I have a trans cousin who didn’t transition until her 40’s. She came from an extremely poor background and grew up in a trailer. Most of her immediate family has rejected her. She didn’t identify as a gay man before she transitioned. She was a cis-gender man who dated women. Her immediate family is solidly Republican. I am hardly an expert on trans issues but I know what Erica has been through and I know a number of trans folks in New York City There is evidence of people flipping genders that goes back as far as earliest recorded history. I think we are in a transition right now as this is the first time in the Western world when trans people are fighting for acceptance. It’s a bit rocky as transitions like this tend to be. I’m not sure where we’ll end up but I do think trans people are authentic. I know people who have transitioned for 30 years and have absolutely no desire to go back. I definitely don’t think they are predators or emotionally unhinged as Fox News tends to depict them. They’re just human beings trying to live their lives authentically.
I'm a centrist Democrat and a man who is a senior citizen and gay. I've been following the issues surrounding gender ideology fairly closely over the past several years. My primary source has been the podcast "Gender: A Wider Lens," in which: "Two therapists explore the expanding concept of "gender" from a psychological depth perspective."
When I was a little boy in the late 50s and early 60s I was a gender nonconforming sissy. I lacked the stereotypical boy's drive to run around and kick or catch balls. I wasn't noisy or rowdy; I was "sugar and spice and everything nice." I was small for my age and looked like a little blond pixie. One day I came home in tears because as I left the school bus the kids chanted "Davy baby little lady." I threw away all my cap guns because I didn't like the violence they implied. My mother acceded to my request to buy me a Barbie doll. I loved Barbie's outfits and once even put on a runway show on the dining table. I was disappointed when my quest to obtain a Barbie Dream House fell through.
My mother, sister and her best friend were very worried then about how I would fare in society later in life. I am grateful that I was raised over half a century ago and not today. You see, my trajectory was the same as that followed by most gender nonconforming (GNC) children. Before long I realized I was attracted to members of the same sex. By the time I was eight or nine I was less effeminate, and as time went by I butched up even more and not because of any internalized homophobia. Now I am a masculine gay man. Most GNC and gender dysmorphic children desist during adolescence, with many of them realizing they are attracted to the same sex.
It is no exaggeration to say that if I were the same little boy today, somewhere along the line, quite possibly in school, I might have been told that gender exists independently from sex and culture and that I could pick whichever gender identity I liked best. (This is an ideological belief for which there is no sound scientific basis.) Since my behavior and interests more closely matched girls' than boys', a gender-affirming therapist or physician might have recommended to my parents that they socially transition me. Many parents who consider themselves trans allies would have gone along with it. It would not have mattered in progressive states that I lacked the capacity to give informed consent. Well, that nightmare scenario never unfolded.
Getting back to Fox's alleged demonization of trans people, what we're seeing in red states is a reaction to the excesses of trans rights activists and their capture of such key sectors of society such as medicine, education, human resources and government. There is no doubt that our national dialogue on trans is out of balance. Red states' legislative measures are an overreaction. That's obvious.
What's much more difficult for most Democrats to see is that key institutions in American life have accepted trans rights activists' demands and ideology so uncritically and inflexibly that it is anathema for anyone who's left of center to question them. Trans rights activists reinforce this by refusing to debate their critics on the merits of their ideas, responding instead with bullying tactics and calls for censorship. A recent example is the firestorm of criticism that trans rights advocates and their allies directed at the New York Times for publishing an article that questioned trans dogma concerning gender medicine.
While trans rights activists in the US are doubling down on their defense of gender medicine and attacking dissent, health authorities in Europe are finally walking back past claims about the safety and efficacy of puberty blockers and hormones. Until September, 2022, New Zealand's health ministry made the following claims: "“Blockers are a safe and fully reversible medicine that may be used to help ease distress [accompanying the condition of gender dysphoria] and allow time to fully explore gender health options.” In September 2022, the "limited and thin evidence on puberty blockers" caused New Zealand health authorities to modify their position on gender medicine. The statement now reads: "Puberty blockers are a medicine that can be used to halt the progress of potentially unwanted puberty-related physical changes.” https://genderclinicnews.substack.com/p/red-flags-in-europe
Democrats have to be more discerning about who and what they call out for being transphobic. Some of the legislation that's being proposed in red states in unquestionably transphobic, possibly because it is rooted in Fundiegelical belief and value systems. However, it is a grave mistake for Dems to follow trans activists' suit and denounce any and all departures from today's trans and gender orthodoxy as examples of transphobia. They're not.
One of my closest friends had a very similar experience as a child. He’s also a gay man and absolutely brilliant. I’m not sure what it would be like to have kid struggling with issues like that. I think we are working through the whole process of gender and orientation and things will work out eventually. Right now they are rocky. I don’t really get that opinionated one terms of trans children because I’m no expert. I have a couple of friend with trans kids and they haven’t had surgery or done anything that drastic. I’m terms of adults it’s far more cut and dry. If a person wants to transition they should have that option if doctors think it’s the right choice for them. We are sort of in uncharted territory as surgery and hormones are new even if trans people aren’t.
I have a trans cousin who didn’t transition until her 40’s. She came from an extremely poor background and grew up in a trailer. Most of her immediate family has rejected her. She didn’t identify as a gay man before she transitioned. She was a cis-gender man who dated women. Her immediate family is solidly Republican. I am hardly an expert on trans issues but I know what Erica has been through and I know a number of trans folks in New York City There is evidence of people flipping genders that goes back as far as earliest recorded history. I think we are in a transition right now as this is the first time in the Western world when trans people are fighting for acceptance. It’s a bit rocky as transitions like this tend to be. I’m not sure where we’ll end up but I do think trans people are authentic. I know people who have transitioned for 30 years and have absolutely no desire to go back. I definitely don’t think they are predators or emotionally unhinged as Fox News tends to depict them. They’re just human beings trying to live their lives authentically.
I'm a centrist Democrat and a man who is a senior citizen and gay. I've been following the issues surrounding gender ideology fairly closely over the past several years. My primary source has been the podcast "Gender: A Wider Lens," in which: "Two therapists explore the expanding concept of "gender" from a psychological depth perspective."
https://gender-a-wider-lens.captivate.fm/
When I was a little boy in the late 50s and early 60s I was a gender nonconforming sissy. I lacked the stereotypical boy's drive to run around and kick or catch balls. I wasn't noisy or rowdy; I was "sugar and spice and everything nice." I was small for my age and looked like a little blond pixie. One day I came home in tears because as I left the school bus the kids chanted "Davy baby little lady." I threw away all my cap guns because I didn't like the violence they implied. My mother acceded to my request to buy me a Barbie doll. I loved Barbie's outfits and once even put on a runway show on the dining table. I was disappointed when my quest to obtain a Barbie Dream House fell through.
My mother, sister and her best friend were very worried then about how I would fare in society later in life. I am grateful that I was raised over half a century ago and not today. You see, my trajectory was the same as that followed by most gender nonconforming (GNC) children. Before long I realized I was attracted to members of the same sex. By the time I was eight or nine I was less effeminate, and as time went by I butched up even more and not because of any internalized homophobia. Now I am a masculine gay man. Most GNC and gender dysmorphic children desist during adolescence, with many of them realizing they are attracted to the same sex.
It is no exaggeration to say that if I were the same little boy today, somewhere along the line, quite possibly in school, I might have been told that gender exists independently from sex and culture and that I could pick whichever gender identity I liked best. (This is an ideological belief for which there is no sound scientific basis.) Since my behavior and interests more closely matched girls' than boys', a gender-affirming therapist or physician might have recommended to my parents that they socially transition me. Many parents who consider themselves trans allies would have gone along with it. It would not have mattered in progressive states that I lacked the capacity to give informed consent. Well, that nightmare scenario never unfolded.
Getting back to Fox's alleged demonization of trans people, what we're seeing in red states is a reaction to the excesses of trans rights activists and their capture of such key sectors of society such as medicine, education, human resources and government. There is no doubt that our national dialogue on trans is out of balance. Red states' legislative measures are an overreaction. That's obvious.
What's much more difficult for most Democrats to see is that key institutions in American life have accepted trans rights activists' demands and ideology so uncritically and inflexibly that it is anathema for anyone who's left of center to question them. Trans rights activists reinforce this by refusing to debate their critics on the merits of their ideas, responding instead with bullying tactics and calls for censorship. A recent example is the firestorm of criticism that trans rights advocates and their allies directed at the New York Times for publishing an article that questioned trans dogma concerning gender medicine.
While trans rights activists in the US are doubling down on their defense of gender medicine and attacking dissent, health authorities in Europe are finally walking back past claims about the safety and efficacy of puberty blockers and hormones. Until September, 2022, New Zealand's health ministry made the following claims: "“Blockers are a safe and fully reversible medicine that may be used to help ease distress [accompanying the condition of gender dysphoria] and allow time to fully explore gender health options.” In September 2022, the "limited and thin evidence on puberty blockers" caused New Zealand health authorities to modify their position on gender medicine. The statement now reads: "Puberty blockers are a medicine that can be used to halt the progress of potentially unwanted puberty-related physical changes.” https://genderclinicnews.substack.com/p/red-flags-in-europe
Democrats have to be more discerning about who and what they call out for being transphobic. Some of the legislation that's being proposed in red states in unquestionably transphobic, possibly because it is rooted in Fundiegelical belief and value systems. However, it is a grave mistake for Dems to follow trans activists' suit and denounce any and all departures from today's trans and gender orthodoxy as examples of transphobia. They're not.
One of my closest friends had a very similar experience as a child. He’s also a gay man and absolutely brilliant. I’m not sure what it would be like to have kid struggling with issues like that. I think we are working through the whole process of gender and orientation and things will work out eventually. Right now they are rocky. I don’t really get that opinionated one terms of trans children because I’m no expert. I have a couple of friend with trans kids and they haven’t had surgery or done anything that drastic. I’m terms of adults it’s far more cut and dry. If a person wants to transition they should have that option if doctors think it’s the right choice for them. We are sort of in uncharted territory as surgery and hormones are new even if trans people aren’t.