Yesterday, I spent some of my day reading the transcript of a discussion between Masha Gessen, a trans person, and Lydia Polgreen, a black lesbian. Both are well=known reporters. It was an eyeful, to say the least.
Based in part on that transcript, and in part on my own analysis, I have come to the conclusion that there are three positions on gender fluidity, as follows:
- CONSERVATIVE/CONTAGION: This position is based on three powerful sources of authority: scripture; historical practices; and natural law. It holds that gender fluidity is not just wrong, but evil, and an attack on society as a whole. Individuals holding this view consequently believe it is totally appropriate for the state to legislate against it, and even against talking about it.
The basis for the current round of right-wing statutes is “contagion.” You will observe fairly quickly that this concept sounds a lot like heresy in the Middle Ages. If you hold these beliefs, you have nothing to offer LGBTQ people except contempt and pain. The bottom line is that LGBTQ people, even if they exhibit all of the characteristics of gender fluidity, have to take one for the team to make America godly again. If they are driven to suicide by the lack of treatment and support, oh well.
2. LIBERTARIAN/COMPASSION: The middle group agrees with a lot of what the first group has to say, but sees no reason for the state to intervene to solve a largely non-existent problem. After all, trans people represent a tiny percentage of the population, and some of them are clearly hurting; why not permit them to get the treatment they need? Trans people don’t damage my ability to live my life as I see fit, so why should I stop them from transitioning? However, if you can prove that society is actually being harmed by trans people in some objective way, I’m open to regulation on those points.
3. TRANS MILITANTS: This group thinks gender fluidity is completely natural, that it is society (not biology) that made binary gender normal, and that transitioning is a joyful experience that should be encouraged, not discouraged; it’s just another form of the pursuit of happiness. Unlike the second group, this group does not simply tolerate transitioning as an unfortunate necessity for a handful of disturbed people; it embraces it as a social good. Anyone who believes otherwise is just a bigot, and should be shamed on social media. This means the militant group is constantly at war with the second group.
The bottom line here is that the third group makes up a microscopic percentage of America, and cannot survive politically without the assistance of the middle group, which is much larger. If they don’t want to be driven back into the closet by the conservatives, they need to cool their jets for the foreseeable future.