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Comment by DonHopkins | Hacker News Reader

It's not his first transphobic remark. Not only does he call trans people "traps", but he also objects to using proper pronouns because "I don't like my speech being dictated". It's easy to guess what he's obsessed with and ashamed about, and it's not about his lack of ability to treat people with respect.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15242499

And FYI, in case you're a nice enough person to have missed the reference, "Are Traps Gay" is an alt-right meme and shout-out to Milo Yiannopoulos.

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> is an alt-right meme and shout-out to Milo Yiannopoulos

Wait, since when? The way it is phrased, and often the discussion it prompts, is certainly transphobic/homophobic, but any context I've seen it in (which hasn't been for a good few years) has been totally divorced from the alt-right. Did I miss it getting picked up by those groups at some point?

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/traps

“Are Traps Gay?” is a satirical debate within otaku and alt-right online communities, attempting to determine if being attracted to a crossdressing man is an indication of homosexuality. This debate is often discussed alongside the discussions of anime and futanari character design. On February 21st, 2015, Redditor NyaaFlame posted a thread entitled “Why Liking Traps Isn’t Gay” to the /r/anime subreddit. Later that year, on July 31st, 2015 YouTuber king rad uploaded a video in which alt-right leader Milo Yiannopoulos" “Is it gay to like traps?”[1] Yiannopoulos appears to be hearing the term for the first time. On August 10, 2015, he uploaded a video to YouTube entitled “Judge Milo Decides: Are Traps Gay?” The video receives more than 74,900 views.

No, that's an ancient 4chan meme (source: haven't been there for years). It was a witty remark and not unsolicited. I'm wondering whether you've been digging through his profile just now, or you keep a list of people guilty of phrases like "I don't like my speech being dictated"?

Pepe is an ancient 4chan meme too, but it has a very different specific meaning now.

If you think it was a witty remark and not unsolicited, you should consider going back to 4chan, where you'll find a lot more stuff like that which appeals to you, and where you won't be so inconveniently expected to treat other people with decency and respect.

>If you think it was a witty remark and not unsolicited...

You should be able to see that the first post is an opening for humour. Speaking of decency and respect, the word "trap", as opposed to being an insult, is a compliment elevating a subset of transsexuals. At the risk of making a deadly faux-pas like the flagged poster, trans people do aim to have the appearance of the opposite sex right?

Sheesh, when did that start having alt-right connotations?

It's a question anyone remotely into contemporary anime/manga would ponder.

Since you asked: August 10, 2015.

Are you actually implying that my making a joke is evidence of some deep dark secret about my sexuality?

Since you ask: it's not just me, it's science (also journalism documenting many recent and historic events) that says many homophobes are secretly gay, and it's also a popular and widely known trope and basis of many memes, which you should take into account next time you feel the irresistible urge make a homophobic joke without intending for people to assume you're a closeted gay.

Rule of thumb: If you're really not gay, and don't want people to think you're gay, then simply stop making homophobic jokes!

Your "joke" was essentially transphobic and homophobic at its core, and not even funny because it doesn't even make any sense, even if you accept all the built-in underlying assumptions (which themselves are quite transphobic and homophobic).

Using the word "gay" doesn't automatically make everything funny, unless you're a homophobe or a 12-year-old. If you really think you made a funny joke that somehow makes sense, then can you explain why it's funny, and which underlying assumptions it depends on? (Please don't. I'm just joking. It isn't funny, and you can't make it funny by trying to explain it.)

Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/homophobic-...

Homophobic Men Most Aroused by Gay Male Porn: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-big-questions/20110...

A New Study Reveals that Insecure Men Use Sexist and Homophobic Jokes to Appear More Manly: https://hornetapp.com/stories/study-sexist-homophobic-jokes/

Armoured Closet Gay: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArmouredClosetGay

"When I grew up, being gay, being a sissy or anything like that was verboten. I disliked myself intensely and feared this part of myself intensely and had to hide it and became "Perfect Richard, All-American Boy" as a place to hide." — Richard Chamberlain

AKA The Law of Inverse Homosexuality: The more vocally opposed a person is to homosexuality, the more likely they are to be gay themself and closeted about it.

He's the strongest, toughest, manliest man in the sports team. He might hate gays and be vocal, or even violent about it. He will remind everybody that he is completely, 100% straight. That is, during the daytime. When night falls, you can find him Where Everybody Knows Your Flame with the Club Kids and Gym Bunnies. He might be browsing Grindr with a headless torso pic. He's the self-loathing gay guy who hides behind a macho façade.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TransEqualsGay

The misconception that being Transgender is merely taking homosexuality one step further.

In Real Life, homosexuality and being transgender are entirely separate concepts, as they relate to two different things. Being gay or lesbian relates to sexual and romantic attraction, and means being attracted to others of the same sex. Being trans relates to gender identity, and means self-identifying as a gender different from your body's physical sexnote . This can be expressed as being "a woman trapped in a man's body" or vice versa. However, this distinction is all too often overlooked by both straight and gay cisgendernote writers wanting to insert a little diversity into their stories.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CategorismAsAPhob...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuspiciouslySpeci...

Anti-gay US lawmaker resigns after being 'caught having sex with man in his office': https://tribune.com.pk/story/1561269/3-anti-gay-us-lawmaker-...

TRUMP CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR AND 'FAMILY VALUES' REPUBLICAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING, FACES LIFE IN PRISON: http://www.newsweek.com/republican-sex-trafficking-child-tru...

16 Anti-Gay Activists Who Were Caught Being Gay: https://www.ranker.com/list/top-10-anti-gay-activists-caught...

I’m mostly straight, somewhat bi male with some socially-induced gender dysphoria.

> In Real Life, homosexuality and being transgender are entirely separate concepts

I don’t think sexuality and gender are completely dissociated. I think your self conception and the kind of people you want to look at you sexually have a lot to do with each other actually.

It’s not uncommon for us to have experiences that affect the formation of both their gender and sexual identity.

I don't really want to respond to this wall of text. I can't even bring myself to read the the whole thing. Except I want to point out that I don't care what anybody on here thinks about my sexuality. I really don't. How could I? None of this is about -me- because nobody on here knows the slightest bit of detail about my personal life.

I just had a thought that I (and evidently at least one other person) found humorous, and I felt a desire to share, nothing nobler or less noble. I was utterly shocked that it prompted a flame war that came to the attention of the mods.

Then I hope you learned something: Stop telling homophobic jokes if you have a problem with people thinking you're gay, or even if you don't. Got it? Have any problem with that?

i) Nothing about the joke is homophobic.

ii) I learned something, but perhaps not what you wish I'd learned.

iii) I don't care if you think I'm gay, partly because I wouldn't care if I were gay or not, but mostly because I don't care what strangers think at all.

iv) My jokes are no more or less funny depending on the sexuality of the teller.

v) I generally don't have any problem with anything anybody thinks or says, though political winds in other countries are starting to concern me a bit, Canada's pronoun law for example. So long as we're only talking and nobody's going to jail for wrongspeak, I think there's no problem.

1) That's not what most people thought, which is why you were immediately downvoted, flagged, and rightfully called an ass.

2) Stop making homophobic jokes and then pretending they're not homophobic, if you don't want people to know you're an asshole.

3) You've already revealed a lot of personal information about yourself and your character in this discussion and your comment history.

So do you agree to stop telling homophobic jokes, or not? If not, then why do you insist on violating the rules of this community by telling them?

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