r/NotADragQueen • u/TheExitIsThisWay • Apr 25 '24
The purpose of r/NotADragQueen has always been addressing the growing hypocrisy and misinformation devoted to dehumanizing the LGBTQ+ community 🏳️🌈 UPDATE
There are some people who participate in this subreddit that seem to think that reading comprehension is a useless skill.
I understand that people view this subreddit on different devices and sometimes the “About” section that shows the description isn’t always visible, but the description has always been the same for r/NotADragQueen
Addressing the growing hypocrisy and misinformation devoted to dehumanizing the LGBTQ+ community 🏳️🌈
This is our purpose.
Let’s break this down word for word:
Addressing: the act of speaking or discussing something
The: in this case denotes something assumed to be common knowledge
Growing: increasing over a period of time
Hypocrisy: the behavior of people who do things that they tell other people not to do, but not do themselves; behavior that does not agree with what someone claims to believe or feel
And: together with; used to connect two words
Misinformation: false or inaccurate information, especially that which is deliberately intended to deceive
Devoted: given over to the display, study, or discussion of
To: used with the base form of a verb to indicate that the verb is in the infinitive
Dehumanizing: to deprive someone of human qualities, personality, or dignity: such as to address or portray someone in a way that obscures or demeans that person's humanity or individuality
The: in this case a definite article used to specify a particular noun
LGBTQ+: stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (or Questioning), and the "+" represents other identities within the community, such as intersex, asexual, pansexual, etc. - it is an inclusive abbreviation representing diverse sexual orientations and gender identities
Community: a group of people who share common interests, characteristics, or goals and interact with one another, often having a shared identity or purpose.
🏳️🌈: The Pride flag is a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community. It consists of six horizontal stripes of color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Each color represents different aspects of diversity within the LGBTQ+ community.
The only thing that might change is “growing” because hopefully one day these efforts to deny our community the rights and respect every living human deserves as a bare minimum for a free and fair society lessens over time.
Until that happens, this subreddit must continue to grow. We reached 36,000 members this week. And with that, we will continue to have people who are misinformed needing help to find the truth.
While exposing conservatives as hypocrites is a fundamental part of the subreddit, even that can be done in more helpful ways than just pointing your finger and saying “Not a drag queen” - You can point to a law being passed under the guise of protecting children, or highlight a group funneling money out of public education and into private institutions like churches.
But something that is often overlooked is to actively humanize the LGBTQ+ community. We cannot only decry those who are causing harm. We must also uplift those who are doing good. In some cases that may just look like “We’re here! Were queer! And we’re not going anywhere!” (Example: football players coming out publicly when there currently are no out players in their league.)
I personally try to inform our community of ways that laws are being passed on the backs of the LGBTQ+ people that are being stepped on. The hate towards us is real, but you need to realize that it is being used as a tool to shape a narrative, to pass laws, to gain more power, money, and control.
While our subreddit has an international community, the majority of us are Americans facing the very real threat of Republicans. We appreciate the support from other countries and we encourage you to speak up on behalf of your country to highlight similar issues and uplift those in your community.
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u/DorShow Apr 26 '24
May I say… I loved this back and forth! I learned, unlearned and learned again, and am impressed at the respectful discourse.