He never emerged from the resulting depression and killed himself two years later. He lasted two years longer than I would have lasted. This was the thanks he got for taking years off of WWII, and now the US wants to impose similar horrors on trans KIDS.

The fact that he continued using she/her pronouns for the rest of the conversation makes this even more meaningful.

Sounds like one of those gay Republicans. They don’t like flamboyance either.

I think in this case your assessment is probably just about spot on.

don't get me wrong, daryl is a fucking hero

i just resent the idea we are *all* required to be heroes when dealing with bigots

for those of us who do want to be such heroes, i have nothing but admiration

but we can't use daryl's example to shift responsibility onto us for accommodating someone else's vile failures

which is not what i think you were doing

but i have encountered commenters who do say that elsewhere

I totally agree it's not the job of Daryl to go out there and change racists one at a time, but I like to show his accomplishments as proof that people can be swayed.

Kinda funny to think we were both pulling out our Daryl Davis links about the same time

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/08/empathy-sin-christian-right-musk-trump

https://www.eenews.net/articles/meet-the-christian-oil-mogul-spending-big-to-elect-trump/

It doesn't make housing, food, or gas any less expensive.

Being mean to new Americans doesn't make prices go down.

A war on women's civil rights, doesn't help families.

Prejudice & stereotypes don't stop expensive wars & horrific genocides.

Given time, most folks realize that racism, misogyny, & xenophobia are just wage suppression schemes that impact every working person, including them.
https://inequality.org/article/billionaires-low-wage-workers/

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax

Billionaire wealth is stolen wages & unpaid taxes.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/03/25/sixteen-billionaires-who-made-their-fortunes-off-the-backs-of-low-wage-workers/

Given time, most realize that LGBTQ are just regular people & changes in marriage laws had NO impact on their lot in life.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/billionaire-tim-dunn-runs-texas/

https://www.christiancentury.org/books/inside-new-american-fascism

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/jul/11/tim-dunn-texas-oil-billionaire-trump

i cited daryl davis myself contemporaneously independently in this thread

the only problem with this approach:

it is not our job

and daryl's effort was inhuman amounts of stamina. he's a hero, but we aren't required to be heros for the sake of bigots. let bigots change themselves

if anybody wants to be a daryl davis, i applaud them. they can wade out into twitter, i will buy the streamers and champagne for the bon voyage

https://mastodon.social/@benroyce/117289915073518853

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/why-is-the-gop-escalating-attacks-on-trans-rights-experts-say-the-goal-is-to-make-sure-evangelicals-vote

https://19thnews.org/2022/05/white-evangelical-voters-gop-anti-trans-bills/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/gay-rights-ruling-complicates-trump-effort-to-hold-evangelical-voters-11592313428

It's billionaires, foreign & domestic, exploiting & amplifying bigotry for personal gain.
https://theconversation.com/anti-trans-protests-the-conservative-party-could-use-ideological-polarization-to-win-voters-214934

It is a cynical ploy to misuse faith to enrich the already rich.

Divide & Conquer narratives by the rich, for the rich.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/10/maga-foreign-policy/688352/
https://archive.is/mF3e6

1/

there's a persistent troll on the fediverse, who i will not name because it will summon him and he will dive right into it, who argues we need to allow bigotry on the fediverse to change them

he cited daryl davis who befriended and changed KKK members

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daryl_Davis

i replied that that is awesome. but it was a years long heroic effort of inhuman stamina

it's not our job to put in that effort and change bigots. *they* need to change

Daryl Davis has shown an effective solution to racism with some kind of "exposure therapy" approach.

The following TED talk takes you through his story of befriending a KKK leader, and eventually convincing him to quit the KKK. It's inspiring:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ORp3q1Oaezw

that’s not my job nor the job of any of your friends and relations victims.

i need to say this, because WHITE PRIVILEGE is expecting the patience and therapy to be done by the very victims of their racism and other -isms.

as i like to remind white LGBTQI folks: you are treated like we Black folks have been treated forever.

we need to end them hate -isms at the same time

@DemonHouser @benroyce @chrisamaphone @inthehands

Love is a game changer. Sounds like that old man loved his grandson and now loves his granddaughter after her transition. He is not completely sure how other people will react and is somehow protecting his own feelings for his granddaughter from his circle’s opinions. It is great that he now knows that there are people willing to understand and recognize his love for his granddaughter because he wants to be free to love her as she is

go to paul's third comment

"I happen to know that this is man is quite conservative in a lot of ways. He's steeped in the Foxosphere to a degree that alarms his relatives. I know he was a huge Trump supporter the first time around, and I'm pretty sure he was this time too."

No need to delete! It's an important and valid point. Just required the reply.

if you say so, i'll delete my comment

you have a beautiful inspiring tale

and i come in and do mundane bullshit