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Furthermore on Categories

 Categories do not have to be limiting. Categories can set you free. What you define to be your identity is who you are and no one can take that away from you. Identity is important in the areas of Disability and Queer Rights, which in my case intersect, much like any other movement that has been based in civil rights.

Use categories to your advantage to mark your place in society, whatever it may be, to fight against the tyranny that is being reigned on the Disability and Queer Rights Movements at this point in time. COVID is not over, and everyday more and more people are becoming Disabled by the chronic illness of Long COVID, but we still don't know the long-term detriment of this illness. I have even been affected by it and contracted it myself and had a case of Long COVID that, thankfully, seemed to pass after several months.

There is also the the public health emergency of international concern, monkeypox, going around and there seems to be a lot of misinformation about it, much like there was with COVID, and antivaxxers are still going at it. I do not feel that I am educated enough on this topic, however, to speak much further. My point is that illness, including chronic illnesses, can become intimately intertwined with your identity as well because of the effect it has on your body.

This does not even take into account all of the anti-Queer bills that are being enacted in the United States at this time. It is becoming a scary place for many trans people, such as myself, to live, but this is nothing new... It's only getting worse as the spread of fascism washes over the land. Anti-abortion laws have already been enacted which clearly shows that these fascists obviously don't care about bodily autonomy... That's not the fascist way. There may come a time when Queer people will have to hide out of fear again, but I have made the decision not to hide myself, even if it's the end of me. Most cishetero people do not take into consideration just how many rights are being stripped from Queer people. 

I do not separate mind from body, looking towards a more holistic approach that could be considered almost a form of somatic psychology. I do not adhere to the practices of Simon Baron-Cohen who claims that Autistics have no theory of mind, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this in the first place. As far as he is concerned, nothing I write or do in the field of psychology will ever matter with the disputable data he has been gathering for years about Autistic individuals. 

My identity has brought me to a place of acceptance of myself, which in turn can become acceptance of others and I hope that through my continued efforts to reach the Disabled and Queer communities, I can slowly develop a safe space for other Disabled and Queer people to air out their thoughts on the subjects I speak of and perhaps provide insight into new ways of doing things.

Since my identity is an intersection between Queerness and Disability primarily, this is the audience that I would like to be bringing in. I would appreciate any and all feedback, given you are either Disabled, Queer, or both. I am doing my best to intersect the Queer and Disability Rights Movements in the most appropriate light possible. Bear with me on this journey, and we might get somewhere. 

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