Mastodon and today's fediverse are unsafe by design and unsafe by default – and instance blocking is a blunt but powerful safety tool
privacy.thenexus.today
Parts 1, 2, and 3 of "Golden opportunities for the fediverse – and whatever comes next"

Even though millions of people left Twitter in 2023 – and millions more are ready to move as soon as there’s a viable alternative – the fediverse isn’t growing.1 One reason why: today’s fediverse is unsafe by design and unsafe by default – especially for Black and Indigenous people, women of color, LGBTAIQ2S+ people2, Muslims, disabled people and other marginalized communities. ‌

  • @SuperSleuth@lemm.eeEnglish
    6•8 months ago

    Firstly, WTF is LGBTAIQ2S+?. Secondly, I haven’t experienced any more bigotry here than I would on any other social media platform.

    • The Nexus of PrivacyOPEnglish
      6•8 months ago

      From the article:

      I’m using LGBTQIA2S+ as a shorthand for lesbian, gay, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, bi, trans, queer, intersex, asexual, agender, two-sprit, and others (including non-binary people) who are not straight, cis, and heteronormative. Julia Serrano’s trans, gender, sexuality, and activism glossary has definitions for most of terms, and discusses the tensions between ever-growing and always incomplete acronyms and more abstract terms like “gender and sexual minorities”. OACAS Library Guides’ Two-spirit identities page goes into more detail on this often-overlooked intersectional aspect of non-cis identity.

    • @SmashingSquid@notyour.rodeoEnglish
      6•8 months ago

      This is the first time I’ve seen this one. Best result I saw from 30 seconds of googling:

      In 2020, the National Runaway Safeline (NRS) began using LGBTQIA2S+ to recognize those who identify as “Two-Spirit.” This phrase refers to people who identify as having both a masculine and feminine spirit, and is used by some Indigenous and Native communities.

      “Two-Spirit” describes the cultural-specific understanding for the diverse gender traditions of Indigenous and Native people. Historically, Two-Spirit people were among the most respected in their communities, often serving as community healers, ceremonial leaders or caregivers to the elderly or orphaned children. This is consistent across many cultures who experienced extreme oppression and intergenerational trauma through periods of colonization. Today, young people who identify as Two-Spirit may suffer from inequalities perpetuated by a legacy of discriminatory laws and policies.
      Source: National Runaway Safeline

    • P03 LockeEnglish
      1•8 months ago

      A terrible idea by the LGBT community to expand the definition, when they thought they already “won” the battle and wanted to expand their scope, completely ignoring how marginalized the trans community was at that point, and how much was still left to fight for LGB rights. People quickly objected and most threw away the dumb acronym.

      • be_excellent_to_each_other
        2•8 months ago

        I kinda thought the ever-expanding acronym problem was being informally solved by a gradual transition to just saying “Queer.”

        I am not a member of any of the groups that would fall under that categorization though, so I may be wrong.

        • The Nexus of PrivacyOPEnglish
          3•8 months ago

          It’s tricky … many people do use “queer” as an umbrella term, but a lot of trans people don’t like being lumped under that, and some lesbian, gay, bi, and agender people don’t consider themselves queer. There aren’t great answers.