As laymen we cannot tell the difference between a child experiencing gender dysphoria vs "going through a phase" so people like us discussing it is taken irrelevant. Parents are not trained to make that distinction. Neither are we random Internet posters. This is one of the few medical issues where the liberal moderate questions the good faith intentions the medical professionals actually trained to make that distinction and it's purely based on the moral stigma. You always see this with liberal moderates. The left does the groundwork activism while the liberal establishment expresses disagreement and then when it reaches mass appeal they jump on the bandwagon.... Gay marriage being a prime example of this. Liberal moderates don't follow science. They follow what is socially acceptable.
While Republicans made it a bigger deal than it was, and Democrats backed way off realizing it was hurting them, they were definitely vocal about the issue for a time. We wouldn't have federal rules regarding bathroom usage by transgender people or guaranteeing them Title IX protections for their preferred gender if they weren't. Kamala wouldn't have been at a trans event saying she supported sex changes for prisoners (which played so frequently in ads this election cycle).
Democrat establishment is reactionary. How much do you want to bet any Democrat sponsoring a bill on anything regarding transgenderism whether it's making sure they can use bathrooms or have access to gender treatment is a reactionary result of an attempt by the right to create a moral panic about the issue first. The right was the first entity to bring up trans bathroom issues. They were the ones who spammed those videos of random trans people in public restrooms and creating moral panics around them and having the right politicians sponsor bills to make it illegal to go into a restroom the riant your assigned gender at birth. No Democrat politician puts up these bills out of their own activism. They do it in a reactionary defensive posture. The first time I've heard of the trans bathroom issues was through Lance Berkman, not Bernie Sanders.
My issue with atw isn't being anti-trans. My issue is I don't think there is much sincerity by the right on the issue. It's just an issue they care about because they think it "triggers the libs" and more importantly they think it divides the Democrat party which seems to be successful. I don't believe it's ever a good idea to match insincere moral panics with sincere engagement. You are just falling into their trap.
There are some people that received lengthy counseling before they received hormone blockers. This was especially the case with the larger college connected institutions that were the long term treaters of those in adolescence that had gender identity issues treated. However, as the topic became more popular - there were also a number of clinics that popped up that specialized in gender treatments that were not well regulated, and they were giving hormone treatments after two consultations. I compare it to the male testosterone and HGH treatments. At first they were done in university institutions, but as the market grew "clinics" started springing up and they do most of the male testosterone treatments now. Also - you make a good point on plastic surgery and limb lengthening. I don't believe the limb lengthening is that common, but plastic surgery for minors certainly DOES happen and I would argue that in many cases that it likely isn't necessary - I don't know that a 16-year-old should be able to get breast implants. In the right situation this IS true - however, as the requests for treatments went up, and as some universities did not want to deal with potential litigation or possible loss of funding from Conservative politicians - we saw it change somewhat. People didn't naturally stumble on to it. My hope is that we as a society become more accepting of trans gendered people and their basic right to exist and be part of society. FWIW I do believe that we are headed that direction, when society changes in the USA - there is ALWAYS a severe kick back and I think we are in the middle of that.
It is impossible for society to accept trans people when we are at a stage where people believe in mass that trans people are being artificially created through "social contagion". It is impossible. Literally. You, a guy who is supposed to represent the "reasonable moderate" believe it's a social contagion. So you can see how little hope there is. Democrats immediately have thrown trans people under the bus after this election. Look at my very own congressman with Seth Moutlon. A lot of Democrat establishment have revealed their hand in how fickle their empathy is for minority groups from Arabs to trans people. The moment Democrats feel any minority group harms their image they will throw them under the bus and let the right wing eat those groups up. "You scratch a liberal, a fascist bleeds". “I want schools desegregated, but I would never send my kids to that school with all the black kids” “I want clean energy, but you’d better not put a wind farm where it’s going to ruin my view” “I want affordable housing available to the poor, but don’t put it in my town” “I want better funding for public services, but don’t you dare raise my taxes by one penny” “The incarceration rate is too high in this country, but the guy who stole my credit card needs to rot in prison for 50 years for what he did” Republicans often have similar kinds of hypocrisy. “Anyone who wants to socialize healthcare should be shot, and don’t you dare touch my Medicare!” “Abortion is evil and the women who abort should go to hell, but my daughter is only 14 and she didn’t know what she was doing and she’s not ready to be a parent yet” “I think people should be allowed to carry guns anywhere, any time, but I’m calling the cops because a black guy with a gun just walked by my house” “If you don’t like how things in this country are done, you should leave. If I don’t like how things in this country are done, I’m gonna smash up the Capitol”
I'm not anti-trans as in being against trans people as individuals. I know a few, I know it's a real thing for some, and these people deserve to be treated with just as much respect as anyone else. I will even indulge them in their gender dysphoria, by addressing them as whatever they want to be addressed. However, I am against a) transgendering children b) forcing people to indulge people in their gender dysphoria, under threat of punishment - doing it as a courtesy, fine, but forcing people to deny biological reality - not ok c) biological men invading girls'/women's private spaces and sports d) the whole pronoun charade, they/them, etc. It's pretty simple. And it is an unjust accusation and oversimplification to say that I am "anti trans", just as it is wrong to say I am "anti Muslim". Nuance.
There are hundreds of posts of you sharing content that makes fun of the basic idea of transgenderism. You've posted content making fun of trans adults just walking around existing. Stop it. No. @juicystream please don't pretend this is sincere from him.
From what I can tell - The germination started in 2009 when Vermont in public high schools started replacing male/female bathrooms with gender neutral ones. In 2010-2012 colleges and high schools started following suit - by replacing traditional gender bathrooms with genderless ones. 2012-2014 is when some cities like Austin and Philadelphia and Portland started requiring gender neutral bathrooms. At this point - there was a conservative/evangelical backlash with places like Texas trying to get bills passed requiring people to use the restroom of the sex they were born. 2014 - President Obama had the first gender neutral bathroom opened in the Whitehouse. 2015 Charlotte passed a bill allowing trans people to use the restroom of their gender ---- conservatives at the state level got pissed, and passed a law making it illegal (what Charlotte did). The NBA and several other businesses said that they would not do business with North Carolina because of the ordinance. May of 2016 - The Obama WH says that: The Departments of Justice and Education state that discriminating against transgender students because of their gender identity violates Title IX. All schools receiving federal funding must treat gender identity as a protected category—just as they must do with sex and race. Officials from the Justice and Education Departments issue a memo to all school districts concerning discrimination in schools. The memo announces that, unless schools uphold the Obama administration’s trans-inclusive interpretation of Title IX, they risk being confronted with a lawsuit or loss of funding. 2017 - Trump comes into power and revokes the Title IX policy of Obama. 2021 - Biden on the first day passes protections based on a recent SCOTUS ruling concerning gender rights. 2021 - Jill Biden invites the media as she visits a prominant trans and LGBTQ+ clinics to bring attention to the topic. 2021 - Biden repeals transgendered military ban 2021 - Biden's press secretary confirms that Biden supports trans students playing sports. 2021 - Biden says he will have the VA treat trans gendered veterans. 2021 - Rachel Levine joins Biden administration Biden issues "national transgendered day" There are many other examples - the Biden and to a lesser extent the Obama administrations made trans rights a priority - and they were very vocal about it. To be VERY clear, if you look at the policy of the first Trump administration, they were not at all LGBTQ+ supportive - I cannot even say they were neutral, they actually went out of their way to remove protections that the courts and Obama had put in place for LGBTQ+ people and trans people in particular. Biden and Harris both were outspoken supporters of trans rights - (which I believe was the proper position morally). However - it wasn't something that just magically appeared in right wing social media - it was a response to the Democrats and liberal cities expanding to accommodate trans people...... the irony that "small government" Republicans tried to smash local city rules by making them illegal at the state level is not lost on me - but then again, Republicans don't really want small government except when it benefits their socially repressive agenda.
genderless single person bathrooms starting a moral panic is exactly what I mean in manufactured fake moral panics created in bad faith. Thanks for exemplifying my point. Genderless single person bathrooms have existed in gas stations, small restaurants etc for ages. A non-issue is converted into a moral panic
Oh I guess the feeling isn't mutual because I definitely don't feel sorry for you and your terminal addiction to spamming hate content on a NBA team fan message board.
It isn't. There are people that question their gender that end up not being trans - there are people that question their gender and end up being trans. It really is that simple. As children and teenagers we are still growing and experiencing things - it is a period of experimentation as well. There is a reason that people cannot make legal decisions until they are the age of majority. I never said that transgenderism is a result of social contagion - I said that after the trans issue became a prominent social media topic, the number of young people that claimed they were trans gendered went way up, and that is true. That does not mean that there are not trans gendered people. What that means is that special attention needs to be given when administering hormone blockers or surgical intervention on a minor. That is a human reaction - especially a male one. It is worse with the ruling group - but we see it across the board to some extent. Because of the nature of politics and winner take all elections - that type of attitude is even more prevalent.
Why were they pursuing genderless bathrooms in public schools, colleges and then in some progressive cities? I don't agree with the reaction in North Carolina or Texas --- but it did not come out of nowhere.
What does preserving innocence mean though? For example, is kids learning about the human body/sexual differences/reproduction in elementary science classes a problem?
Why were they pursuing genderless single person bathrooms in colleges? I don't know. Some students wanted them and the colleges agreed in building single person genderless bathrooms Why does it have to be anything more than that? What are genderless single toilet individual bathrooms doing to harm you? You feel ashamed every time you enter a genderless gas station bathroom? So you feel like you are entering the realm of culture wars when you step inside one of them?
My wife and I are about 45 minutes away from Bennington, Vermont. As a 56-year male I can say, once you pull off the road for a bite, extra bathrooms are GOOD. And yes they have been around for a good while up here.
