MediaMatters

  • TokenBoomer@lemmy.worldOP
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    1 year ago

    No, not a tangent. I think cis people need to hear your story and others. Because it doesn’t get discussed, people have misconceptions about who you are and what is involved. Many still think it’s a choice. That needs to be demystified. Discussion is the only way that happens. I can’t pretend to know the struggle, but I try to understand.

    • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Many still think it’s a choice. That needs to be demystified.

      To me, this sentiment is such a big part of the problem. The abuse, the homelessness, the insecurity: those are all symptoms of the problem, but needing justify any of gestures wildly everywhere this as not being a choice is such a big part of the problem.

      Why can’t it be a choice? I’m not gay and I know I’m not because I’ve chosen to kiss guys to find out. I don’t always feel comfortable in my skin and sometimes feel more powerful when I’m wearing makeup or am dressed like a 1980s bully. But what if I just wanted to dress as a woman or be referred to as “her” for a week or if my wife wanted to grow a beard? The fact that anyone feels the need to justify these “odd” behaviors as part of biology or whatever further detracts from the correct response to someone having had a sex change or any other personal choice: “cool, it’s none of my business, but I’m glad you felt comfortable sharing that with me.”

      I realize that society is so far from ready for this view that my argument probably comes off a reductive, but I’m so tired of seeing wonderful people or even okay-ish people suffering from a population trying to wipe them from existence. I no longer feel the need to justify anything to these assholes and the only explanation they should ever hear again is, “because. Now kindly fuck off.”