For a simple example: my mother is Catholic and until Trump came along, a lifelong single-issue Republican voter who always said she would be a Democrat if it weren’t for abortion. She attends church in an extremely progressive, famously LGBTQ-friendly town.

There’s a transwoman who attends her church (let’s call her Rita). This lady is probably in her mid-50s to mid-60s and has been a fixture at the church for at least 5 years. My mom has been in choir and bible study groups with her for years now. She still just can’t see Rita as a woman. Treats her politely but behind her back refuses to call her “she” and says she’s a “man in a dress”.

She’s really offended that Rita uses the ladies’ room. I’ve asked her why and she can’t articulate it, she just feels like it’s an invasion of her privacy, because men don’t belong in the ladies’ room. And when I point out that Rita isn’t a man, she just rolls her eyes. I’ve asked her if she’s worried that Rita is in there for predatory purposes and she admits that she doesn’t think Rita intends any harm. I’ve asked her how she’d feel if she were forced to use the men’s room and she says “but that’s different!”

My mom prides herself in being a moral person, and still can’t manage to get past her bigotry to see Rita as a woman. There are just too many mental blockades against it. But since she thinks she’s so highly moral, she thinks she must be correct in this situation. It excuses her from finding empathy and bettering her attitude toward trans folks.

My longwinded point is that when people who consider themselves highly moral are bigoted, there’s almost zero chance of getting through to them. And I think a lot of the people who are bigoted against trans folks feel that morality is on their side and being trans is morally deviant, so they think they’re justified in their prejudice.

Currently leggings and a sweater

Those are pretty great cat thumbs.

I didn’t change my name. My perspective is that my identity doesn’t change just because I got married. My name has been mine since birth and it’ll remain that way.

Bitty is a treasure!!

I’m from New Jersey and I pronounce it Wuh-stah-shur. I think that’s reasonably correct?

She just loves my big ten inch

Friday Night Lights

And blatant hatred.

It’s how I memorized the diatomics in undergrad :)

Yeah also 4chan

Or put pantyhose over the end of a vacuum wand, then vacuum the area you dropped it on. The vacuum will find the screw and the pantyhose will prevent the vacuum from ingesting it.

Ear is beak

Holy piss I did not expect that

Kinda like Bucket (pronounced “Bouquet”).

They should be Edsels for maximum insult

Do you not have a VPN?

Aw adorable :)

Great job parents, now your kid will learn nothing from this teachable moment.

Mochi is adorbs, give hug now!!