‘If It Doesn’t Concern
Life and Death, It’s Not Interesting’
Cormac McCarthy’s American Odyssey

In 2007, Rolling Stone traveled to Santa Fe
to profile the most reclusive man
in American letters

--by David Kushner

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/cormac-mccarthy-reclusive-american-novelist-1234770602/

a Wonderful essay on
a most brilliant writer

and yeah
Vivian they're
Coming for LGBTQs

and they'll Never
Stop in Ideehoe

@2 -- xina could kick
your whiny ass with
her left brain tied
behind her back

& it sounds
like she DID.

Excellent.

@2 if you are referring to Vivian shutting down comments, that was a good move. Nothing productive about piling on a person who complained their civil rights were being violated, won in court, and is subsequently being harassed. You can disagree with the outcome but let’s keep some integrity in the civil rights process meant to protect everyone.

If Starbucks "empowers" franchise owners to decorate for all heritage months, that probably means they're also empowered not to. Empowered is different from required. I'd bet some individual stores are refusing to put out LGBTQ merch.

Hey losers, Vivian didn't shut down the comments--I did. The Stranger does not tolerate transphobia and will not serve as a platform for any "debate" over the existence of trans people nor any "debate" over which human rights the state should grant them. I will continue to pull any transphobic comments and will permanently ban persistent violators no matter how long you've been here. If you want to spread transphobic nonsense, then take that shit to social media.

-Rich Smith, editor

As one of the participants in that thread it was a very weird move. We weren't even discussing the individual discussed in the article but the nature of the debate. It really speaks to where we are at as a society anymore. We're not allowed to discuss sensitive topics and contrary opinions are considered bigoted which was kinda my point yesterday. I do appreciate TS has always been more lenient in letting conversation flow and letting posters debate topics and I hope that continues in the future as there is no doubt we'll have plenty to discuss in the next 18 months.

I took some flak for saying this in a thread last year, but I really think it bears repeating: Whether or to what extent trans women should be welcome in various women-only spaces is a legitimate discussion for women (cis and trans) to have, but trans-allied men should strategically stay out of it. We personally have no skin in that game and our intrusion only fuels resistance among trans-critical women and (more importantly) gives them talking points for preying on the fears of women who might be open to trans acceptance. In short, it looks misogynistic, even if it isn't. Cisgender men who want to be trans allies should focus on making male-dominated spaces, which are often intimidating and dangerous for trans men, more welcoming and inclusive. There's plenty of work to be done in that sphere. Leave the advocacy for trans women (or at least this particular aspect of it) to cis women. They can open doors that you can't.

@13 Aw. The 'ol "Just asking questions" excuse.

You can't use fig leafs and dog whistles discuss if an oppressed minority should be allowed to exist? Poor you.

What a pile of lying shit you are.

I didn’t get to read xina’s comments, but she’s a known quantity. (Just try throwing “Amanda Knox” into a comment thread with xina in it…)

@12: Other than what xina may have written, no one in that thread questioned the right of trans persons to exist, or what rights they should have. Closing the thread without warning was undignified and unfair.

As the original comment thread had already been closed, I’ll repost my response from another thread:

[The original thread was abruptly closed] after this broad-brush personal attack on other commenters: ‘I want to point out in advance that jurassic transphobes in the Comments section of The Stranger - long since a game reserve where bigots from across the nation come to take masturbatory potshots at "the libruls"…’

As District13refugee promptly responded, this was a pre-emotive attempt to stifle dialog. (It’s also factually incorrect, of course, as the comment thread itself shows.)

Even a middle-aged, cis-het white guy (me) can understand our society provides few safe spaces for women. Certain women simply don’t feel comfortable disrobing in the presence of a naked penis whose owner is unfamiliar. How do we balance their interests with our values as an inclusive society which celebrates diversity? That’s not an easy question, and throwing around accusations of bigotry at anyone willing to try doesn’t help.

Neither does abruptly terminating dialog just because a long-time, well-known volatile commenter responded brazenly.

@22 What are you talking about? Kinda ironic coming from someone that has been banned for toxic and abusive behavior. You're just like a pigeon anymore, you drop into the comments, shit all over everything and then fly back away.

@25 Based on your previous comments you don't strike me as someone who is particularly sympathetic to trans rights in general, regardless of your own non-binary-ness (or lack thereof). So my remarks probably aren't aimed at you. I'm addressing that segment of the movement who thinks it's just peachy for cisgender men to scream at women (in particular older, second-wave feminists) in the name of equality. If there are women who deserve to be screamed at, men should let other women do it. That's all I'm saying.

Please keep this up. Between the Reddit blackouts and the ridiculous "don't stray from accepted trans narrative lest ye be banned" debate I see a rare opportunity to quit the internet entirely out of sheer disgust. Especially talking to you Roger the Shrubber. Your comments come across like a litter box that hasn't been cleaned in a month - effectively repellant. How about you pull out all the stops for me today?

The past participle of "plead" is not "plead". (Maybe you have confused the word with "read".) The correct word is "pleaded". Please pass this info to your editor.

sounds like we resolved trans problems good work everyone

@1
Yes to all three. That would be a great trifecta!

All this trans talk, but everyone is ignoring the black on Asian double murder today?

Oh okay

@18 Garb Garblar: +1 Agreed. Xina's consistently spot on, however assertive in her views. I don't know what was said, but I'm sorry I missed her comment.

@40 He was cognizant enough to claim he saw a gun in the 34 y/o Asian female's white Tesla and that was the reason that he shot. The woman was the owner of Aburiya bento house in Lynnwood. The husband or boyfriend is recovering. Violent felon from Chicago....

Too bad the death penalty doesn't exist in WA

@40 Garb Garblar, and @41 Amroth: That is inexcusably sad, sick news. All this needless tragedy because a violent felon from Chicago went batshit with a gun.

Sorry I missed the details of the anti-trans controversy, but Xina has always been known for inflammatory commentary, so I'm not surprised.

Jesus Christ, I long for the day when one single Stranger writer will get the past tense of plead (hint: it's "pleaded" not pled or, as in this case, plead (?)) correct.

@43 facts and statistics are inconvenient to you. They are only racist because they make you uncomfortable and you can’t come to terms with reality.

That’s what we call projection.

@18 Garb, It's a good question. I wouldn't have taken the time to write what I did in that comment section if I wasn't hoping it could maybe get her to question what she was putting out there. Maybe it still will. She knows what she wrote, and she can still read my comment if she chooses.

The reality is, it was a straight-up attack on trans women as women. It wasn't dancing around TERF talking points - it was a list of TERF talking points. I didn't call her a bigot in my comment, and I won't call her one now. But it absolutely was not cool.

I don't agree with The Stranger on pretty much anything, so it may not be a surprise that I didn't think it was the right call to delete her comments and close the thread based on her comments alone... partly because now they can be made out to be whatever people want - some disingenuous takes have already been offered up in this comment section by the usual suspects. However, considering that TS's intended audience is not reflected by most of the regular SLOG commenters, it's understandable. Many left-of-center publications would have deleted the comments immediately.

@12: If you oppose posts here which “debate” over which human rights the state should grant citizens, then you might want to consider doing something about posts like this one:

“… it is plainly undemocratic to overturn the will of the 2019 electorate with a recall vote sandwiched between two major travel holidays.”

(https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2021/11/17/62897727/vote-no-on-the-kshama-sawant-recall)

Actually, the entire Supreme Court of Washington state had unanimously ruled the voters of District 3 had exactly this democratic right. Therefore, there was no need for any “debate” on that point.

(I won’t go so far as to recommend you call the authors of the above-cited post “losers,” but I suppose doing so would be your right.)