I know 8 trans people well and many more as acquaintances.
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All these nerds are so normal. And we are all robbed of feeling normal by the bigotry.
I'm glad that I'm not exceptional among the cis people I know in these communities, who are like me frustrated and angry that people we care about are being used as political props.
But how do you explain that everything is normal? How do you make a big sensation about how there is nothing sensational about the fact that people may change their name, or their gender?
And if you don't like slightly sheltered nerds who wince when we hear swear words there are people who are more outgoing & bodacious: some of them are trans. It's very normal and boring. No one cares.
Whatever cultural daily norms you find ... normal could include trans people. It wouldn't matter. It has no impact on your life.
Why has your fear reached across the country and made one of my students nervous that he can't get his medicine?
How fucking dare you.
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All these nerds are so normal. And we are all robbed of feeling normal by the bigotry.
I'm glad that I'm not exceptional among the cis people I know in these communities, who are like me frustrated and angry that people we care about are being used as political props.
But how do you explain that everything is normal? How do you make a big sensation about how there is nothing sensational about the fact that people may change their name, or their gender?
I mean, fishes change gender as part of their natural life cycle; frogs can as well; many animals are hermaphrodites; some are gynandromorphs; homosexuallity is very common (double-digit percent) in a number of mammals and birds, inclusive of the rearing of chicks. Beyond vertebrates, there’s even more variation. As a biologist, these debates are bizarre, because all that matters is that the population persists over time, and individuals contribute what they want or can to that success. And being nice to each other sure smooths everyday life, increasing chances of success. We are all in it together, here on spaceship Earth.
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I know 8 trans people well and many more as acquaintances. The 8 people I know well range from being an old childhood friend, to coworkers, to students, to neighbors.
I'm mostly aware that they are trans at all due to the increase in anti-trans laws and blatant transphobia in the US. Were it not for that I might not know or even care. But I worry about them.
In each case the fact that they are trans is one of the less interesting things I know about them.
@futurebird That’s right. I have a friend—we don’t see each other often, but we get along well. At one point, I realized he’s trans, but it doesn’t really matter; it’s just a personal curiosity. But then he started talking about the safety of the community queer center. Because of the neo-Nazis, it could be an easy target. I wish we didn’t have to deal with this crap at all.
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And if you don't like slightly sheltered nerds who wince when we hear swear words there are people who are more outgoing & bodacious: some of them are trans. It's very normal and boring. No one cares.
Whatever cultural daily norms you find ... normal could include trans people. It wouldn't matter. It has no impact on your life.
Why has your fear reached across the country and made one of my students nervous that he can't get his medicine?
How fucking dare you.
I can understand the fears that people have for their children. "be yourself" is good advice but being yourself can be dangerous. And that's often not fair. You might tell your teen daughter "you're not leaving the house dressed like that" you know she could be hurt. It's "better parenting" to make it clear why you are making such demands, but there is this practical impulse to keep young people safe.
I've spoken to parents of trans kids filled with fear.
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I can understand the fears that people have for their children. "be yourself" is good advice but being yourself can be dangerous. And that's often not fair. You might tell your teen daughter "you're not leaving the house dressed like that" you know she could be hurt. It's "better parenting" to make it clear why you are making such demands, but there is this practical impulse to keep young people safe.
I've spoken to parents of trans kids filled with fear.
But, having seen decades of trans lives as an outsider I think it's better to still be yourself in the end. It's healthier. It's safer.
That it is less safe to be a trans kid than a cis kid isn't the fault of trans kids.
Like, we all knew that, right? But it's worth saying anyway I think.
Even if we enter a more repressive world I will still know the same number of trans people.
This is nothing new, and maybe we are painfully turning a corner.
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R relay@relay.mycrowd.ca shared this topic
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But, having seen decades of trans lives as an outsider I think it's better to still be yourself in the end. It's healthier. It's safer.
That it is less safe to be a trans kid than a cis kid isn't the fault of trans kids.
Like, we all knew that, right? But it's worth saying anyway I think.
Even if we enter a more repressive world I will still know the same number of trans people.
This is nothing new, and maybe we are painfully turning a corner.
It already exists in little pockets, it works better than the alternatives. It's spreading.
Maybe things are going to get worse before they get better but I believe in and want the future where being trans is boring.
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I mean, fishes change gender as part of their natural life cycle; frogs can as well; many animals are hermaphrodites; some are gynandromorphs; homosexuallity is very common (double-digit percent) in a number of mammals and birds, inclusive of the rearing of chicks. Beyond vertebrates, there’s even more variation. As a biologist, these debates are bizarre, because all that matters is that the population persists over time, and individuals contribute what they want or can to that success. And being nice to each other sure smooths everyday life, increasing chances of success. We are all in it together, here on spaceship Earth.
Diversity in all respects is a strength. It is also a joy. A population of Hegseth clones would be so mind-numbingly tedious that we would welcome its (inevitable) rapid demise.
Imagine a world without railway map nerds. Hideous.
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I can understand the fears that people have for their children. "be yourself" is good advice but being yourself can be dangerous. And that's often not fair. You might tell your teen daughter "you're not leaving the house dressed like that" you know she could be hurt. It's "better parenting" to make it clear why you are making such demands, but there is this practical impulse to keep young people safe.
I've spoken to parents of trans kids filled with fear.
@futurebird I think there is an element of a fear of having to give some of their culture/identity, which gets tough. Patriarchy is deeply embedded in certain cultures and identities, often people want their kids to follow their 'lineage' or worse even be them or better thems. Being trans messes with that, it -can- destroy these notions and expectations of the patriarchal culture, I feel people are worries about giving up that bit of their identity/culture.
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Diversity in all respects is a strength. It is also a joy. A population of Hegseth clones would be so mind-numbingly tedious that we would welcome its (inevitable) rapid demise.
Imagine a world without railway map nerds. Hideous.
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@futurebird I think there is an element of a fear of having to give some of their culture/identity, which gets tough. Patriarchy is deeply embedded in certain cultures and identities, often people want their kids to follow their 'lineage' or worse even be them or better thems. Being trans messes with that, it -can- destroy these notions and expectations of the patriarchal culture, I feel people are worries about giving up that bit of their identity/culture.
@futurebird In the words of Kahlil Gibran: Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. -
@Taco_lad @futurebird the believers in the dominant form of Christianity in the US don’t really do a lot of compassion, for anyone…
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@futurebird I think there is an element of a fear of having to give some of their culture/identity, which gets tough. Patriarchy is deeply embedded in certain cultures and identities, often people want their kids to follow their 'lineage' or worse even be them or better thems. Being trans messes with that, it -can- destroy these notions and expectations of the patriarchal culture, I feel people are worries about giving up that bit of their identity/culture.
Patriarchy lets predators run wild. At this point I think it's basically designed to do that. You hear right wingers making so much noise about protecting children, but let that child be "imperfect" in any way ?
So upset about the exploitation of the innocent, yet no one is innocent enough to be a victim worth listening to.
"she's a disturbed woman with a long criminal history"
Said the press secratary about one of the Epstein file accusers.
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Patriarchy lets predators run wild. At this point I think it's basically designed to do that. You hear right wingers making so much noise about protecting children, but let that child be "imperfect" in any way ?
So upset about the exploitation of the innocent, yet no one is innocent enough to be a victim worth listening to.
"she's a disturbed woman with a long criminal history"
Said the press secratary about one of the Epstein file accusers.
@futurebird It's such a toxic culture
It's very ingrained into the right and their identities I think, but also still elsewhere. I've seen enough 'lefties' who feel a lot about their kid following their parents footsteps, but also fear of straying from 'their path' will lead to unhappiness and being afraid for their children. Patriarchy is all they know, and the unknown scares them (helped along by misinformation).
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It already exists in little pockets, it works better than the alternatives. It's spreading.
Maybe things are going to get worse before they get better but I believe in and want the future where being trans is boring.
@futurebird yeah...
I would love so much to be boring and normal
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@Taco_lad @futurebird right? As a Christian apostate, they should really hope that their religion’s source material is all wrong because they’re not following it and the listed consequences are pretty dire.
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+3. But I would not give up being trans for all the tea in China.
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I mean, fishes change gender as part of their natural life cycle; frogs can as well; many animals are hermaphrodites; some are gynandromorphs; homosexuallity is very common (double-digit percent) in a number of mammals and birds, inclusive of the rearing of chicks. Beyond vertebrates, there’s even more variation. As a biologist, these debates are bizarre, because all that matters is that the population persists over time, and individuals contribute what they want or can to that success. And being nice to each other sure smooths everyday life, increasing chances of success. We are all in it together, here on spaceship Earth.
@albertcardona @futurebird bigots are all "but biology!" and I'm like yeah, exactly, biology! If you get past what they teach five year olds, it shows us that humans are all the same basic model with a few tweaks in one direction or the other, and lots of overlapping variation.
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I sometimes want to just explain to the bigots, this could all be very normal if you'd stop huffing bigoted media and get to know someone who was trans. It's just like ... a hormone imbalance that can be treated. It's like being mad at people for having red hair. If only you knew how boring this could be, how normal. How easy to forget that they are trans.
And I could just forget, if it weren't for the bigotry and the threats to their safety.
@futurebird People used to be mad at other people for having naturally red hair.
