Recent political data and public opinion research indicate that a backlash against transgender rights is getting stronger, particularly in the United States.
I looked at the Transgender Report. Nice website. I'm going to follow it. I want to see that glossary also. When I get to it. I have the link. The first link in this article for YouTube did not work though. Well, actually I got to the page but I had to sign up. And it didn't work when I created my own username. I wasn't ready to get into all that and I could have kept going. But I have enough accounts signed up for already that I have to sort through. Blogs and academic stuff. So maybe another time.
I did watch the other presentation, and what you have is very good. This is the kind of coverage we need. It's comprehensive, and I like all the articles you have sorted together. So I will be following.
This article is short but thought-provoking.
Open-ended & nonspecific questions or statements are killing us. As the article says, if we are not clear, then people just think surgeries happen to kids willy-nilly, and all the time. When the truth is they are rare. And I'm still routinely hearing people use the words "mutilation" or that surgeries are just "lobbing off" body parts (as though it's done in a clandestine location, and hastily, without much thought). The Republicans, anti-trans groups, and their organizations have succeeded to a large extent. We have to be honest about how they made some language stick. And now people who aren't trans or queer have a mindset or certain reactions just by hearing the word transgender in the news at this point. Everybody is saturated and sick of it. It's understandable. And when they keep pounding the table and making the same points over and over, which they do on Substack, they create an over- representation of false claims and bad stories about trans people. This is a concern.
I apologize for the youtube link, which turned out not to be a youtube link. I have fixed it now.
I think your analysis is spot on. This is about language and concepts and what people associate with those concepts. In the 1930's the fascists had a similar strategy: Make sure the word Jew was associated with everything bad and then blame them for everything.
So the doubters might say to themselves that "but sure, there are a lot of Jews in banking and Hollywood, right?" They did not have to believe in the crazy tales of a capitalist-communist-freemason conspiracy that controls the world to repeat old tropes about Jewish greed. They did not have to believe that Jews sacrificed children in diabolic rites at night.
All they had to do was to fall for the "common sense" logic of some people: If Jews are persecuted it must mean they are doing something wrong. "They do not persecute good people like me, right?"
In the end they will come for them too, but by then it will be too late.
I still believe the only way of winning this war is that all good people help humanizing trans people. The increasing tolerance of gay people, made more gay people come out of hiding, to the point were most people knew someone who were gay and realized they were just people, struggling with many of the same challenges as themselves. We need to get to that point with trans people too. And for that to happen pro-democracy politicians, activists and influencers need to help us make trans people seen.
The anti-trans activists know this. By forcing trans people back into the closet, they may stop the "naturalization" of trans people in society at large. This is why we right now must do everything we can to unmask the fascists and show the world who they truly are.
This is deeply worrying. The analysis, including that offered in the Humanist Report video, that constant anti-trans messaging and the reluctance of Democrats to push back for fear of losing votes, is very troubling. Stating facts to challenge the lies is a responsibility for all of us, hopefully including those on the political stage who genuinely care about basic human rights rather than saving their seats.
I looked at the Transgender Report. Nice website. I'm going to follow it. I want to see that glossary also. When I get to it. I have the link. The first link in this article for YouTube did not work though. Well, actually I got to the page but I had to sign up. And it didn't work when I created my own username. I wasn't ready to get into all that and I could have kept going. But I have enough accounts signed up for already that I have to sort through. Blogs and academic stuff. So maybe another time.
I did watch the other presentation, and what you have is very good. This is the kind of coverage we need. It's comprehensive, and I like all the articles you have sorted together. So I will be following.
This article is short but thought-provoking.
Open-ended & nonspecific questions or statements are killing us. As the article says, if we are not clear, then people just think surgeries happen to kids willy-nilly, and all the time. When the truth is they are rare. And I'm still routinely hearing people use the words "mutilation" or that surgeries are just "lobbing off" body parts (as though it's done in a clandestine location, and hastily, without much thought). The Republicans, anti-trans groups, and their organizations have succeeded to a large extent. We have to be honest about how they made some language stick. And now people who aren't trans or queer have a mindset or certain reactions just by hearing the word transgender in the news at this point. Everybody is saturated and sick of it. It's understandable. And when they keep pounding the table and making the same points over and over, which they do on Substack, they create an over- representation of false claims and bad stories about trans people. This is a concern.
Thank you for your kind words! I appreciate it.
I apologize for the youtube link, which turned out not to be a youtube link. I have fixed it now.
I think your analysis is spot on. This is about language and concepts and what people associate with those concepts. In the 1930's the fascists had a similar strategy: Make sure the word Jew was associated with everything bad and then blame them for everything.
So the doubters might say to themselves that "but sure, there are a lot of Jews in banking and Hollywood, right?" They did not have to believe in the crazy tales of a capitalist-communist-freemason conspiracy that controls the world to repeat old tropes about Jewish greed. They did not have to believe that Jews sacrificed children in diabolic rites at night.
All they had to do was to fall for the "common sense" logic of some people: If Jews are persecuted it must mean they are doing something wrong. "They do not persecute good people like me, right?"
In the end they will come for them too, but by then it will be too late.
I still believe the only way of winning this war is that all good people help humanizing trans people. The increasing tolerance of gay people, made more gay people come out of hiding, to the point were most people knew someone who were gay and realized they were just people, struggling with many of the same challenges as themselves. We need to get to that point with trans people too. And for that to happen pro-democracy politicians, activists and influencers need to help us make trans people seen.
The anti-trans activists know this. By forcing trans people back into the closet, they may stop the "naturalization" of trans people in society at large. This is why we right now must do everything we can to unmask the fascists and show the world who they truly are.
This is deeply worrying. The analysis, including that offered in the Humanist Report video, that constant anti-trans messaging and the reluctance of Democrats to push back for fear of losing votes, is very troubling. Stating facts to challenge the lies is a responsibility for all of us, hopefully including those on the political stage who genuinely care about basic human rights rather than saving their seats.