Oppression Fantasy vs. Reality: The Rise of Oppression LARPing

This image says it all.

That first image—the one being shared on homophobic and transphobic pages—is a popular meme. It shows a queer-coded person yelling at a crowd, demanding they change their “core values” to accommodate her. It’s meant to mock and vilify. It’s an oppression fantasy—a made-up scenario where dominant groups imagine themselves under attack to justify their discomfort with inclusion.

The second image shows what actual oppression looks like. That same rainbow-haired figure is now hunched and alone, while a crowd points and calls her a freak. It’s not loud. It’s not powerful. It’s isolating. Dehumanizing. It’s being made into a threat just for existing.

Oppression fantasies like these don’t stay online. They lead to real-world behavior—what I call oppression LARPing. People start acting out the fantasy, pretending they’re the ones being persecuted, while turning around and inflicting harm on the marginalized.

It flips the script. The powerful play the victims. The marginalized get cast as villains. And it shows up everywhere—from anti-trans laws to book bans to cries of “free speech” that are really just excuses to hate.

The truth? No one’s asking you to abandon your values. We’re asking you to make space. To recognize that equity isn’t erasure—it’s inclusion.

And if inclusion feels like an attack, maybe the problem isn’t us.