Michelle and her cyberbullies delete their hate speech shortly after posting it to avoid account suspension. It doesn't work, as evidenced by Michelle's multiple account suspensions, as well as scores of suspensions of her smattering of thugs. I began this blog to parse the divide between the public record and what has been deleted from the internet. This blog is the context for what you may see elsewhere, not the other way around. Nevertheless, here is some context for the context:
I started using Twitter shortly after Michelle Shocked's anti-gay outburst at Yoshi's. A friend told me she was continuing to speak out and interact on Twitter, and as a disappointed fan I wanted answers... an apology... something that would make me continue to like her. I was in for more disappointment.
Those of us who tried to be critical of what Michelle said were verbally attacked by a small, militant group of defenders. They were who you'd expect to rise to the defense of gaybashing: Right-wing extremists, homophobes, conspiracy theorists, and a few sad sacks who just wanted attention from a minor celebrity.
In the first few weeks and months following her Yoshi's gig, most people reacted by begging Michelle to get psychiatric help, assuming she'd had (and was continuing to experience) some sort of breakdown. Michelle and her thugs were relentless, however, and they threatened and insulted anyone and everyone who didn't bask in Michelle's glow.
I have an aggressive nature and when someone pushes me I push back. Another fair complaint has been waged that sometimes I push too far. I don't believe in a proportional response. If you are going to post repeated attacks against myself and others, you should not expect a timid reply from me. Nor should you expect me to allow you to continue to bully and harass others until they have to either make their account private or delete them altogether out of fear. All this began when people spoke out against Michelle's verbal attacks and condemnations of the gay community. Gay and straight people rallied to ensure her hate speech could find no home on a stage in front of a paid audience. In the aftermath, I exist to combat the insults and the bullying.
But that's only the beginning of the story. Nearly a year since Yoshi's, Michelle (along with Quad, Perrin, Jaimito, and Jeff) continue to openly target people, many private figures who have moved on with their lives. And lately Michelle and her gang of tools tried exactly what many of us suspected, to create a false version of events to whitewash what she said and why she said it.
Twitter's terms of use is fine with brazen lies. Accounts can't be suspended or deleted because users refuse to tell the truth, and absent someone vocally representing the truth, those lies could start to be believed. That's where this blog comes into play. I had tried maintaining a Twitter feed that did nothing other than repost exact quotes from Michelle Shocked. Ironically, it was suspended long before Michelle's actual account, because apparently she could abuse others, but I couldn't maintain a Twitter record of that abuse. Google\Blogger is more understanding.
I encourage new readers of this blog to go back to the first post containing the exact words spoken at Yoshi's that caused such offense, then work your way back to this post. If you do, the context becomes clearer, as does the reason for my very vocal opposition of Michelle Shocked. I surprised myself by finding many good people on Twitter who I've grown to like and respect, but that doesn't mean the evils of Twitter don't exist. Someone else recently pointed out that in the ever-changing world of social media, Facebook and Twitter are starting to look like fossils. They are hemorrhaging users. In order to keep their stock prices as high as possible, they have to keep as many active accounts as they can. Twitter needs every user it can get, even the ones who make threats and post hate speech. That leaves it up to the rest of us to keep those bullies in check.
My approach and my choice of words are not pretty. I am definitely NSFW. But I fail to see the point in treading lightly in the face of evil. Not only do I work to get bullies off Twitter, but I recently claimed one of the bully's suspended accounts and made it my own. Perrin Blackman openly threatened me using her @FreestateKansas Twitter account, but now it is mine, the spoils of victory against cyberbullying. Because bullies shouldn't lose a little bit... they need to lose it all. It is the only way to stop them. Evil has to lose. Love has to win.
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