I wish the debate could be a bit more nuanced. That we’d hear more voices saying that we need to protect vulnerable women and that we need to ensure that people with gender dysphoria. That it’s not just a bunch of men’s rights activists making a point, but also some people who, having suffered the stress and pain of gender dysphoria, and the awkwardness and indignities involved in changing the way they present themselves to the world, have more bureaucracy than is comfortable to add to the mix.
It’s not straightforward. There are vulnerable people on both sides. I agree with a lot of the commentary on protecting women and ensuring we have safe spaces, and I know someone who is transgender who also acknowledges this. The reason I hide the threads is because of the polarisation, the them-and-us, the deliberate use of pronouns that people don’t want to be used to describe them.
Yes, I know my transgender acquaintance has XY chromosomes, yes, I know that this person is no more “literally” a woman than I am “literally” a potato, but if she wants to be called she, and a female name, then of course I will oblige her, and frankly it’s none of my business what surgery she has or has not had.
I just want the debate to be a bit more nuanced, that’s all. That’s why I don’t hang out on the feminist boards any more, and tend to hide anything mentioning trans, as it seems to be a magnet for people who like an outrage-fest, and the sensible points about women’s safe spaces are lost in the noise of people poking fun at Lily Madigan.