Your altered swastika picture scares the shit out of me

Or, please stop sharing those fucking pictures already

Kirsten Schultz
Aug 27, 2017 · 5 min read

TW: discussion of Nazi/KKK/White Supremacist fucks, racism, antisemitism, ableism, homomisia, cisheterosexism, abuse, murder, eugenics, genocide

First, let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room. As a white person who is not religious, I have a bit of privilege here. I could easy try to blend in to avoid being harmed if absolutely needed. I do not have a history of my family being persecuted by Nazis nor do I experience racism or antisemitism.

Many ‘allies’ are using altered versions of a Nazi swastika to show that they’re against Nazism, the KKK, and White Supremacy. When you post these photos to perform your allyship, you’re actually hurting those you claim to support. You cause us emotional pain, set off PTSD episodes, and make us feel unsafe.

As a queer trans disabled person, I have a lot to fear from those you say you would protect me from. When I see Nazi imagery, therefore, I cringe. Panic immediately sets in and my brain — well-trained by PTSD — goes into hypervigilance mode.

Why? Because people who were anything but cishet and abled were targeted by Nazis.

Disabled people were considered drains on the society — mouths to feed that did not contribute anything. In fact, the T4 Euthanasia program — the one the Nazis used throughout camps — was ‘perfected’ on my disabled siblings.

And trans or queer people… Well, they threatened the idea of the perfect society Nazis wanted to create — largely in part because of stereotypes about homosexuality and femininity, too.

Below are some links for further information on these things:

(The above has a whole thread of education — please check it out)

We aren’t any safer than we were then. Sure, there are more legal protections in the way for those wishing to do us harm. When the cops stand complicit while White Supremacists try to murder us, though, that’s not really comforting. In fact, at least one disabled person was doused in gas and nearly lit on fire in Charlottesville.

When I see these images, then, I’m seeing the history of all this — not just in the abstract like many might, but in the immediate. I recall the looks I get for being young and looking fine (aside from being fat) to others when I use my disabled parking permit. I see the scorn on people’s faces when I display my gender identity more freely and wear items with the word ‘queer’ on them. I recall the bullying in high school for not looking ‘femme’ enough and for being disabled — bullying I hardly mention and don’t think I’ve even told my spouse about.

Fuck, it reminds me of abuse I received at the hands of a White Supremacist… who just happens to be my mother. As I was being homeschooled — before the point when Mother decided to stop teaching me anything — I was asked to watch a day full of History Channel shows on the Nazis. Mind you, this was around 1994–1995 when half their programming didn’t involve aliens.

She then asked me to write an essay. The prompt? Explain how Hitler was incredibly smart but just made a few mistakes along the way. I want to throw up remembering having to write something so… inhuman.

When your ‘cute’ swastika/45 alteration pops up in my feed, I panic. I remember just how much more unsafe I am now that I am out with my gender, sexuality, and disability. I remember how Mother is still out there and knows what city I live in. I know how easy it would be for her to find me and, with her fellow assholes, try to set me on fire.

In short, I go from casually scrolling my social media to being immediately in danger. And I am not alone in this.

So, please, stop using these altered pictures. Stop pretending like doing so makes you some kind of fucking saint. All you’re doing is harming the same groups you’re acting like you’re helping.

Do better.


Kirsten is a genderfluid writer, sexuality educator, and chronic illness/disability activist in Wisconsin. She runs Chronic Sex which highlights how illnesses and disabilities affect ‘Quality of Life’ issues such as self-love, self-care, relationships, sexuality, and sex.

Interested in helping with Kirsten’s work? Visit our ‘support us’ page or shoot her some tasty coffee money.

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Kirsten Schultz

Written by

Writer: health, disability, relationships, sexuality, gender | Featured/quoted in Teen Vogue, Broadly, HelloFlo, US News - visit kirstenschultz.org for more

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