What mental issue was that? Note: although I don't think he left a suicide note, I disagree. I think he killed himself either because he knew he could never really be a cat, or because he concluded that his extensive efforts to transform into a cat just weren't bringing him any closer to happiness. I don't discredit the possibility that he killed himself because society wouldn't accept him as a cat, but I personally don't believe that's why he committed suicide.
Accept them how? What does it mean to accept someone as a “cat” for instance? What social accommodation would they be asking for as a result? Forgetting social accommodations and focusing just on biology, I think the line between what separates a human and cat, biologically, is far more clear than the line that separates a male and female human being biologically. The latter might also involve brain chemistry differences that come about in early stages of development which may not always align with the usual observable sexual markers.
By "accept" I mean, do you feel that people who identify as dogs, cats, demons, or other creatures should be addressed and communicated to as that creature? Courageous of you to say where you draw the line. But the people who identify as animals would say that you are prejudiced and phobic for saying that about them, wouldn't they? What about human ethnicity? Can a white man identify as a black woman? Should society accept that? (And, this time,by "accept" I mean....should that person qualify for UNCF college scholarships, female-owned business loans, female insurance rates, black-owned business groups like Official Black Wall Street, etc.)?
Address people how they want to be addressed if I’m going to interact with them. However, I’m not going to treat someone like a non-human when interacting with them. If they insist on it, I won’t interact with them. I think doing otherwise is degrading to them, regardless of what they might think. So what? Being respectful of someone’s sexual or gender orientation doesn’t imply I must respect every thing about a person’s personality, including their hypothetical insistence that I ignore their humanity and treat them like a member of another species. I also wouldn’t treat someone like an inanimate object or like they’re invisible, unless the whole thing is for play. That’s a “maybe”. If they are trans and grew up living with a black family, in a black neighborhood, steeped in black culture, etc. — then I can see an argument for that.
I don’t fully get what it means to be transgender — how could I? — but we shouldn’t deny reality. Accepting a trans person who identifies as a “woman” doesn’t mean denying known facts about their biological makeup or even denying that their life experiences differ substantially from that of women who are not trans. It means, to me, simply accepting that their sense of gender identity is true to them, they aren’t “crazy” or mentally ill for feeling that way, and that we’re not in a position to deny its validity. Part of that acceptance is using the name and pronouns they wish to be addressed with, and not disparaging them for being gender non-conforming. But it still seems to me that it need not be the case that all spaces or programs reserved for women must unconditionally be accessible to trans women too, given that there are relevant differences, and vice versa (but trans women have relatively few spaces/programs reserved for them). I think this is mostly an issue for women to decide on.
The biological difference between a human and a cat is certainly greater than the biology between a human male and a human female. But then, the biological difference between a white male and a black male is much smaller than the biology between a human male and a human female. You previously said [indirectly] that, if a white male has grown up with a black family, you support his identification as a black male. Do you believe, then, that he should qualify for scholarships from the United Negro College Fund or the National Black MBA Association? Can he sit on the board of the Association of Black Psychologists? Should the Official Black Wall Street organization be forced to provide his business with financial help? If he sues those organizations for excluding him, should he win the suit and should the organizations be forced to include him? If you answer 'no' to any of these, then aren't you prejudiced against the transracial community? Dina Sanichar grew up with a pack of wolves. Does that make him a wolf? NOTE: These aren't just hypothetical questions. As has been pointed out by others here, there are real world scenarios behind this.
I think the problem with the argument is that what is 'Race' and what is 'Gender' and what is 'Species' are so dramatically different that comparing them is, in this case, a useless mental exercise. Species If someone wants to identify as a cat but clearly isn't a cat, yes, we treat that person as a person. Yes, there are cases of people who have thought they were animals and we have usually treated these people as insane. Why is that? Well, we know what a species is and a person cannot be a cat, given modern scientific limitations at least, no matter how much they want to be. If said person is behaving like a cat in ways that harm no one, they are wearing a fursuit, use a litterbox at home, lick themselves. More power to them, true libertarians should agree...if said person was behaving like a cat in a negative way that harms others then we'd all have an issue with it, scratching people, peeing on other people's properties, etc... Race As for race. Forget it. What is black? Is Steph Curry black? Is Obama? These people would say they are and they'd feel insulted if you told them they were not. If they go to certain countries, they wouldn't be. The question of should this person be eligible for scholarships, etc, that's a good question. I think if they have a history of identifying as black, sure. Who am I to say no? If they are just doing it to try and game the system, then no. I don't think that's too hard to answer when you think about it. Gender As for the relevant question about gender, it's a lot more complicated. Why do you think men decide they want to be women? Are we thinking this is some whim? That not only would they take on the disadvantages of being trans but also being a women for...what reason exactly? It also ignores the very real science that @durvasa alluded to...which is a discussion that honestly, unless you are in the field, we have no business really discussing too seriously but... That men and women DO have different brains but not only that...trans people brains more closely resemble the brains of their desired gender. We have several studies on this by now and its still being looked into but the early signs are yep. This, along with the role hormones and chromosomes have in these conversations complicate things. Look into, for example, Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. Summary, you can be XY (Male) and look female. There are TONS of studies on stuff like this. the TL;DR is that XX and XY is not the end all be all of sex. In fact, we know this, because the Y chromosome is slowly going away. This doesn't mean there won't be anymore 'males' though. I mean we know this because yes, intersex people exist, and while they are not 'trans' their existence proves that nature doesn't always place someone cleanly into a male or female body. Why that is? Who knows, that's a religious and spiritual question no one can answer but... When you look at the topic in its totality it seems completely plausible that some people, a very tiny % of people at that, feel that they might have been born as the wrong sex. NOW, this doesn't mean everyone is going through a real condition where their brains and sometimes even their hormones are telling them something is wrong. Some trans people (an even smaller %) are voluntarily doing so. Whatever. It doesn't really discount the real experience for those that go through it.
I don't doubt that some people struggle with their gender identity. I just don't think that should be everyone else's problem.
That’s not for me to decide if they should be qualified. No, I don’t consider answering no to such questions as prejudice. The fact is, obviously, that women who are not trans and women who are trans are different, and I don’t believe “trans acceptance” necessarily requires ignoring those differences. Importantly, they have very different life experiences and are subjected to different treatment from others. The same goes for a white man who grew up in a black family. I get why such a person might identify more with being black, but that doesn’t mean they know exactly what it’s like to live the life of a black man. Same is true for a trans person who identifies as female.
See above. It really shouldn't be everyone else's problem. Unfortunately, Stephen Silas identifies as a coach, and both of them ignoring objective truth compounds the problem.
@droxford Some people can identify as Superman but if they try to fly and land on their face They are wrong
I hope this is fake, this type of crap being real is gonna put MAGA back in https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cm-hq65rdB3/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
