For the last nine months, I’ve had to field multiple harassment and smear campaigns by a handful of people who claim I am a crypto-fascist and hate trans people. One of these people, by the way, runs a minimum of six different twitter accounts which they use to repeat this assertion.

Now, though I have no illusions that they will ever stop doing this despite all evidence to the contrary, I’m posting this statement for the rest of you.

First off, I’m not a crypto-fascist or an actual one, either. Years of writing against fascism (including a long essay today) should be enough to prove this, but if that’s not enough, consider how brutally honest I am with my political writings and existence. I don’t hide being gay, or an anarchist, or a polytheist pagan, or any of the other things that make people judge me–why would I hide that?

Secondly, and more importantly, I honor, respect, admire, celebrate, and will defend anyone who decides to claim and forge their own existence and way of being in the world. This goes especially for trans folk, who have a hell of lot more courage than most of the rest of us ever will. We should all be so fucking brave.

This is my final word on this.

Like I said, this won’t convince the handful of crusaders. But this isn’t for them anyway, it’s for you.

–Rhyd