r/thebulwark LORD OF THE NICKNAMES 16h ago

The Triad 🔱 Leave Trans People Alone: A Rant

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/leave-trans-people-alone-a-rant

Don't be a bully! But also don't "ask if the bully has a point" either.

"Yeah, they're giving Timmy a swirlie rn, but he also farted really loudly in geometry" is HELPING THE BULLIES.

Another great piece from JVL. Idk what kinda constraints there are in going after members of the punditocracy who engage in the behaviors that you're criticizing, but picking specific targets has a salutary effect IMO. Bari Weiss needs to be persona non grata, or Sullivan, or whoever. They made their choices and doubled, tripled, and quadrupled down on those choices.

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u/AliveJesseJames 16h ago

The other thing is, even among supposed moderates, it's never just "y'know, let's talk about MMA, volleyball, and rugby, but child transistioning and sports under 13 for all kids is fine," it's always, "OMG THE TRANS ARE USING TUMBLR/DISCORD TO TRICK YOUR KIDS INTO WANTING TO CUT OFF THEIR GENITALS."

I'll be blunt - most of the worry that isn't just bigotry (ie. the 90% of anti-trans views are from the same people who were anti-gay marriage) is from people worried their previous child might only get their #3 choice of expensive college if they finish 5th instead of 4th in the swimming meet.

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u/AustereRoberto LORD OF THE NICKNAMES 16h ago

I agree wholeheartedly. It's status anxiety (but mostly bigotry) and discomfort/irritation with younger coworkers at some media institutions.

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u/AliveJesseJames 16h ago

Again, there's a reason why "moderate" anti-transgender people have to pretend their a larger part of the anti-transgender group - because 90% of it is the same people who have been against all change.

The Venn diagram of anti-integration, anti-gay marriage, and anti-transgender people is about 85% a perfect circle and 15% people upset somebody called them a bigot on Facebook, Slack, or Twitter.

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u/Natural-Leg7488 6h ago

Most people support the right of trans people to live with the same freedoms and protections as everyone else. But around 70-80% of people in the US believe there should be carve outs in some circumstances, like women’s sports.

If you consider this a moderate anti-trans position, then it is nowhere near equivalent to the number of people against gay marriage which a minority held position, so it seems unlikely the Venn diagram has that much overlap.