An opinion piece made all the more powerful by the fact that the individual who wrote it states within that she feels more threatened by social justice warrior “defenders” on the left than by the bigots in the right.
I find it remarkably ironic, quite bitterly humorous, to note that while the left wing extremists and the right wing extremists each declare each other to be the very epitome of evil, threatening the very foundations of society, both agree on their most elemental position. That is, there are only two sexes. The polarity is absolute.
The only difference between the two positions is that the ultra conservatives insist that sexual identity is a state of biology which can be determined at birth, while the ultra liberals proclaim that it is a decision that can be made by an individual at any point in their lifeline.
Weirdly, that means that both sides agree that there is no such thing as a transgender man or a transgender woman. There are only men. There are only women. There is nothing else. An absolutism which makes some sense for the conservatives, but none at all for the liberals.
Anyone who cares to face the facts can see that biology is a real thing. Anyone can also see that not everyone fits a strict biological separation into two rigid categories. There are male children who become male adults who identify emotionally and intellectually as women. There are female children will become female adults who identify emotionally and intellectually as men. Is also clear that this is not an invariable absolute. There is wide variation and individuality along this line.
Why is it so impossible for either of the extremists to see this? The answer is obvious. They are true believers. Reality means nothing when it comes up against doctrine.
To make my position perfectly clear, let me state that Dr. Hayton is Doctor Hayton. I do not care what it said on the doctor’s birth certificate. She identifies herself as a transgender male. This is what feels right to her. I have no problem with that.
It’s no one else’s business to tell her that she must be absolutely and completely either male or female; end of statement.
Yet both sides make this declaration. According to the ultraconservatives there can be no such thing as a transgender man or woman because you are a man or woman at birth and that’s what you are forever and ever, amen. According to the ultra liberals you are whatever you feel is right for you at any given moment in your life span but that choice is only between the two invariant states of man or woman.
To repeat, both sides agree on this one critical point. There’s no such thing as a transgender man or a transgender woman.
Yet there are transgender men. Yet there are transgender women. What a sad state for these individuals. Despised and hated by Western society for decades, now they are finally beginning to find acceptance only have their “allies” telling them they don’t even exist!
Is reality so hateful, so distasteful, that we must continually deny it? The answer is that for the extremists, yes, it is.
We don’t need rigid absolutes in a flexible world full of subtleties and variation. We need understanding. If we can’t have understanding, then we at least need tolerance.
The concepts I have stated here will profoundly offend both extremes, but from where I stand, there’s very little difference between the two of them. A sense of smug superiority, a conviction of absolute righteousness, topped with a true believer’s conviction that they cannot be wrong and so we don't need no stinking facts apply to both.
As for me, transgender men and transgender women…you exist. I have no problem with that. I have no problem with you.
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