>> CW: Antis <<
I have never talked about this before because I've never felt so connected to this issue. But, I can't ignore this. I need to say something right now, even if I know it will just be forgotten among an echochamber as the tides of the fediverse decree.
Antis (antimap, antizoo, antitransage, etc) have done some of the most absolutely abhorrent things imaginable. My friends and I have been harassed and bullied endlessly, but that just doesn't do justice to how sick what these antis have done is. It can't even scratch the surface. No words truely can.
My friends have received hundreds of dms of images and videos of people being murdered, telling them they're next. My friends have been told to kill themselves so many times that some of them did, others ended up in the hospital from trying.
My friends have been doxxed, a word that means nothing without explaining the experience. My friends have woken up and rode the bus to their middle school to find out that their principal now knows that they have an attraction to younger minors. My friends have been kicked out of their home because their parents were told that their child is a map.
My friends have had images of their face digitally altered and spread publicly without their consent — Imagine the feeling of unsuspectingly opening Twitter to talk with your friends and seeing images of yourself, except your images have been digitally altered, and hundreds of people have retweeted them, calling you hideous and telling you to kill yourself.
My friends have had to live in fear of people showing up to their home to murder them because their address was published publicly. My friends have had to live with the stresses of knowing their personal identity was reported to the police, even though they committed no crimes.
My friends have been psychologically manipulated to the point of dissociating from reality. My friends have had unsolicited illegal images shared in their communities in an attempt to get their communities shut down. My friends have had people dm them claiming to be adult age players who wanted to roleplay as a younger age, and after engaging in completely legal and consensual roleplay, have had their conversations taken out of context and used to frame them for engaging in sexual activity with a minor.
I could go on. Perhaps I will post a longer version of this on my blog some day.
We may not be so affected by it now, mostly sticking to our safe spaces in the fediverse and private communities we've created. But we must never forget or forgive the crimes that have been committed against us. We must never forget the lives that have been damaged and stolen from us.
I will not forget what my friends and I have suffered through to be here today, and I will not forget our friends who are no longer here with us.