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.

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.

This looks really interesting!

Do you not have a VPN?

What about orange creamsicles?

I love Big Bend! Is this the Window Trail?

Have you done Mule Ears? That’s a really cool hike, the scenery changes so much. You should also check out Big Bend Ranch State Park, lots of great things to see there too. The Hoodoos trail is pretty cool, not because of the hiking (it’s fine) but the rock formations are super interesting, especially if you’re into photography.

YES, emoticons are so much better than emojis!

Same here, and we’re scrappy

I bring a book and pace around in the water while I read.

Aw, you just reminded me of something. My grandma used to wash out soup cans, then use them to bake small raisin breads. She would make several at once and you could freeze them. I don’t know where she got this idea but it was awesome always having these tiny raisin breads available :) especially if you don’t want to commit to a whole full-sized loaf!

All I can offer is sympathy. You’re not alone - we all make this mistake exactly once in life. Never again!

I’m on Android and that shirt is definitely blue 🤷🏻‍♀️

Didn’t doug have a green dude too? And he was supposed to be white?

Aw, Riskable :(

Poor draggy :(

And usps sees fit to pass those losses on to postmen?

Hang on, why are you penalized if mail customers don’t want flyers?

I like to overprepare - if I get tired of one thing I can switch to another.

Winamp with my favorite skin

Entirety of my mp3 collection

All 7 seasons of DS9

All 5 seasons of Kids in the Hall

Has a mild Dr Seuss vibe