Activism rooted in Phanship.

:-) Apologies if this is in the wrong forum! I wasn't sure where to put it, so took my best guess. But, mods, feel absolutely free to move it if there's somewhere else more appropriate! And sorry it's kind of long too. But I didn't think I could say it any shorter!

Anyway, this has been on my heart for years, so I thought I'd just go ahead and put it out there. Because I'd love to know if there are other Phans out there who feel the same way! So for me at least, POTO, especially the ALW stage-version (original staging, *cough* not what Lawrence Connor did to it, and definitely not the Gerik) though the Leroux novel as well, has always felt like a powerful call to action - a call to get out there and build a better world - a world where the story could end the way it should, with happiness, love and healing for Erik. And it's that call, as much as any specific cause or issue, that has lead me over the years to try to be involved in work for social and environmental justice, because, perhaps because of my own strong identification with Erik because of the ableism I experienced, I feel strong connections/parallels between the marginalization and spirit-murder Erik suffered and other oppressions such as racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and the abuse of non-human "nature".

Anyway, I'm wondering if any other Phans out there feel those connections/parallels too? Partly, I'd just love to know. But also, I'd love to organize with other Phants to do social justice work explicitly as Phans. Because, I find a lot of mainstream activists don't get it. They see the lavish production and the Victorian heteronormative trappings, and they don't see how it can be relevant to activism (except a little when I spell out the ableism connection). So my Phanship is something I usually can't share openly in activist spaces. And yet, it's the root of my commitment to change in the same way that their faith is for many Christians. So I'd love to create a space/spaces where Phanship-rooted activism can be expressed and explored openly! I'm not even sure what that would look like in practice. But it's something I'd dearly love to do! And btw, if any Phans who feel the same way happen to live in Toronto Canada/the GTA, I'd love to do that offline as well as on.