CN: fascism.
One of the first things I saw when I woke up this morning was a screenshot of the title of a Trump executive order: “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government” and my blood ran cold. It isn’t a surprise, but the speed and breadth of Trump’s executive orders is a hell of a lot to take in. In the face of such a clear, violent, overt declaration of fascism in the US, what can we do?
I am not American, nor do I live there, so it feels like my actions are basically limited to: posting/sharing news and useful info, donating to relevant organisations or… Christ, such a small and pathetic thing… writing a fucking blog post to encourage others to do the same. It’s not enough, is it? It can never be enough.
Last time Trump was voted in I spent the day crying at my desk (not helpful) and then did the only thing I felt I really could do, given that I have a platform and therefore a gram or two of influence: I wrote yet another fucking blog post about it, then argued for a while with racists in the comments. It felt pointless.
Scrolling through executive orders this morning felt exactly the same, but this time even more frightening.
- Donald Trump’s executive order on ‘gender ideology’ effectively tries to define trans people out of existence – insisting that ‘biological sex’ be ‘accurately recorded’, and specifying that trans people should be treated as per their sex. Which means trans women in women’s prisons will be moved to men’s prisons, documents like passports and driver’s licenses will reflect sex rather than gender, spaces like bathrooms and changing rooms will only be available on a sex-segregated basis, and funding for support for trans (as well as presumably non-binary and intersex) people will be pulled where possible. It is extreme, dark, and terrifying.
- There’s an EO on the death penalty too, which specifically directs prosecutors to seek the death penalty in cases which involve the murder of a law-enforcement officer, or capital crimes committed by illegal immigrants. Again: extreme. Dark. Terrifying.
- There’s another one which suspends refugee admissions, and any decisions relating to that. I can’t imagine how it must feel to be a refugee in the US right now.
I picked three from the absolute deluge, because they’re the ones that immediately jumped out at me. As a woman, I am personally fucking disgusted by how often my ‘rights’ are cited as an excuse to declare war on trans people – as if we aren’t all being targeted by the same bullying fascists who seek to wrestle control over our bodies and our lives. I have extremely strong feelings on the death penalty because it’s abhorrent to me that the state should ever have the power to murder people at all. I care about refugees because… I mean. Honestly. Feels super weird to even need to finish that sentence. Because I’m a human being, and so are they, and it’s our moral duty to care for fellow humans fleeing persecution?
There are so many other executive orders on the site though – go and have a look, if you can stomach it. I guarantee that whatever topic you care about: bodily autonomy, environmental protections, foreign aid, citizenship, the rule of law… you will almost certainly find something that relates to it. And if you care about those issues, and are not a fascist yourself, I imagine you too will look at it and think: shit. Fuck. What can we do?
Over the course of today I have read a lot on Mastodon and Bluesky – some people offering helpful advice on how to maliciously comply with these orders, or how to muddy waters to help keep people safe. Refusing to build systems which store citizenship or gender information, for example. Or ‘losing’ data that could later be used by ICE or other dangerous agencies. Others posting links to organisations that will be working hard to throw up as many roadblocks to these orders as possible – the ACLU, for example, has already begun the process of suing over the order that ends birthright citizenship (a right that is enshrined in the US constitution).
I’m not American, nor do I live there, but what Trump and his cabal of religious fascists are doing will affect all of us. We should do something but… what can we do? Share some posts? Retweet links to donate? It just isn’t enough, is it? It doesn’t feel like enough.
But nothing any individual can do will ever be enough. It will take resistance and support and pressure from everyone who gives a shit to fight back against the rise of fascism – not just in America, but in other countries like Germany, and here in the UK too. We currently have a Health Secretary who is aligned with transphobic hate groups, Reform UK are looking more dangerous with every day that goes by, and… ugh. If I start listing too many things then the deluge of it starts to feel overwhelming.
When there’s a deluge of horror to pay attention to, our tiny little actions feel even more insignificant. Less useful. Pointless by comparison. That’s at least part of why the incoming Trump administration has raced out of the starting blocks with dozens and dozens of executive orders: the sheer volume and scope of them is designed to overwhelm, intimidate and demoralise anyone who even thinks of fighting back.
Whether it’s writing a silly blog post, sharing links to donate to the ACLU, saying ‘no’ when you’re asked to comply with fascist orders, standing up for your trans friends and colleagues, reminding immigrants that they are welcome and safe with you, or reminding Nazis what a punch in the jaw feels like, no individual action will ever be enough. But each and every one is something.
I don’t live in America, so I can’t maliciously comply, and I’ve never thrown a punch in my life so I imagine I’d be excruciatingly shit at it. But what I can do is write little blog posts, hopefully reminding those who Trump hates that many of us find that entirely repulsive, and we’re more than willing to stand up and say so. What’s more, I can encourage some of you to donate if you have spare money, or pick an executive order that targets issues dearest to your heart and donate to an organisation that’ll be working to fight that.
I’ve tried to keep my list short, and as above it’s targeted to the issues that immediately jumped out at me today, but you might still be overwhelmed and think ‘shit, I can’t afford to support all these organisations!’. Don’t worry, neither can I. I picked one and gave to that.
Nothing we do as individuals will ever be enough. But we can all do something.
The ACLU – civil liberties
Advocates for trans equality – trans rights
Reprieve – an international organisation working on fighting the death penalty (among other issues)
USCRI – refugee support (including legal support)
Feel free to suggest other links by emailing hellogirlonthenet [at] gmail dot com – I’m happy to update the list if you know of an org doing great work in any relevant area.
And although most of little things I’ve done in the past weren’t completely pointless, one of them definitely was: so I won’t be arguing with racists in the comments this time round. Comments are closed.