A government survey found 1.4% of 13- to 17-year-olds identify as trans, compared to 0.5% of adults. That shift partially explains part of the perception that this is a new, growing phenomenon.
Living an ordinary suburban life on an ordinary suburban street, I personally know ... let’s see ... one, two, three, four trans young persons. I would call that a lot. They impact my life — beyond when I occasionally grope to recall their preferred pronoun — no more or less than any other acquaintance.
So why are trans folk such an enormous political issue in 2023 America? Three reasons:
First, for a person who spent their entire life grounded in binary gender identity, the trans presentation can be confusing, in a what-the-heck-am-I-looking-at? sense. I once glanced out the window and saw a neighbor’s adult child with a beard and breasts, pushing a baby carriage down the street. It took a bit of pondering to sort that one out, eventually filing the image under “Business, none of my.”
If you strip the process of malice, I don’t see anything wrong with allowing people this adjustment. It can take a trans individual a long time to work out their own particular gender identity — to understand who they themselves are — so it doesn’t seem fair to then demand that any random passerby immediately achieve a similar understanding.
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On the topic of "Second, there are legitimate questions, regarding fairness in women’s sports, and such, that even an open-minded non-hater will recognize as valid," I share this from Charlotte Clymer's Substack:
ReplyDeletehttps://charlotteclymer.substack.com/p/trans-panic-and-the-courage-of-laurel-7df
This is a very useful analysis of the sports aspect and I encourage people to read it. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteAs a parent of a trans woman, thank you for these thoughtful words.
ReplyDeleteThe difference between Rowling and Doyle is that actively encouraging hatred for a marginalized group is not equal to believing in fairies. It’s hard to separate the author’s hatred from her writings when Rowling is using it to keep her social media presence while trans women are in fear for their lives.
I think "hatred" is a bit of a stretch as a descriptor of Rowling's views. "Lack of sophistication" is probably closer to the mark.
DeleteYeah, it was a metaphor that didn’t seem quite right to me either.
Delete
ReplyDeleteI’m looking at the column you invited me to participate in last March, and ponder the answer I gave when you asked “What do you consider yourself?” My answer was non-commital, as you noted, and I thought maybe I should have had a better answer.
At 70, mmmm…Still haven’t completely worked it out, which I’m comfortable with. I don’t dwell on the subject, I don’t get up every morning and put on make-up and curl my hair, which, for those of you who saw the accompanying photo in the column would well understand why not. As I noted, I’m comfortable with who I am and what I’m doing.
One thing I learned from my 17 years of experience in the trans community was the wide spectrum within it vis-a-vis individual goals and desires. Some people have declared that they knew, absolutely, that something was totally wrong as far back as they could remember. Some, like myself, just understood that we were different at a time when being different was almost totally anathema. Others, long in denial, once they got a chance to express themselves gender-wise and explore their options, found themselves much more comfortable seeking to transition and pursuing eventual surgery in order to be ‘complete’. ‘Congruency’ was a common term, meaning the physical and mental parts of their being finally matched.
One of the ways Republicans like to misdirect discussions on trans issues is to throw in deliberate allusions to sexual activity as their selling points. When asked about their positions on trans rights, Nancy Mace and Nicki Haley always begin their responses by bringing up the subject of teenage girls being raped. In Mace’s case, she herself was a victim. I would venture to guarantee that none of these women, including Ms. Mace, were raped by a trans woman.
Having said that, I also understand the discomfort that women would feel sharing a restroom with a trans person. Or, even more so, a locker room, which, if going by my experience in high school, is a place where there is nowhere to hide. I can only assume that it’s the same situation in a women’s locker room. There are reasonable alternatives, such as single-person gender neutral restrooms or changing facilities. Respect for the rights of others goes hand in hand with demanding respect for yourself. People on both sides seem to ignore this rule.
One of the biggest problems is the amount of out-and-out lies being told, especially in the cases of young people. In spite of what the Congresswoman from Georgia would have us believe, there are not ‘dozens’ of young women going to emergency rooms or being put into intensive care after suffering injuries from being forced to compete with boys. In fact, there aren’t any such cases on record. Nor have legislators in Ohio been informed of ‘countless’ complaints about boys competing on girls’ high school teams. In fact, the Ohio High School Athletic Assn. can’t find any record of complaints in their files. So, I suppose technically that would be countless, since there’s nothing actually there to count.
Just last week, someone ‘might have seen, thought he saw, it could have been’ a person of dubious gender using his high school’s girls’ restroom in eastern Pennsylvania. Well, he’s not sure, but it might have been a boy. Well, he’s not sure if he saw anyone at all, come to think of it. Which didn’t stop another boy from organizing a general walkout of the student body in the name of biblical principles.
I could go on and on. Oh yeah, I just did. As the late Michael O’Donoghue once recommended as a graceful ending in his 1971 National Lampoon article ‘How to Write Good’, “Suddenly, I was run over by a truck”.:)
Trans John/Karen 3/22
One of the most thoughtful, cogent and empathetic things I have read on this complex and difficult subject. And coming from a source that has likely experienced the full gamut of reactions and emoyions. Everyone who reads it should come out feeling smarter on the other side. Thank you for that.
DeleteThere's the trans-Taliban who will attack and boycott anyone for anything.
ReplyDeleteHow about we compromise. Trans people can compete in their own competitions instead of shattering all the women's records.
No one can take any hormones or any surgery until 20 years old.
No compromise on prisons, too dangerous.
No persecution, no promotion.
Congratulations, whoever you are, you almost passed the litmus test all candidates for Texas A.G. must undergo. Just need a little more work on your draconian theories of what constitutes ‘compromise’.
DeleteMy head hurts.
Trans John/Karen 3/22
Reading your blog is so frustrating. Reading along, enjoying, then "click here to continue reading" which takes me to the Sun-Times, which won't let me see the rest of the column. Even tho I subscribe to the daily paper edition. Good thing it only happens on days your column is printed.
ReplyDeleteOne doesn't even need to be a subscriber, print or otherwise. They ask for your email address when you click on an article. If you're willing to provide it, I'm pretty sure you can read as much of the Sun-Times online as you want.
DeleteI'm sorry to hear that, though getting access is a doable process, in that most people, including myself, seem to manage it. Have you tried?
DeleteI think you have to sign in to your Sun Times account
DeleteSpeaking of the Sun-Times... Here's a headline for the ages from today's paper: "JUDGE: TRUMP REALTY EMPIRE BUILT ON FRAUD"
DeleteSeems like rather significant news about a former president, or any other person whose claim to fame was being a genius businessman. What I'm wondering is why that is on Page 30, with fall leaves and a garbage transfer facility getting front page treatment, instead? I realize that the S-T prides itself on its coverage of local issues, but c'mon!
My guess is that the news broke later in the day and that was the space available. And besides, how many fraud judgements have gone against him? Not exactly shocking.
DeleteThe Sun-Times had some great headlines...and headline writers...back in the day. I'm talking decades ago. The one I remember best was used for the story about a cargo plane at an airport. It had a live cargo. It sat for a long time. The air-conditioner broke. The headline: 2,000 BIRDS DIE IN FOWL-UP. Par for the course, back in the day. You always got a laugh or two, every goddamn day.
DeleteYeah, but the fact that it's NOT shocking is part of my point. Shouldn't it be? Not all news is shocking, regardless.
DeleteAfter being disappointed by the Tribune's similar story placement, I thought I'd look at a bunch of other front pages at this dandy site: https://www.freedomforum.org/todaysfrontpages/#1
A brief report of my incomplete findings:
Boston Globe, Detroit News, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Wisconsin State Journal had the story starting on the front page.
WaPo, LA Times, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Portland Oregonian had little mentions on the front page.
Wall Street Journal had it at the top of the front page on the right side, New York Times had it on top to the left side. (Uh, that right / left thing seems appropriate!) Daily News had a swell screaming headline, as usual: "LIES & FRAUD." Of course, it's a local story for those three.
Minnesota claims the winners of this imaginary competition, in my view. Minneapolis StarTribune's top headline: "Judge: Trump is a serial fraud," and St. Paul Pioneer Press': "Trump committed fraud."
Alas, the big majority of papers had nothing about it on the front page. Also depressing to me is how similar so many of the regional papers are, since they're mostly owned by the same big companies.
"The people pretending to worry about any unease a woman might feel using the restroom are the same bloc" ...
ReplyDeletecomprised of the hypocritical dupes who avidly support the Biggest Loser, a guy who *bragged* about walking into women's dressing rooms.
"'You know, no men are anywhere. And I’m allowed to go in because I’m the owner of the pageant. And therefore I’m inspecting it… Is everyone OK? You know, they’re standing there with no clothes. And you see these incredible-looking women. And so I sort of get away with things like that,' he said.
(Billado told BuzzFeed she mentioned the incident to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, who shrugged it off, saying, 'Yeah, he does that.')"
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/a-timeline-of-donald-trumps-creepiness-while-he-owned-miss-universe-191860/