I plead guilty to your charge of being lazy. In hindsight, I could probably do some private research and get a wealth of answers. Please don't mistake my laziness for a lack of good faith.
This thought now strikes me. Many of us older folks are confronting a new culture, and I strongly suspe…
I plead guilty to your charge of being lazy. In hindsight, I could probably do some private research and get a wealth of answers. Please don't mistake my laziness for a lack of good faith.
This thought now strikes me. Many of us older folks are confronting a new culture, and I strongly suspect that my initial thoughts are widespread. Perhaps there's something to learn from my "stupid question."
I don't think I'm alone in having trouble using the proper terminology in a lot of emerging social issues.
Would you prefer that I delete my question? How do I do that?
I definitely didn't call it a stupid question, to be clear. I just think, as you note, that it's a question that an answer could be found for a lot easier than by hoping for a response to a comment on a story. And, if I didn't think there was a likelihood of good faith in your question, I wouldn't have spent the time responding to it.
As to the terminology, understood. That's why I just noted it in parentheses.
I don't think you need to delete — especially now that we've both discussed a lot in it. Maybe, as you said, there will be something for someone else in it.
I'm another "old brain" (61, cis white male) but I'll offer a different take on "confronting a new culture".
I've been fortunate enough to have trans friends and colleagues for over half my life -- over three decades -- so this isn't really "new" culture. Transgender people have lived quietly amongst us for pretty much all time -- and like everyone else, they just want to get on with their lives the best they can and not get picked on for being "different".
What's "new" is the right-wing focus on trans issues and the attendant media coverage around this "outrage". Trans folk using the restrooms and changing rooms and everything else that best matches their identity and presentation has been happening for many, many decades -- and nothing bad happened! No one caused a fuss -- mostly, no one even noticed. The vast majority of cis folk probably didn't know trans people existed and, if asked, would have said they'd never met one.
This was the case for LGB folks for many decades too -- until they became the focus of hostility and finally, after years of campaigning and activism and legislative efforts around the world, got some level of acceptance. The majority of people (at least in the West) are supportive of LGB folks these days and the right-wing outrage machine is no longer as effective when trying to target them... so they've moved on to a smaller subset of "others" and blown the issue up out of all proportion to the number of actual trans people out there.
I've been an "out" bisexual for over 40 years at this point: I came out at university in England where LGBT folks were much more accepted back then than in America. Unfortunately, over the last couple of decades (since I emigrated to California), I've seen anti-trans sentiment steadily rise in my former home country and it breaks my heart to see what my friends there are having to deal with these days.
I truly hope we'll see the pendulum swing back toward tolerance and acceptance, and soon.
As a cis gender woman I have had to spend my life with a vigilance that cis gender men do not face. Being in a public bathroom with other women who are trans is not one of them. It is hard for me to watch my non-binary young adult child struggle with where to go to the bathroom when we are out together. Really if folks are concerned about women's safety, gun laws, reproductive freedom protections, the equal rights amendment, social safety net etc. would be much appreciated.
Thanks for your thoughtful and respectful reply.
I plead guilty to your charge of being lazy. In hindsight, I could probably do some private research and get a wealth of answers. Please don't mistake my laziness for a lack of good faith.
This thought now strikes me. Many of us older folks are confronting a new culture, and I strongly suspect that my initial thoughts are widespread. Perhaps there's something to learn from my "stupid question."
I don't think I'm alone in having trouble using the proper terminology in a lot of emerging social issues.
Would you prefer that I delete my question? How do I do that?
I definitely didn't call it a stupid question, to be clear. I just think, as you note, that it's a question that an answer could be found for a lot easier than by hoping for a response to a comment on a story. And, if I didn't think there was a likelihood of good faith in your question, I wouldn't have spent the time responding to it.
As to the terminology, understood. That's why I just noted it in parentheses.
I don't think you need to delete — especially now that we've both discussed a lot in it. Maybe, as you said, there will be something for someone else in it.
I'm another "old brain" (61, cis white male) but I'll offer a different take on "confronting a new culture".
I've been fortunate enough to have trans friends and colleagues for over half my life -- over three decades -- so this isn't really "new" culture. Transgender people have lived quietly amongst us for pretty much all time -- and like everyone else, they just want to get on with their lives the best they can and not get picked on for being "different".
What's "new" is the right-wing focus on trans issues and the attendant media coverage around this "outrage". Trans folk using the restrooms and changing rooms and everything else that best matches their identity and presentation has been happening for many, many decades -- and nothing bad happened! No one caused a fuss -- mostly, no one even noticed. The vast majority of cis folk probably didn't know trans people existed and, if asked, would have said they'd never met one.
This was the case for LGB folks for many decades too -- until they became the focus of hostility and finally, after years of campaigning and activism and legislative efforts around the world, got some level of acceptance. The majority of people (at least in the West) are supportive of LGB folks these days and the right-wing outrage machine is no longer as effective when trying to target them... so they've moved on to a smaller subset of "others" and blown the issue up out of all proportion to the number of actual trans people out there.
I've been an "out" bisexual for over 40 years at this point: I came out at university in England where LGBT folks were much more accepted back then than in America. Unfortunately, over the last couple of decades (since I emigrated to California), I've seen anti-trans sentiment steadily rise in my former home country and it breaks my heart to see what my friends there are having to deal with these days.
I truly hope we'll see the pendulum swing back toward tolerance and acceptance, and soon.
Hope that provides some useful context, Clarence?
As a cis gender woman I have had to spend my life with a vigilance that cis gender men do not face. Being in a public bathroom with other women who are trans is not one of them. It is hard for me to watch my non-binary young adult child struggle with where to go to the bathroom when we are out together. Really if folks are concerned about women's safety, gun laws, reproductive freedom protections, the equal rights amendment, social safety net etc. would be much appreciated.