They Fear Us Because We Love Without Permission

I Can’t Believe I Still Have to Protest This Shit (2021) by Kate Just: a widely shared photo made tactile through knitting.

Photograph: Hugo Michell Gallery

🔥 RANT: WE’VE SEEN THIS SHIT BEFORE. 🔥

This isn’t just another attack. This is escalation.

And we know this playbook.

📖 In 1933, the Nazis raided and destroyed Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft—one of the first organizations fighting for LGBTQ+ rights. They labeled his research "degenerate," called trans identities a threat, and torched thousands of books. It was a warning shot. A clear signal that queer and trans people were next.

🖥️ And now? The U.S. government is literally deleting LGBTQ+ resources from federal websites. No, seriously. A BBC report just revealed that federal agencies have been ordered to scrub all mention of gender diversity and LGBTQ+ health from their sites. As if trans people will stop existing if they erase us from a f^cking webpage!

📜 And let’s talk about the wording of this executive order. “Dishonorable.” “Deceptive.”

Do you know what happens when a government starts labeling an identity inherently deceptive?

It justifies removing those people from every space possible.
From the military.
From schools.
From jobs.
From healthcare.
From public life.

This is not just about who can serve in the military. This is about paving the way for criminalization.

This isn’t “just politics.” This is a full-scale attempt to erase trans people from public life.

So if you were waiting for the moment to give a shit? This is it. You’ve already waited too long, but better late than never…

🧠 REFRAME: HOW I’M USING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TO WEATHER THIS

Look, I know how easy it is to spiral right now. I’ve been there. Rage-posting. Doom-scrolling. Bouncing between wanting to fight everyone and wanting to crawl into a hole and never come out.

But here’s the thing: I refuse to let these assholes steal my energy along with my rights.

So instead of losing myself to this mess, I’m using the 8 EQ competencies from the Six Seconds model to keep myself focused, fired up, and in this fight for the long haul.

1️. Enhance Emotional Literacy

🔥 Name it. Feel it. Don’t numb it.

I feel rage. Grief. Fear. Exhaustion. Determination.
Once I name my feelings, I can decide how to respond.

2️. Recognize Patterns

🔥 Catching my own emotional loops before they run the show.

I know this cycle—rage-spiral, doom-scroll, burnout, shut down.
🚫 No doom-scrolling myself into despair.
🚫 No guilt for needing a break. As the Ministry of Rest will remind us, “Rest does not have to be earned.”
🚫 No slipping into “what’s the point?” thinking.

Instead, I’m choosing what fuels me, not what drains me.

3️. Apply Consequential Thinking

🔥 Choosing my actions. Not just reacting.

🛑 Sharing every awful headline? No.
✅ Using my voice and platform to fight back? Yes.
✅ Amplifying those already in the trenches? Yes.
✅ Taking care of my mental health so I can stay in this fight? Hell yes.

4️. Navigate Emotions

🔥 I let myself rage. I let myself grieve. But I don’t stay stuck.

Instead of letting anger consume me, I use it to fuel me.
Instead of letting fear paralyze me, I use it to sharpen my focus.

5️. Engage Intrinsic Motivation

🔥 Reconnecting with my WHY.

I didn’t choose Spark AUDACIOUS Love as my noble goal because it sounded pretty. I chose it because this is the kind of moment where it matters most.

Love is not passive. It is not weak. It is a fucking force.

I am motivated by an ethic of LOVE not seduction toward an ethic of domination.

6️. Exercise Optimism

🔥 Not “good vibes only” bullshit—real, grounded hope.

This attack is terrifying. But fear cannot be the only thing I see.

✨ Every trans activist and ally standing up to fight.
✨ Every legal challenge that will be thrown at this.
✨ Every time we have faced oppression and still found ways to thrive.

Optimism isn’t pretending things are fine. It’s knowing they aren’t—and still believing we can change them.

7️. Increase Empathy

🔥 Turning toward community. Supporting those who are hurting.

❤️ Holding space for those who need it. (Including myself.)
❤️ Listening to those most affected, not just reacting.
❤️ Lifting up voices that need to be heard.

Because love-centered leadership is collective. We rise together, or we don’t rise at all.

8️. Pursue a Noble Goal

🔥 Committing to long-term change. Not just reacting.

❌ I refuse to let them define what is "honorable." F*cking hypocrits.
❌ I refuse to let them rewrite reality.
❌ I refuse to let them erase us.

My noble goal demands more than survival. It demands love as a revolutionary force.

And that means staying in this fight—not just today, but every day after.

💥 RADIATE: FIGHT BACK. FIGHT SMART. LOVE LOUDER. 💥

Now is the time to be louder, bolder, and more unwavering than ever. Because if they are making it clear that their goal is our erasure, then we must make it even clearer:

We are not going anywhere.

💡 We stand up. We call this what it is—state-sponsored bigotry. We refuse to let their language normalize transphobia.

💡 We protect our people. Trans service members, trans youth, trans elders—we show up, we fund, we uplift, we hold space.

💡 We fight this at every level. Elections, protests, legal battles, mutual aid. We do not back down.

💡 We lead with love. Not the passive, empty kind, but the radical, fire-filled, justice-driven love that bell hooks taught us—the kind that dismantles oppressive systems and builds something better in their place.

They want us afraid.
They want us silent.
They want us to disappear.

So, in the words of Rage Against the Machine, “F&CK YOU! I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!”

We Spark AUDACIOUS Love.
We make it impossible to ignore us.
We radiate so damn bright that their fear-based hate doesn’t stand a chance.

Because they might be trying to erase us—but we keep loving without their permission. 💥