Jessie Gender
@jessiegender.bsky.social
57K followers 1.2K following 2.5K posts
Director & Writer | IDENTITEAZE film | YouTuber | former writer/video producer at Gamespot, The Advocate, Microsoft, Out Magazine, Rotten Tomatoes, & Skybound | Trekkie by birth
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jessiegender.bsky.social
I’m going to make this a video at some point but I’m saying this here and being done because it’s honestly just angering and scaring and frustrating me.
The reason I’ve been so critical of people praising the likes of Gavin Newsom and saying things like, “you may not like him but we need him in the fight,” or applauding his redistricting of California as a tit-for-tat move against GOP redistricting, is that fundamentally they are ignoring the core problem here: this is just justifying a further slide into an authoritarian state.
I want to be clear, because people don’t seem to understand me when I say this—I think Gavin Newsom’s response to the GOP redistricting Texas to disenfranchise Democratic voters and give themselves more representatives, by doing the same in California to disenfranchise GOP voters and give Democrats more representatives, is the correct response within the system. Yes, if Democrats want to win, this is what they have to do. They shouldn’t be playing by rules the GOP clearly ignores. Again, this is the only response that makes sense within the rules of the game.
But the problem with everyday Americans’ response—cheering on Newsom and saying we need to get behind him uncritically—shows how much people empathize with power over themselves. At the end of the day, this is the American system further entrenching and normalizing authoritarian power. Even if Democrats were to win using these tactics in 2028—which is preferable to a GOP win, yes—they will not willingly give up this newly normalized power dynamic. More voters will have been disenfranchised. Long term, we’re left with a system even less democratic, with few—if any—levers within it to push back.
Worse still, so many are cheering on the idea of having strongman leaders like Newsom. People literally make Trump-like memes of him carrying an American flag. This “we need our own strongman to fight Trump and kick him in the balls” is the same cult of personality that entrenches the Trumpian mindset within establishment Democrats who think they’re being progressive, while actually backing further disenfranchisement of middle- and lower-class Americans—people already struggling under late-stage capitalism.
And people like Newsom—or other Democratic leaders establishment liberals rally behind, like Pete Buttigieg—are perfectly willing to throw trans people or the homeless under the bus if it plays well to a mythical centrist base. So while people pat themselves on the back for voting for a gay man or supporting a Democrat like Newsom who “punches Trump where it hurts,” they’re ignoring not only their own further disenfranchisement, but also the additional attacks and harm directed toward even more marginalized groups like trans people and the homeless. 
I say all of this because one day people will have to reckon with this reality—that the American system will continue to justify making itself more authoritarian under the logic of, “that’s just how we have to fight the fascists.” That’s the only choice it offers us within its limits. But we do have other options. People are just too scared, or too enmeshed in the political system, to recognize them or admit what needs to be done. We need to fundamentally change how we do politics.
I’m not saying you need to pick up a gun and start a revolution against the American state. But I am saying you need to stop focusing solely on electoral politics or trying to pass laws within this system to get what you need. Build up your communities. Find ways to provide food, educational resources, childcare, and other essentials locally. Organize for community defense. Join a union or a collective. These are tangible actions, better uses of your time than canvassing for a political campaign, asking people to vote, or arguing with Republicans online.
The path we’re on—pouring our energy into stanning Newsom or treating electoral politics as the only way to “win”—is deeply dangerous. It limits our imagination and leads us further into authoritarianism. And eventually, we will have to face that fact—whether it’s in 2028, 2032, or 2036. No matter what, we will have to confront that fundamental problem. The reason I’m so adamant about recognizing it now is that the longer we wait, the more people will be hurt.
As a trans person, I’m already on the chopping block—discarded by both sides of the same system of power. I see how people like me face a very real chance of being imprisoned, killed, or worse before society wakes up to this problem. And I’m not the only one. To paraphrase the poem: “They came for the trans people, and I did nothing, for I was not trans.”
What scares me most is that when I try to explain all of this, I am the one vilified. Trans people like me are told—not just by Republicans who openly hate us, but by Democrats—that we need to shut up and get behind “our guy” with “our guy” always being politicians who are more willing to publicly sit down with the likes of Charlie Kirk than to platform or even talk to a trans person. That’s how the system fuels resentment and dehumanization of marginalized people like me—because I’m unwilling to comply. I become the problem, the issue, the person to ostracize, the one accused of helping the fascists.
At the end of the day, I’m not here to say Gavin Newsom is wrong to redistrict in response to Trump and the GOP. That is how Democrats can and should win power, and within the system, it’s what they should be doing. That’s not my criticism. My point isn’t to Newsom—it’s to you. Because while redistricting may be a short-term solution, it doesn’t solve the deeper problem. It delays it. It accelerates it. And you will eventually have to face it.
I would much rather we face it clear-eyed now. Because doing so not only gives me, as a trans person, a greater chance of survival, but it also means that if you recognize the problem now, I’m still here with you—still able to fight alongside you. Because as the poem warns, one day they will come for you. And by then, there may not be anyone left beside you to fight.
jessiegender.bsky.social
Working on my horror script again for the Mark Duplass Trans Filmmaker grant application - I forgot how nice it was to work on something that I'm excited about rather then dealing with the shitiness of the world.
jessiegender.bsky.social
So what you’re saying is the headline is indeed accurate and it will become a law despite him.
jessiegender.bsky.social
My dream movie to direct - Hackers 2 with a soundtrack entirely by The Midnight.
jessiegender.bsky.social
Ahh Tron, the franchise where am continually wishing each movie was better then it is. They’ll never catch Hackers’ brilliance.
Reposted by Jessie Gender
morninkim.bsky.social
extremely extremely good video and Perfectly captures why i felt so Alright Yeah Sure about this season of SNW, like it's truly the most pointing at the screen and looking back at you hoping you got the reference while it actively tells you not to challenge it i've ever seen Trek and it Sucksss
jessiegender.bsky.social
I just wanna know how the Spiderman meme still exists in the Nazi universe despite having Jewish creators. Is Spiderman a Nazi there?
Reposted by Jessie Gender
abrightgreencity.bsky.social
I have started watching this, though it's going to take some time for me to get through it all.

But after I watched 4 & a Half Vulcans, an episode I -fucking hated- I was talking to some white friends who all thought it was dumb but funny, at the time I was confused, but now I realize it was 1/2
jessiegender.bsky.social
I don’t think I can be friends anymore…
jessiegender.bsky.social
I hope that some future movie character like Indiana Jones will go around punching ICE agents, who just become the canon fodder bad guys.
jessiegender.bsky.social
Most capitalists are just sad insecure men who need to learn what so many trans people learned - power and hierarchy will never validate you for being you, only how you benefit the system - and that no matter how much you win at the system's game, it'll still make you feel like you're not enough.
jessiegender.bsky.social
What's absolutely sad is there are a few of them that I spoke to that when they actually reveal their human side, they actually CAN be interesting. But they so rarely actually are willing to do that and instead want the validation that status or society or money or awards gets them to feel good.
jessiegender.bsky.social
Also, FYI @toplesstopics.bsky.social is GREAT and you should follow her. This isn't a critism of her, her point is good, I just wanted to say that its possible to not censor yourself on YouTube. It will bite you in the ass at times, but you can do it.
jessiegender.bsky.social
Every capitalist I've dealt with almost always mistake money for proof that they’ve done/said something meaningful when really they’re boring insecure people trying to fill the void with status. When that fails, they use their power to make others around them feel small so they can feel important.
hausofdecline.bsky.social
The CEO of Bluesky is craven and evil. The only people that build these platforms are infected with the self-reproducing moral rot of capitalism. They have no sense of duty or stewardship. They see their monetary reward as a cleansing justification for their actions.
Reposted by Jessie Gender
hausofdecline.bsky.social
The CEO of Bluesky is craven and evil. The only people that build these platforms are infected with the self-reproducing moral rot of capitalism. They have no sense of duty or stewardship. They see their monetary reward as a cleansing justification for their actions.
jessiegender.bsky.social
I actually don't really censor my videos all that much. Only time I've done so is when I've been forced to due to either copyright claims or - more often - strikes (like when my Matt Walsh video got a strike by YouTube). But I never censor myself by not saying things like "genocide" or "suicide".
toplesstopics.bsky.social
(even when the creators have to severely censor their content on youtube like @jessiegender.bsky.social and @jacobgeller.com for instance, then tell their audience they could go elsewhere to something like nebula to watch the uncensored versions...most people still don't bother, for whatever reason)
jessiegender.bsky.social
I actually don't really censor my videos all that much tbh. Only time I've done so is when I've been literally forced to by YouTube due to either copyright claims or - more often - strikes. But otherwise, I never censor my words by not saying things like "genocide" or "suicide"
Reposted by Jessie Gender
alexapiper.bsky.social
Not just another insightful video by @jessiegender.bsky.social but also a recommendation that's going right on my spooky season list, Dead End Paranormal Park on Netflix! Please watch both Jessie's video and the show!

youtu.be/zgihLc_hOQg?...
The Manufactured Outrage Behind Elon Musk’s Anti-Trans Netflix Boycott
YouTube video by Jessie Gender
youtu.be
Reposted by Jessie Gender
Reposted by Jessie Gender
jessiegender.bsky.social
That and people who want to masturbate to a literal objectified woman. It’s so telling that the first AI actor is made to look like a woman because that’s all they see women actors as - silly little objects made to look pretty.
jessiegender.bsky.social
That and people who want to masturbate to a literal objectified woman. It’s so telling that the first AI actor is made to look like a woman because that’s all they see women actors as - silly little objects made to look pretty.
jessiegender.bsky.social
It’s just so weird to me how people just see art as a product and not a tool of human connection and communication. Like that’s the whole fucking point.