{"sf1_id":907582,"sf2_id":"4nADK9Gm","title":"Safe Spaces","author":"zetasyanthis","words":361,"posted_at":"2015-09-07T00:12:00.000Z","tags":["Poem","Safe space"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/907582-safe-spaces","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/4nADK9Gm","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/65/25/6525f16d-6a2c-44a0-8986-733b0252cc86","description":"","content":"This one goes out to all the faggots, all the dykes, all the trannies, and to all the rest of us who just want to be ourselves in peace.  \n  \nSafe spaces...  \nPeople talk about them like they're going out of style,  \nchecking off the boxes next to catering options and seating arrangements.  \nFrom small friendly gatherings to high-powered conferences, we talk,  \nbut we say nothing.  \nWe do not acknowledge the alternative spaces,  \nthe ones where fear courses through our veins like ice,  \nthe ones where our heartbeats seem to be  \nthe only friendly sound  \nfor miles.  \n  \nWe speak of peace without acknowledging disaster.  \nAnd in those places where our fear lives,  \nthose trapped find no solace in our words.  \nA few may see our light and find their way,  \nbut the majority cannot escape so easily,  \nand our citadels of tolerance are as unbreachable  \nas the rules they can never fully obey.  \n  \nSafe spaces...  \nWe used to call them something else.  \nAs I recall, they were 'refuges'.  \nRefuges for refugees.\u0026nbsp; A home for those who dared go no where else.  \nNo one seems to remember that definition anymore.  \nAnd maybe,  \nwe should start.\n\n\u0026nbsp;It's a wonderful and amazing thing,  \nhosting an event where we can be ourselves.  \nBut it isn't really a refuge,  \noften,  \nbarely a starting point.  \nAs we build these places,  \nwe would do well to remember that  \nfew people who truly need them  \ncan afford their entry price  \nFewer still know that they exist.  \n  \nI do not say they are evil.  \nI do not say they are vain.  \nI only say they are insufficient  \nto ward off all our pain.  \n  \nThose who most desperately need us  \nwho need to hear our words  \nwill never in these places find them  \nand so we must endure  \nthe darkness of the real,  \nthe pain that never ends,  \nand in \\*those\\* places join them  \nand there become their friends.  \n  \nTogether, we can build them,  \nour spaces safe and sound,  \nbut we must all together  \nelse some be interred in ground.  \n  \nSo let us now be joyful,  \nand let us build anew,  \nbut we must always 'member  \nto build for all them too.  \n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Poems","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/862078-the-changing.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1029880-with-broken-hearts.json"}}