How to be a MAP activist?

[girllover]

How can I become a MAP activist?
Can someone please guide me on how to be a MAP activist?
How to be one online? and how to be one offline?

There is zero map activism happening in my region.
Yes, there might be some MAPs online.
But when it comes to MAP activism people see it as very risky. I think it's the same everywhere irrespective of where you come from.

I believe the future of MAPs is in jeopardy if we don't act now.
Even with all the developments in AI and automation anything which is remotely related to MAPs is heavily censored.
If we don't speak up,
if we don't come together as a community,
if we don't support each other,
if we simply give in to what the media, the state, the public, the antis want for us then it would be just a matter of years before they wipe out our existence as a community and completely replace our stories with the narrative they want to tell.

How can I connect with minor MAPs in my region? How can I help them start a movement here?
A movement that would bring us all together.
A movement that would give hope to any MAP who has ever felt isolated, a MAP failed by the system.
A movement that would outlive us.

I don't want it to be grand or intimidating.
Just resilient enough to withstand all the attacks by the system.
Something simple. Open yet accepting of all the diversity without being preachy or too woke like the LGBTQ movement had been in the West lately.

[Julia]

Personally, I take a rather risky approach. I use authenticity and vulnerability to persuade people. I am openly out, and link my personal accounts, showing my face to demonstrate that I’m just a normal person. I refrain from using aggression, violence, or hostility. Authenticity and kindness go a long way in persuading others, especially when standing on the side of truth.

Outside the community, I focus on rehumanising MAPs—destigmatising, educating people, working towards recognition as a vulnerable, marginalised group, and building solidarity from an intersectional perspective. Inside the community, I primarily engage in philosophical discussions, share ideas with others, advocate for a pro-C position, and contribute various forms of art while sharing interesting academic pieces and essays from time to time.

My magnum opus so far was sharing a destigmatising essay on Instagram in which I also came out to about 142k followers. I still have that account and am considering doing something similar again at some point. Unfortunately, the first time, I didn’t know nearly as much as I do now. While it wasn’t bad overall and raised many important points, it did have some flaws. I faced a lot of harassment, but I also managed to persuade hundreds if not thousands of people.

I should add that I do not recommend this approach to anyone living in the US. I’m fortunate to live in an obscure European country with decent privacy laws, where I feel relatively safe.

I also place homemade MAP stickers wherever I go. While I wouldn’t consider that activism, it’s quite fun, and I like the idea of other MAPs finding them and feeling less alone.

The questions you raise are very important. Organising is crucial to the success of any marginalised movement, but for MAPs, it is extremely challenging and dangerous. While I don’t have answers to your questions at the moment, I will certainly think about them. I have considerable experience with organising and growing marginalised communities, so I’m sure I can figure something out.

[Fragment]

MAP activism isn’t that different from other activism except that it’s more dangerous and you’re more likely to be ignored.

Have you considered writing letters/ emails to politicians, media outlets, lawyers or researchers?

Obviously focusing on individual relationships can be important, too, but I think some people trying to be activists focus a little too much on arguing on social media when they could be trying to target more influential people.

I did a couple of interviews. As part of Mu I’ve written articles and sent them to major media outlets (which picked some of them up).

Another kind of activism we need more of is “get rich and contribute money to MAP causes”. Imagine if some of us could work full time on activism with financial support from the community like Frank Kameny did as a gay activist.

Or if we could get professionally produced materials like TV advertisements (if anywhere would make them/ run them).

Time. Or money. That’s the important activism. It feels like there’s a lot of people that just talk about legal change in MAP communities and expect something to come of that.

[Puerto Lobos]

Stickers sound like activism to me! But art in general is a great way to spread awareness and increase presence in the zeitgeist. I know I've seen a lot of growing zine libraries online recently. If you have the talent and time you could make some zines centred on information you'd want the public to remember and see if any of the online zine libraries would be willing to include it. Or if you have some money you could maybe commission an artist to make one with the messaging you have in mind.

[girllover]

My magnum opus so far was sharing a destigmatising essay on Instagram in which I also came out to about 142k followers. I still have that account and am considering doing something similar again at some point. Unfortunately, the first time, I didn’t know nearly as much as I do now. While it wasn’t bad overall and raised many important points, it did have some flaws. I faced a lot of harassment, but I also managed to persuade hundreds if not thousands of people.

So you're like completely out? Didn't they try to dox you?

I should add that I do not recommend this approach to anyone living in the US. I’m fortunate to live in an obscure European country with decent privacy laws, where I feel relatively safe.

I'm not in the US. I don't know if your approach will work where I live. There are lots of political, religious and so-called 'child rights' organisations out here who would seize any opportunity to target a MAP for their own political gains.
Also, there is lots of CSA happening in this region.
So, an out and open MAP would be a sitting duck for the Mob's fury.

Have you considered writing letters/ emails to politicians, media outlets, lawyers or researchers?

Nope. That requires long term planning. It's not like I could just mail a couple of letters and relax.

Obviously focusing on individual relationships can be important, too, but I think some people trying to be activists focus a little too much on arguing on social media when they could be trying to target more influential people.

I agree.

Another kind of activism we need more of is “get rich and contribute money to MAP causes”. Imagine if some of us could work full time on activism with financial support from the community like Frank Kameny did as a gay activist.

Yes. This is something which interests me. Working full time as a MAP activist would be quite taxing for me. But I'd be happy to contribute to MAP causes.

Or if we could get professionally produced materials like TV advertisements (if anywhere would make them/ run them).

Won't work in my region.

Time. Or money. That’s the important activism. It feels like there’s a lot of people that just talk about legal change in MAP communities and expect something to come of that.

Exactly.
It'd be almost a decade since I connected with other MAPs. I'm tired of simply listening to them talk about legal change or even the societal change. I think we need to act now. In whatever ways we can. We need to at least start somewhere.

[Julia]

So you're like completely out? Didn't they try to dox you?

I am. My story was just uploaded as a guest blog on Mu: https://www.map-union.org/perspectives/ ... 000-people
They tried and failed. Turns out there isn't much overlap between being an anti and being smart enough to dox someone.

I'm not in the US. I don't know if your approach will work where I live. There are lots of political, religious and so-called 'child rights' organisations out here who would seize any opportunity to target a MAP for their own political gains.
Also, there is lots of CSA happening in this region.
So, an out and open MAP would be a sitting duck for the Mob's fury.

Yeah, sounds like it's best to continue operating underground there for the time being.

Stickers sound like activism to me! But art in general is a great way to spread awareness and increase presence in the zeitgeist. I know I've seen a lot of growing zine libraries online recently. If you have the talent and time you could make some zines centred on information you'd want the public to remember and see if any of the online zine libraries would be willing to include it. Or if you have some money you could maybe commission an artist to make one with the messaging you have in mind.

I prioritise designing the stickers over distributing them. I plan to create a new batch soon, as it's been a while. If you'd like to print some yourself, I upload them here. I love the idea of zines, and would be delighted to contribute to one or more, as I do have the skill and time to do the graphic design and some writing. Where can I find these zines? I'm not sure where to look.

[Puerto Lobos]

Oh these are so cute! Love them. Do you also make the stickers or use a service for that?

This is the first library that comes to mind. https://decolonizationcoven.com/. Love their pay if you can setup.

I'll slide into your DMs with any other that I dig up later.