ACTUAL ‘self-defense’ * is:
1. Proactive mitigation,
2. Varied (!!) systems analysis,
3. Community decision-making, and
4. Anti-hierarchical conflict resolution.
It’s not easy, simple, or direct. Instead: it is sustainable, effective, adaptable, and fair. For once.
1. DON’T shoot the messenger.
(This assumes you accept that you can be wrong. You can. You will be wrong.)
2. ASK people unlike you to double-check.
(Accept them telling you "no". You are not entitled to their time or efforts.)
3. INVOLVE people affected in discussing options.
(Remember: you can be wrong. You will be wrong. That's part of why it's important to reduce potential harm in advance.)
4. No one is above anyone else. Ever.
(Especially if you think being described as having power over someone else is an insult. "Cis" is a goddamn descriptor, for fucks' sake. Get therapy and fuck right off.)
Yes: bureaucracy, overhaul, and buy-in from community leaders -- and whoever tells the CIA which anti-hierarchical countries to fuck with.
But maybe life would start being worth living for a lot more people??
Maybe we could eliminate subsistence crime? Maybe we could return people’s futures to them?
* context https://lgbtqia.space/@MxVerda/113649372202688121