Open Mic for the week of 6/19/2023

Philip H in reply to InMD says:

These two things are rooted in the same bigotry though.Report

Philip H in reply to Pinky says:

And going back to this point that few OT’ers seem to get, Dylan Mulvaney is a mockery of the female. It’s not incidental to his brand, it is his brand. He’s another Lia Thomas: men are the best at everything, including being women. Even those who might not have been able to articulate the nature of the attack noticed it, and I’m impressed that they stood up against it.

Wow.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone roll misogyny, transphobia and homophobia up so neatly before. You almost deserve an “Atta boy.” for your wild bigotry.

Neither Dylan Mulvaney nor Lea Thomas are trying to prove or state or imply that men are “better” at being women then women. They are trying to live their lives as their fully authentic selves. That you and other – who allegedly follow the teaching of tolerance in the New Testament – remain so intolerant to and of them is rapidly becoming inexcusable.Report

Philip H in reply to Pinky says:

You continue to call them both “he and him.” And you said nothing to disagree with this alleged line of attack. You also have a long track record around here of misogyny and transphobia. Hence why you continue to assert – even here – that trans women are just men trying to be “better women.” You agree with the attack even if you won’t outright say so.Report

Philip H in reply to Pinky says:

They’re both men and I speak English, so I’m going with “he and him”.

Aside from your own misogyny and transphobia, on what basis do you conclude they are men? What gives you the moral right to make that statement? And ow are you displaying your Christian compassion by continuing to address them as such?Report

Philip H in reply to Pinky says:

Sex is not gender.
That’s your first mistaken assumption.

Trans people are not “messed up” or confused about their gender. That is your second wrong assumption. They are crystal clear that the gender assigned at birth – based entirely on external genitalia – is not aligned with their psychological or emotional understanding of themselves. Continuing to force them to live at the assigned gender after that point is what causes so many to self harm, including suicide.

The Christian position – as taught Christ’s gospels, not church dogma – is to extend compassion to people where and how they are. Not to force them into living in a way that increases harm. That means accepting people as they are – including calling transgendered person by their preferred pronouns. So continuing to call a transwoman He or Him is to REMOVE compassion and acceptance. It is to FORCE them to conform to your assumptions. Because it is to deny their full selves. TO deny them their humanity.

Christ called for radical acceptance of children, lepers, and women in a time when none of them were considered to exist as separate humans in society with worth beyond their relationships to men. He rebuked believers for being less compassionate to strangers then non-believers. He advocated for the humanity of hookers and slaves.

Calling a transwoman “She” is the least, easiest thing a Christian can do in this instance.Report

Philip H in reply to John Puccio says:

MY third sentence was in regards to OTHER attacks currently underway. I am very clear on the differences. Again – these are people in my life not internet abstracts.

But allowing children to do such things? Again, is that progress?

Since those kids are doing so with the support and consent of their parents and their medical providers and psychologists – yes it is because it means they won’t grow up tortured souls who are more likely to dies by their own hands.

If parents are free to make decisions about what their kids read and don’t read and learn and don’t learn, the least we can do is support those parents and those kids in dealing with significant medical decisions shouldn’t we?

Put another way – it is sick, twisted, delusional hypocrisy to assert that a single parent has the power to have books removed from schools and public libraries (and thus denied to other children of other parents) because that parent doesn’t want their kids to read something, but at the same time criminalize when parents assert their authority to provide the best medical and psychological care for their kids.

Both are significant immoral assaults on personal liberty and freedom from a political party that touts individual liberty and freedom. It is sick, twisted, fascist and fear driven and deserves no quarter in what’s left of our democracy.Report

Philip H in reply to John Puccio says:

Those “confused” children are 86% more likely to think about suicide when they are bullied for their transgendered status, denied gender affirming care and emotionally neglected by their families for being transgendered. They are 40% more likely to attempt suicide then their peers for those same reasons. SO preventing them from receiving the care they and their parents seek increases harm measurably.

No transgendered youth is given any gender affirming care without parental consent. None is given hormonal treatments without extensive medical and psychological evaluation and on-going support. No child has – to my knowledge – undergone sexual reassignment surgery, which means that any hormones administered and their side effects are fully reversible. It also says a great deal about your lack of knowledge of the transgendered experience that you continue to conflate normal questioning about sexual attraction (am I gay) with gender dysphoria as experienced by transgendered people. They do not have the same root psychological sources; they are not addressed societally or medically the same way.

And where your beliefs are fascist is in support of GOP politicians who seek to interfere with parental rights to provide standard of care to transgendered teens through laws. Just as it is fascist to allow a single parent the authority to remove books they disapprove of from schools and public libraries, it is fascist to create legal, criminal penalties for parents who are trying to help their children deal with serious and often fatal mental and emotional challenges. Thankfully the courts appear willing to check these impulses for now.Report

Philip H in reply to Pinky says:

not quite. What they are doing is continuing to seek informed consent, continuing to have practitioners look to both psychological wellbeing and development, and somewhat restricting hormone therapy. They are not passing laws calling this child abuse (as Texas and Florida did). I’d actually be ok with the approach the NHS is using – provided it was being delivered in a single payer setting.

https://segm.org/England-ends-gender-affirming-careReport