Distroism Now! #2

Distroism Now! #2

From It's Going Down

Counter Flow Collective on Starting a Distro


Welcome to the second installment of Distroism Now! For those that thought it would never happen, our second episode features the Counter Flow Collective, a distro behind some amazing titles, who presents a discussion on how and why you should start a distro. They go over some nuts and bolts about how to get your hands on a copy machine, as well as why and how it fits into the wider anarchist project.

They also present a broad discussion on the Grindr app from a radical trans perspective, covering everything from some history of Bash Back! to looking at the app’s possible use in antifascist resistance, and beyond.

More Info: Counter Flow collective here.

photo: Pixabay


There are 3 Comments

Appreciated helpful tips for procuring used copiers - especially as it gets harder to scam publicly accessible printers than it was previously with manual codes.

Was a bit shocked that - among the sleek pdfs from the media platforms and smaller niche databases with their own branding and agendas, the hosts didnt mention the zinemaking function of The Anarchist Library, which despite its utilitarian looks (just make your own covers if youre worried about things being eye-catching) is a crucial resource for accessing texts beyond just what is being buzzed about among the handful of zinestser and anarchist-ish media project accounts on twitter. Maybe common enough knowledge to forget mentioning, but hard to ignore its absence in a "how to do a distro" segment?

And by the way, who is hosting the next one? Perhaps someone will nominate the Anarchist Library team at some point...

I wanted to speak to the potential for doing antifascist open-source intel research via platforms like Grindr that the hosts and their guest talked about in this second segment.

While creative and an easy way for catfishing fascists on the platform - and perhaps a useful way to build information and map your nearby network of fascists - its perhaps shortsighted for trans people to equate its utility in this context with also policing their own scenes of abusers and "chasers".

In my own experience as a trans anarchist - who in my years has felt some need for "justice" to be meted out upon people who doubtlessly deserved it - very little healing for survivors is often achieved by creating social death and exile for transgressors in our communities. While there are doubtlessly trans people who will not allow themselves to be held to account for their abusive behavior - nor is there any incentive for them to allow themselves to be held to account with what passes for most "peer-mediated restorative justice" - the idea of "T4T" queer radicals banding together to drive abusers off cruising apps reproduces the dynamics of the state's "sex offender" registries, but in very informal and word-of-mouth clique-based scenes onto private social media platforms. I'm not saying a good asskicking is out of line from time to time perhaps - but the idea that a radically "Trans4Trans" community would invest itself in a politics of moral purity, social death, exile and disposability is one that many of us older than 30 or 40 have lived to witness - as survivors and supporters of those survivors - who see how these rarely achieve useful goals for the healing of survivors and community - and lead to the reifications of things like "safety" and moral correctitude among already-marginalized people who already fall outside of these reifications held by the state.

If one wants to handwave that all away as just "abuse apologism" then so be it - but neo-BashBackers invested in these strategies may find themselves in the fractured and murky communities we all did years before when we enacted one-strike policies without hope for growth, reform or a socially-mediated chance at apologies.

Also, finally, not to be terribly rude - as an old T4T anarchist - its deeply shortsighted to act as if "straight" trans women are largely less radical or invested in struggles of bodily autonomy, their self defense or having community - except perhaps not exclusively community within the walled moral gardens of "T4T radical queerness (and implied sexual partnership they arent interested in!)."

Perhaps in the wake of SESTA FOSTA, one may recognize interactions with "chasers" (aka "men - that i dont wanna fuck - who want to fuck women like me") as perhaps crucial to sex work, dating or social validation - something that will be complicated with increased risk and stigma that they'll be harassed for the offense of cruising a T4T girl on a cruising app. The material risk of being a "straight" transwoman isnt made easier by all romantic approaches - whether the stalking, harassing and violent or very mundane and normal - arent stigmatized as being a "guilty until proven innocent" paraphilia. What you're talking about isnt limited to "chasers" - its a stalking behavior that happens across various gender and sexuality on anonymous social media hookup apps, not some metaphysical psychosexual lust for girldick.

Perhaps one might do better to think through some social interactions and behaviors out a bit further than the bubble of queer rugrat community houses before taking to a platform with thousands of listeners to have a breathless conversation about the dark scary cruising grounds...

interesting post! i'm definitely not saying anything like "abuse apologism" to dismiss what you're saying but isn't any serious attempt to address conflicts around really shitty and transgressive behaviour always going to cause "murk and fracture" or just go unaddressed? like, addressing serious shit almost always involves more conflict.

i ask because i'm interested in autonomous community defense and don't think i've ever seen any serious conflict not pan out this way? it was more like people either did nothing or they were more proactive, with mixed results, depending on the skill of the folks involved and a lot of people get squeamish or justifiably exhausted by the process.

not usually about "1 strike policies" either, except in extreme cases. i guess my point is I often prefer the murk and fracture? because it's real and i know who the shitheads are, as well as their dupes and the people who are just "conflict avoidant".

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