With respect, I suggest that you treat trans people how they want to be treated. People who intentionally misgender someone in order to bully them or shame them, or to make some self-righteous point, are assholes. Don't do that.
And I think the two neat and tidy boxes thing probably came along with the Bible, and wherever that book has ta…
With respect, I suggest that you treat trans people how they want to be treated. People who intentionally misgender someone in order to bully them or shame them, or to make some self-righteous point, are assholes. Don't do that.
And I think the two neat and tidy boxes thing probably came along with the Bible, and wherever that book has taken on holy meaning, LGBTQ people have had to live secret lives. They lived lives of shame and humiliation, and they've suffered horrible abuse if they were ever found out. But recently, our society has made it more comfortable for them to be their true selves. I think that's a good thing. That is progress. Though in some cultures, the queer lifestyle has been more accepted. I work in a museum. I've seen Dutch etchings from the 1500s of obviously queer people.
And, sure, generally there are two sexes, though there are biologists who will tell that it's not binary––that it's actually quite a bit more complicated than that. But whatever. The fact is that there are people whose gender identity does not match their biological sex. They have gender dysphoria. My nephew is such a person. At about 13 his conservatives parents agreed that the best thing for him was to socially transition to a boy. Overnight he went from being depressed and miserable and angry and failing school to being happy, outgoing, and extremely successful in school (top ten in his class of about 800 and a rising star on the debate team). I know first hand that some people really benefit from GAC and from being supported by the people around them. He started receiving testosterone at about 15. His parents have no regrets about any of this. They know it was the right thing to do. My mom's husband has queer grandkids. This issue is not going away.
To your point about it being a trend: I'm sure there is some truth to that. My nephew's younger sister has seen how much praise and attention her older brother has been getting (for his academic achievements) and she has gotten a little confused about her gender identity. But here's the thing. Her parents know that. They know that she is going through a phase and will grow out of it. People are generally not stupid about caring for their kids, though they are plenty of obvious exceptions.
This issue is not going away. Our society needs to learn how to deal with it. And for that reason, I'm glad that they have claimed June as Pride Month. They are saying to the world: "I refuse to feel shame for being who I am!"
Yes, we need to be cautions about the kind of GAC that we are approving of. Each case is different. Perhaps just learning to deal with it mentally is the best way for some. But that might not work for others. The trans community uses a basic rule of them: insistent, persistent, and consistent. If there is wavering, it's probably not a genuine case of gender dysphoria; it's just normal teenage confusion and questioning about "who I am."
With respect, I suggest that you treat trans people how they want to be treated. People who intentionally misgender someone in order to bully them or shame them, or to make some self-righteous point, are assholes. Don't do that.
And I think the two neat and tidy boxes thing probably came along with the Bible, and wherever that book has taken on holy meaning, LGBTQ people have had to live secret lives. They lived lives of shame and humiliation, and they've suffered horrible abuse if they were ever found out. But recently, our society has made it more comfortable for them to be their true selves. I think that's a good thing. That is progress. Though in some cultures, the queer lifestyle has been more accepted. I work in a museum. I've seen Dutch etchings from the 1500s of obviously queer people.
And, sure, generally there are two sexes, though there are biologists who will tell that it's not binary––that it's actually quite a bit more complicated than that. But whatever. The fact is that there are people whose gender identity does not match their biological sex. They have gender dysphoria. My nephew is such a person. At about 13 his conservatives parents agreed that the best thing for him was to socially transition to a boy. Overnight he went from being depressed and miserable and angry and failing school to being happy, outgoing, and extremely successful in school (top ten in his class of about 800 and a rising star on the debate team). I know first hand that some people really benefit from GAC and from being supported by the people around them. He started receiving testosterone at about 15. His parents have no regrets about any of this. They know it was the right thing to do. My mom's husband has queer grandkids. This issue is not going away.
To your point about it being a trend: I'm sure there is some truth to that. My nephew's younger sister has seen how much praise and attention her older brother has been getting (for his academic achievements) and she has gotten a little confused about her gender identity. But here's the thing. Her parents know that. They know that she is going through a phase and will grow out of it. People are generally not stupid about caring for their kids, though they are plenty of obvious exceptions.
This issue is not going away. Our society needs to learn how to deal with it. And for that reason, I'm glad that they have claimed June as Pride Month. They are saying to the world: "I refuse to feel shame for being who I am!"
Yes, we need to be cautions about the kind of GAC that we are approving of. Each case is different. Perhaps just learning to deal with it mentally is the best way for some. But that might not work for others. The trans community uses a basic rule of them: insistent, persistent, and consistent. If there is wavering, it's probably not a genuine case of gender dysphoria; it's just normal teenage confusion and questioning about "who I am."