My mum was of the be kind persuasion, believing tw were all of the Hayley Cropper type.
Which is a totally legit pov btw! Ordinary decent people, trans or not, are owed respect and courtesy.
But the whole JKR thing brought it home to her that the Choke On My Ladydick contingent will also be in the changing room when her preteen GDs are changing out of their swimsuits. And she doesnt think it right that me saying that on sm could threaten my job.
My mum, early 60s now, was an unmarried mother in Ireland in the 80s - not at all a comfortable place to be. She understands discrimination, and voicelessness. That's where she is coming from when she stands up for trans rights.
But at the same time she remembers the authority of the adherents to the Church. Not the church itself as such. But the vocal adherents which were much more proximate to her. Despite their own private opinions the denunciations were public. People had to walk in step. The ordinary person could privately recognise, the nuns were often cruel, the priests often predators, you can understand a boy and girl falling in love, but out loud they would say of women in my mothers' position The Little Hussy Brought It On Herself.
It's the mufflement and unspokenness that resonates with mum now. You cant have an ideology which puts itself beyond criticism, where the critics are ostracized.