4 ms·
I could be wrong, but I think there's a specific violent threat embedded in calling trans people nazis - nazis are still the simplest shorthand terminology for
by mock-possum 4y ago
I could be wrong, but I think there's a specific violent threat embedded in calling trans people nazis - nazis are still the simplest shorthand terminology for "unambiguously evil oppressors whom it is acceptable to violently oppose." No one wrings their hands and bemoans the Allies' treatment of the nazis in WW2. To this very day it's hard to answer "is it okay to punch a nazi" negatively- most people would probably agree that the nazi had it coming.
That kind of sentiment makes this whole "trans nazis are infiltrating and controlling the cis lesbian and gay rights movement" accusation a little scarier, in my opinion, due to context - portraying your ideological opponents as nazis as prelude to violence, and trans people are already the target of plenty of violent transphobic attacks.
(I still don't think this arrest is warranted, absent some sort of other evidence that he intends to do more than call people names online... but there are very specific connotations to calling trans people nazis, that I feel like it's fair to call out aside from mere 'political beliefs')
- zumu 4y agoI can't speak to the UK, but in the US, the term nazi gets thrown around a lot. For example, the Left calls Right nazis and Right calls the Left nazis, etc. As such, it's hard for me, and I'd imagine a lot of HN users, to consider calling someone a nazi as a violent threat.
- yibg 4y agoWe used to call one of our friends a beer nazi. As in he would try to force you to drink beer.
- isitmadeofglass 4y ago> I could be wrong, but I think there's a specific violent threat embedded in calling trans people nazis There is not now and likely never will be a politician who has not at some point compared their adversaries to Nazis. Do we put them all behind bars, or only the ones you disagree with? What do we do with the trans activist comparing those who oppose them with Nazis?
- nathanaldensr 4y agoThere's really no need for a deep ideological discussion on the topic of Nazis. In modern times, the phrase "everyone I don't like it is a Nazi" sums up the definition.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]