Elitism in the otherkind communities, past, present, and future

•Nonhuman elitism is an issue that has always been heavily fought against in the alterhuman communities, as well as something that has negatively affected almost everyone in the community at some point or another. What is your view on how elitism has progressed in the otherkind communities over time and do you think it will lessen or continue to grow in the future? What forms does it take? What kind of elitism have you faced personally?

•I have stated many times before that I absolutely despise the elitism that runs so rampant in the otherkind communities and individual otherkind spaces. I myself have faced it continuously from individuals and spaces who actively despise my being for calling out their horrible behavior. My draconity and nonhuman identities are noticeably different from almost everyone else in the community. Since I advertise my nonhumanity as “draconian” or “spiritherian”, I’m a prime target for those in the community who believe alterhuman identity needs to be categorized specifically. This elitism I face is primarily from the dragonkind community sadly. Draconic elitism seems to be so prominent in the dragonkind community since some believe that being draconic somehow makes them better than others or more “in the know” about different subject. There are two kinds of alterhuman elitism in my eyes, one where an individual feels they are better or more knowledgable than others because of their kintype and one where individuals feel that alterhuman identity needs to fit certain standards or else it isn’t a valid form of identity. Both of these are equally as harmful in my view. In all honesty, elitism and grilling as a whole has never had any benefit for the alterhuman community, as it really only serves to make all of us look terrible and to make the experience of participating in the community difficult, frightening, or even downright traumatic for many individuals. Even though old day community grilling and elitism is somewhat in the past, it has far from lessened in the community from what I’ve seen and experienced. It’s honestly just taken different forms in private spaces that the majority of the community don’t have access to. So many in the alterhuman community can attest to the fact that it’s so difficult to find an otherkind space that isn’t elitist, toxic, or promotes harassment. Considering that almost all community members can attest to this in the present, I don’t think the elitism of the older days of the community has completely disappeared, the elitism has just moved in private. It’s probably going to get worse as time goes on if we as a community don’t publicly call out elitism, as well as the spaces and individuals who foster it.