I've been blasted before for including unapologetically partisan political content here. But I'm about to do it again. And this is gonna be a downer.
Christian Nationalism is a real and present threat. Period.
It's a threat to women's reproductive health and self-determination. It's a threat to the ethnic and cultural diversity of any version of modern society worth living in. It's a brutal and deadly threat to queer and trans kids. It's a threat to economic and ecological justice. It's a threat to any man who likes to wear a dress. It's a threat to any woman who likes to wear a suit and tie. It's a threat to Jews. It's a threat to Muslims. Soon enough it will be a threat to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Wiccans, and everybody else who hasn't bought the snake oil of a narrow, inauthentic, hypocritical, and repressive version of Christianity.
It's Fascism Light. For the time being, until it reveals itself as just plain Fascism. It's The Handmaid's Tale waiting to come to a government near you.
If publicly available resources for mindful erotic self-development have changed your life for the good, it's a threat to you. Even if you're male. Even if you're cisgendered. Even if you're white. Even if you're economically privileged. The websites you access are already targeted. The organizations you belong to are already in the cross-hairs.
Tennessee has banned drag performances on public property. Ron De Sanctimonious--for once, Donald Trump came up with a nickname I can get on board with--is attacking the health care of at-risk trans youth, rewriting the curriculum of Florida schools, scrubbing all references to sexual diversity and the history of racism from textbooks. Parents' rights groups are attacking libraries and librarians. Use your imagination about what's next, and don't kid yourself it won't go any further.
If you think you can just sit back and hope it will go away, then you're not paying attention.
I'm not saying, "Go to the barricades." At least not yet. But I'm saying, wake up, and do some good in the face of all this. Find out about the work of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Centre, the Woodhull Freedom Foundation. And then support them: give up four coffees at Starbucks a year and send the $25 to one or another of those groups. Or maybe $25 each to all of them. Find out who's running for school board in your town next election cycle, and work for the candidate who's not a Nazi-for-Jesus.
But just as important as all this: in your own life, choose kindness. Every day, be swift to choose kindness. Choose community. Choose to affirm and validate those around you. As corny as they can be, model yourself on the cast of Queer Eye. Go to a drag show, even if you haven't been to a drag show for years. In fact, especially if you haven't been to a drag show for years, and offer a dollar bill to every lip-syncing diva who walks by your table. Smile at the sixteen-year-old non-binary kid you pass on the street. Talk to someone visibly glbtq whom you normally wouldn't think to engage.
For the last five or six months, I've been part of an informal cluster of erotic activists and writers working to discern what we can do, individually and collectively. We've gotten as far as calling ourselves "Men's Groups United," coming up with a logo, and creating an "elevator speech":
Who we are: We are a group of advocates, body workers, facilitators, and activists for men's mindful erotic self-development.
What we believe: We believe in the right of individuals to explore the possibilities of their lives with freedom of expression without interference from socially repressive forces. We are committed to the transformative nature of erotic empowerment.
What are we doing? We seek to raise the social consciousness among the people involved in the work that we do. We do this in solidarity with all people doing erotic work with all genders.
Why are we doing this? Christian Nationalism and other right-wing activism is aggressively attempting to limit free personal expression. We know from history of the need to take action before existing rights/liberties are taken away. We seek to preserve and expand the civil liberties and rights of all people.
