whole interview.
I’ll tell you why these “trolls” started coming out of the woodwork back in June and July. People were locked down with nothing to do. The absolute insane, despotic, totalitarian response to the fake pandemic got people to wake up. They started to realize they were being lied to. They started asking themselves, how did we get to this point? And then they started to do research and understand that much of what you would label “conspiracy theory” is actually true – because they saw it happening in real time.
If I had said to you a year ago “Hey, there’s going to be this new virus that shows up – it won’t be any worse than the flu (99% survival rate for most people) but they’re going to shut down everything across the globe. You won’t be able to go to work and all the schools will be closed for the rest of the year. All the restaurants and small businesses will shut down and there won’t be any toilet paper and you’re going to have to wear a mask everywhere you go. The fourth of July, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving will be canceled and then there will be riots and looting and gangs roaming around burning down businesses – but that will be okay – the governors and mayors won’t do anything to stop it. And then they’ll want to track you via your phone so they know who you’ve come in contact with and blah, blah, blah”… you would have called me a NUT. Yet, this exact scenario (more or less) was written about in 2015 by the Rockefeller Institute, and the fake pandemic was planned at least that long ago as well. Look up “Event 201”. Did you know that a medical test to detect Covid19 was patented in 2015? How is that possible? Did you know that hundreds of millions of test kits were shipped to countries around the world in 2017? That information is in the public domain if you know where to look – but finding that out might make you have to admit that you’re being lied to.
So no, they’re not attacking you as a transgender person, per se (I understand some people resorted to ad hominem remarks against you – which was unnecessary) and they are not anti LGBTQ rights.
They and I are fed up with the lie of politically correct, leftist ideology which permeates the media and has taken over the minds of so many people (especially in the younger gay community). It’s what got us into this mess in the first place. They need to hear counter arguments based in fact. You can blame yourself for the “trolls” for continuing to perpetuate this victim-hood nonsense, all because [whiny voice on] “Trump is mean!”.
I’m sorry, Donald Trump is not the problem and not your enemy. You’re just buying into the narrative of the mainstream propaganda machine. Trump has been a public figure for almost 40 years and no one had a problem with him until he took office. That’s because he’s not part of the DC “good-ole boys club” and they know it. Do you think this man came out of nowhere to go through all of this for his own amusement? Why would ANYONE with his means put themselves through this never-ending barrage of hate? No, He’s working at the request of the military to dismantle the criminal cartel that has been in control of this country for the last century.
Do you remember the mini-series “The Man in the High Castle”? Sweetie, that was a documentary based on the true plans for America. Perhaps a little hyperbolic but not too far off. A lot of truth comes out of Hollywood disguised as fiction. The map was certainly correct. Trump and the military are a disruption to that plan and therefore must be vilified and taken out by any means necessary. But those that want that to happen are in for a surprise.
So pardon those of us who aren’t willing to indulge you in your “Orange Man Bad” tirades. This is so much bigger than that.
Michael. I am not transgender. Thanks for your support. There are those who agree with your opinions but don’t use actually names who think it is funny to use “tranny” as an insult. You won’t see those comments here because we delete them; anti-LGBTQ slurs have no place on an LGBTQ website.
I stand by my opinions, as I am sure those who write for us do theirs. If you want to send in an op-ed for consideration, please do. But you have to do so under your actual name.
Tammye,
I apologize for my assumption. If it’s any consolation, I’ve always thought you had kind eyes. If we stayed away from political subjects, we’d probably get along.
Michael is my real name, by the way. Last name is – well. I’ll just say that my last name is attached to an infamous Dallas location, known around the world for a tragic reason.
No apology necessary. Just as I don’t find being assumed to be LGB insulting, I don’t find being assumed to be trans insulting, either. I was just clarifying and pointing out there are some that rant about anything trans-related on our site and try their best to be insulting to trans people.
And I am friends with lots of folks I don’t agree with when it comes to politics. In fact, some of most beloved family members and I have vastly different political views. I am sure that as reasonable adults, you and I could get along.
I guess there are other gays with a similar opinion to mine
It’s not going to be easy for Joe Biden to earn the votes of Bernie’s supporters…. Not even Bernie himself could do it.
When Joe Biden becomes president… The white house will be forbiden.
When Joe Biden becomes president… The white house will be forbiden.