Listen up!

If you think my criticism of Tamikka Brents and her fans is because I'M a fan of Fallon Fox, think again.

If you think I have a vested interest in Fallon winning her fight with Brents on September 13th, think again.

If you think my going after Brents, and her claims to be an LGBT 'advocate' in the making are some kind of bullshit attempt to 'put her off her game', walk up to the nearest brick wall, bang your head off that wall for as long as it takes for you to get some sense in it , turn the fuck around, and THINK. AGAIN.

I'm a poet and journalist who is also a trans woman. I write about trans issues. I write about LGBT issues.

I wrote about CeCe McDonald being locked up in a men's prison for the supposed 'crime' of defending herself against a racist, transphobic attack.

I wrote about Avery Edison being held in detention in a men's prison in Canada for a VISA violation.

I wrote about Chelsea Manning being imprisoned for 'treason' by Uncle Sam for daring to expose the crimes of the American Empire, when I think she should be released and hailed as a goddam hero for that very act of exposure.

How could I, as a trans poet, NOT write about Fallon Fox? How could I look at her struggles and NOT address them in verse?

That's why I take on this battle as a poet. And as a journalist?

As a journalist, I have, time and again, criticised LGBT people who, hypocritically, behave appallingly to our own kind.

I criticised Christopher Biggins for suggesting that 'bisexuals ruin women's lives'.

I criticised Nigel Evans for behaving in a way that, as I saw it, would have a chilling effect on future reports of rape and sexual assault in the LGBT community.

And in the very same article in which I talked about Fox/Brents, I criticised my fellow trans woman Kellie Maloney for her disgraceful, homophobic remarks about same-sex marriage and parenting.

How could I NOT call Brents out on the hypocrisy of claiming to be an LGBT advocate, then engaging in dog-whistle transphobia? How could I stand by and watch as she does NOTHING to condemn those among her fans who resort to misgendering and transphobic slander against someone who really IS a pioneering activist?

If you think I care about who wins in a cage-fighting contest, you're right only in this much: that I don't like to see hypocrites win. But whether Fox or Brents' hand is raised that night matters much, much less to me than the fact that I have a duty as a poet to address the matters which affect my community, and a duty as a journalist to hold those who would set themselves up as our icons to account.

If you're down with that, if you think that's a thing worth doing, then I really don't care WHO you cheer for on September 13th.

And if you don't - if you find that unpalatable - if you'd rather I didn't disrupt your cheerleading for your golden girl - GOOD. You are EXACTLY the kind of smug, comfortable person I AIM to upset. And if you're accusing me of partiality and bias and 'having an agenda' because what I write and say upsets you then that just tells me my aim is TRUE.

Haters to the left.