"Social contagion" seems like a great Nazi term to ostracize trans people as boogymen and you are using that term while saying there is very limited information. So don't use that type of language if you are self admitting to limited information. You need to understand how bigotry spreads. You aren't helping by labeling transgenderism as a social contagion. If you aren't helping then stop. Imagine thinking there is no harm labeling someone's identity as a social contagion. Do you understand the implication of terms like that? As a lawyer I'd hope you'd understand how important words are.
No it isn't - the Democrats were very vocal on the topic of transgenderism. The more extreme elements of the transgender community also were not checked by other Democrats and that alienated a lot of people and was not smart politically or socially. The Republicans saw an opening and ran with it. The amount of attention that trans-issues received in the media and by politicians was staggering. There was also some resentment in the LGBTQ+ community with how far it was being taken. I support Trans rights - one of the 3-4 most important people in the world that I love is trans and I have another person that is trans and is a relative of mine that I love as well, but I don't see them every day. Like everyone else - trans people are individuals, but based on what those close to me that are trans - and what they have said, a lot of trans people do not like the approach of the trans movement a few years ago - they just want to be left alone, and they do not agree with the bigotry of the Republicans, but they did not like the spotlight of the extremists in their movement either.
To be clear - I did not say that trans genderism is social contagion. Trans genderism is real and the evidence of it is overwhelming. Social contagion exists based the amount of young people that identified as trans gendered at the peak of the topic compared to before it was a large part of the social dialogue and what it is even now only a few years after it was at its peak.
Nope. The Democrats were never vocal about this issue dude. So zero leftists exist in this message board. Hell, 5 years ago I literally made a random thread about whether minors should get permanent surgery over transgenderism because I saw a single YouTube video of a child getting puberty blockers from some special coverage from some mainstream network like ABC framing it as very controversial and rare. That was my first exposure to it as a leftist to this entire zeitgeist. Again the only thing I can think of to staifty your desires amount of exposure of trans concepts to the public is so low apparently that they literally have to hide now. I don't think I was detached from political commentary five years ago. So I know this was never a thing the Democrat party ever concentrated on. This is as fake of a moral panic and as conjured up in bad faith as the Satanic Panic in the 80s Where do you get this idea from?
Like autism? Another thing this narrative does is imply that a child going through a mere "tomboy" phase or just haphazardly expresses they don't feel like their birth gender is all it takes to meet those statisical metrics of being a child who identified as trans. The gated barriers between a child saying they don't feel right to a formal diagnosis and treatment plan is immense and full of training professionals examining. A parent doesn't decide if their kid is trans.
You think also your justification for the use of "social contagion" adjacent of the concept of transgenderism wouldn't be weaponized towards bigotry?
That may prove to be true - it is an evolving topic and we are in the middle of it. If in a decade or two the evidence comes out that sex reassignment surgery for children is overwhelmingly beneficial - then it is fair for changes in policy and hopefully perception from the public - to change.
Look at the absolute laser focused lime light on trans people dude and how they are seen as a pariah from the right as evil and from liberals as icky people they have to shake off to seem "moderate". No **** that any form of regret is going to be centered around the massive stigma behind it.l not allowing you to function in public without constant feeling of judgement.
Where are you getting any of this from? Who said anything about a parent deciding if a child is trans? You really like to assume or jump to conclusions. First - what is known, is that it isn't uncommon for children to struggle with gender issues through out puberty. We know this - it has been documented and studied. Second - we know that there was very little study and even less legislation or ethical rules surrounding children with gender issues. Third - we know that it only took two 30-minute therapy visits to be prescribed hormone blockers for children. Zealous people - believing that they were defending trans people actually often denied that either of these facts were true because it did not fit their narrative. Fourth, contrary to what a lot of liberals were saying - it is scientific fact that puberty blockers have profound effects on people. So it isn't as simple as giving children puberty blockers and if they change their mind as adults there is no harm. Fifth - the topic got so convoluted, that many liberals that actually champion science started doing the opposite because they did not like some of the facts concerning the topic - and foolish ideas such as scrubbing the medical records of trans people, and having doctors not being able to ask basic questions about what the birth sex of a person was were labeled as "bigoted", when it was medically necessary to treat people in many situations. This is why these types of topics should not be political - many of those against transgendered rights are bigoted - but not all, and that also doesn't mean that there are not severe issues that have to weighted and considered - and it doesn't mean that the left echo chamber wasn't pumping out a lot of it's own propaganda - as it very clearly was, and no one on the left checked it because they either wanted to be virtuous or because they did not want to be labeled a bigot. Lost is all of this -by both sides was the actual facts.
So who discusses trans issues more? Seriously? Day to day who is exposed to and expressed opinions regarding this topic more?
Anything can be weaponized - I am more concerned about the actual reality of the situation. It is why I don't like that it is a political pawn. I feel the same way about women's reproductive rights - the fact that it is a political issue shows that as a society we really do not "get it". I agree with you on a number of topics - some of which you would likely be surprised about - where we disagree is approach to topics sometimes.
I'm sure anecdotes will be found to agree with any narrative that exists. I'm sure you can find poorly framed out of context individual cases of 30 minute consultations leading directly to use of puberty blockers. I'm sure you can find irresponsible medical professionals giving 15 year olds breast enlargement surgery and 15 year olds leg extension surgeries to become taller. And I guarantee you these treatments are more common than than early gender treatment like hormone therapy which is far less than basis than anything I just mentioned. Hence moral panic. The frequency at which this is done is at the levels of teenage girls getting breast enhancement surgeries. But I guess right wingers like that trend so they won't attack it. Every source I've tried to seek out repeatedly says that these treatments are only done after extensive therapy sessions. Have to strongly disagree with you here that this is a sincere issue that people naturally stumble upon rather than being a moral panic.
It has been since the start of the fake moral panic. Around the same time the CRT moral panic started. This one just stuck more. I can literally name individual actors who purposefully spammed this issue into existence.
I think both things are probably true. Surely many people are misdiagnosed, as that happens with all medical issues. Boys can be boys that like wearing dresses, the color pink, and many other things we consider feminine, but not be female. Inherently most of what we dictate is female vs male is societal learned behavior. I think we should always seek to engage sincerely. I know ATW is anti-trans. I know he is highly unlikely to ever change his stance, but this is a discussion that in general deserves to happen. We spend too much time dealing in the polarized extremes to deal with issues that are almost always in the margins. We all spend too much time in the echo chamber of social media feeds.
