Rori Porter
3 min readOct 28, 2021

--

What do you think canceling is, sir?

Canceling is merely a personal boycott. One can choose to try to get other people on board with that boycott, or they can quietly stop putting money into the pockets of the person or entity they're boycotting.

You seem to live in an imaginary world in which boycotting by a marginalized population has life-ending consequences.

"Hitlerism." "Your Kind." "Fanatical TRA." I dare say, you seem to have a tiny bit of a bias!

You're lobbing a lot of bullshit at me that I didn't mention or espouse in the least, so you must think of trans people as a monolith if you think I need to answer for every shitty thing a trans person has ever done.

All I have said here is that canceling is not the end of anybody's career. Obviously, threatening someone you disagree with is shitty. But you realize I'm not the president of trans people, right? I can't control everything that other people do, I can only control what I do, which at this point is merely not buying further into Rowling's or Chappelle's future work.

I don't give a fuck if people have genital preferences.

I don't know who the fuck Jenny Ian Asencio is and I don't care to.

I don't defend anybody who abuses, doxxes, threatens, or otherwise directs toxicity toward other people.

I don't defend anybody who externalizes their pain by hurting others.

I don't want to enter women's spaces in which I am unwelcome.

I don't follow true crime and don't know who Paula Denyer is, and I do not care to. I do not have to answer for every horrible thing another trans person has done, just as gay people don't have to answer for the actions of Jeffrey Dahmer.

You are making sweeping assumptions based solely on the fact that I am a trans woman who doesn't support those who I see as furthering transphobic rhetoric. You have taken offense to my notation that Rowling isn't being functionally harmed by being canceled. People have threatened her and some have been charged with crimes. She has lawyers, bodyguards, twenty-foot fences, and the ability to protect herself in ways that I wouldn't if I were to be doxxed by transphobes. Telling you to consider your perspective is not an attack.

I don't hate JK Rowling or Dave Chappelle. I merely feel that they are on the wrong side of history and choose to direct my hard-earned money toward creators and comedians I prefer. Chappelle may have helped a single trans woman that one time, but many of us feel that his 30-minute rants on trans issues in each of his recent specials were harmful. You are welcome to disagree, just as some trans folks disagree with me on my points. I promise I won't cancel anyone over it.

TL;DR: I am not a monolith for you to project upon. Stop that.

I will, however, let you know if I am elected President of Trans People at our next agenda meeting. I'm hoping for a sweeping win. I will start by taking responsibility for everything every trans person has ever done from the beginning of time to the end of days. If I lose, it'll have to be some other trans person's problem.

Have the day you deserve.

--

--

Rori Porter
Rori Porter

Written by Rori Porter

Queer Transfemme writer & designer living in Los Angeles. She. Stage name: Thirstie Alley

No responses yet