• ImTryingLemmy@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Brittany said she’s trying to be optimistic. “Yeah, it gets better,” she said. “But when is it going to get better for us, specifically?”

    Honestly? When you GTFO of Lynchburg, VA kids. I don’t say that lightly, Lynchburg is about 3 and a half hours away from and about 50 years behind Washington, DC.

    • kool_newt@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Unless you’re the type that wants to change things. If everyone with a heart abandons the countryside and consolidates in cities we give up lots of political power due to how power is allocated in the Senate.

      You may not think this matters, it does

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUnxhpwsAdA

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        It sounded like the kids had some community support, too. It might just take people taking initiative to run for the school board positions and let the community know to show up and vote.

      • ImTryingLemmy@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I thought about this for a couple days and I still don’t think that any bullied queer kid should hang around in Lynchburg any longer than necessary.

        Change comes from the top down on issues like this.

        • kool_newt@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          I thought about this for a couple days and I still don’t think that any bullied queer kid should hang around in Lynchburg any longer than necessary.

          A perfectly reasonable position to take.

          Change comes from the top down on issues like this.

          Change never comes from above, those above can be forced into changing though if enough people below band together, e.g. democracy.

            • kool_newt@lemm.ee
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              11 months ago

              Ok, I think I’ll have to hand this to you. While I still think real/deep/systemic/lasting type changes ultimately arise from below, at an operational and/or local level, the change can come from above to reduce harm to those vulnerable people in that community. This is particularly true when this argument is restricted to just voting.

              This is maybe a bit like slavery ending, the motivation and force coming ultimately from below (i.e. it wasn’t rich slave owners looking to be nice and increase their costs), yet it took Juneteenth where federal forces had to come and force compliance.

              That being said, a strong queer kid can change many minds simply be existing and being a decent person and showing people first hand, I changed many in my life. As a trans person with means, I’m currently trying to figure out if I might need to flee the country for my safety, but tbh, I’m a fighter, I’d rather go down fighting than being safe, but I don’t hold others to that.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Yeah, there are some parts of this country where as a queer person you’d rather be homeless in D.C. than sleep in a comfy bed in. And I don’t say that lightly, I’ve slept in a car in Ohio winters, and D.C. is that but with summers like the Everglades. But if it’s that or being the [slur] of some rural mountain town, you can find places to live and resources in D.C.