Explanation + yay pseudonyms!

So, what happened that got me to friends-lock my lj: last month a troll at a conference photoed a bunch of folks, including me, and posted our pictures, names, and nasty comments about us on a popular hate-speech website.

It was upsetting. I locked down my lj to avoid getting hassled by folks who found me through the original post. I figured a month later the hate trolls would be onto something else, and I could unlock this again. I figure now's probably good enough.

I'm real glad I used a pseudonym at the conference. When I was freaking out, my biggest fear was that my coworkers would read this shit. In addition to being mean-spirited, it identified me as trans. There's enough employment discrimination against trannies- not to mention real-life hate crimes- that I don't like that info to be easily googleable by coworkers, potential employers, and my neighbors. The pseudonym protected me from hate scope creep- I'm real glad I used it. Hateful shit said about me online can hurt and trigger me- but as long as it's separated from my legal name, it's not going to threaten my physical safety or ability to earn a living. And yay for that.

Anyhow. I'm going to try unlocking this again. Welcome back.

Xoxo

Nabil


Transmitted by owl.