NITA: Hey, my name is Nita and one question that you provoked at the beginning was around speaking the truth. But the truth as we know, is rather inconveniently subjective so when somebody believes in a truth that they genuinely believe is the truth and yet, that denies someone else’s truth, what do we do in that scenario? To take an example, in the UK at the moment, one view that is very much advocated by some very prolific writers and perhaps, some people in this very audience, is that trans people should not exist
Or the example that you brought, that women are inferior. When someone’s truth denies my truth and it does not only provoke discomfort or offend my feelings but rather, wants to erase my very existence, what do you think is the morally courageous thing, but also, compassionate thing to do?
[there was some partial answering of the question until ...]
CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE: I did want to also comment about the language that you use where you say, do not want trans people to exist. It seems to me sometimes, and again, I think social media contributes to this, that we choose the most extreme and often, the most inaccurate understanding of people’s positions. So, for women, for example, who say that they want sports to remain sex-based rather than gender identity-based, people will say, “Oh, you want trans people to die.” No, they don’t. They have trans friends. They know trans people exist. They’re just saying, “This is the position we have.”
And so, the reason I say this is, I think it’s helpful for us not to do that sort of very extreme, often inaccurate representation of people’s opinions because if we do that, we’re never going to have any kind of understanding or agreement.
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