Your article expresses and reflects everything that is wrong at the moment in society in its attitude towards trans people. You express fear of grooming or manipulation of children. You imply that the trans community is trying to sexualize children and expose them to inappropriate content. You resent the term birthing person. You have no understanding of the science and the reality of the trans experience.
Trans people are very real, and we have always been here. We represent a normal human variant, but are a tiny minority, about 0.6%, of the total population. I agree with you that our increasing visibility has resulted in some young people experimenting with alternate identities. But they will outgrow it.
My daughter, when she was young, went through a goth phase of everything being black. She went through a phase of tangerine hair and raspberry hair and rainbow colored hair. These were just part of her exploration to find herself. She turned out fine. Every new generation has to find their own way in life. Rebelliousness and experimentation are part of the process for all of us.
The problem is that the implicit fear and revulsion which underly your article have no basis in fact. You cannot turn an otherwise ordinary child into a trans person, and you cannot cure a trans person from being trans any more that you can cure or convert a gay person. It took the medical community and the scientists decades to finally figure this out and understand it. The brains of trans people are hardwired to the gender with which they identify. It is not a choice and it is not a mental illness. It is just who we are.
To give you an idea with regard to my own experience, I am a binary trans woman. Actually, I am just a binary woman. I have now done everything medically and surgically possible to conform my body to match my brain. So it is more accurate just to consider me a woman like any other. In the woman’s locker room, no one pays any attention to me because I look and act like any other woman. It gets complicated when we add into the discussion the fact that between the two binaries there is a whole rainbow of people who are nonbinary or gender nonconforming. They are equally valid, but for purposes of your article let’s keep it simple and focus on binary trans people.
There were many indicators that I was trans. Let’s focus on an obvious one. Many years ago I read an article by a postop trans woman who made this comment: “Do you fantasize about having your penis and testicles removed and replaced by a vagina? If so, you are almost undoubtedly trans. Normal males, even the gay ones, would be horrified by the thought.” I desperately wanted a vagina, and now I have one which not even my gynecologist can differentiate from a natural one. During my first appointment with her she thought I was pregnant because my hormones are high due to HRT and on physical inspection I look like any of her other patients. I am a woman, pure and simple. I am not a fake woman or a special class of woman.
The hysteria that seems so prevalent at the moment in society is due to irrational fear, lack of understanding, and a greater awareness of the existence of trans people. We are not destroying the fabric of society, and we are not confusing and grooming a generation of impressionable young people. They are being educated as to a reality which has always existed, but which has been suppressed for too long. Knowledge is always a good thing and cannot be taught too early. Yes, I agree with you that certain subjects are inappropriate for the very young, but informing them of the existence of trans people is not one of those. That is one of the reasons for drag queen story hour. You apparently have never attended one. There is nothing sexual about them. It is a good time where very loving and compassionate drag queens treat their young audience in a motherly kind of way. The children always enjoy it and they are not pressured or sexualized in any way. It is merely an encounter with a specific part of the LGBTQ community by young people and their parents. There is absolutely nothing threatening about it.
The same can be said about pride parades. You said you have never been to one. It is like any other big parade with lots of floats and pagentry and costumes. Where I live in Florida, we have something called Gasparilla, where otherwise respectable businessman dress up as pirates and invade the city. They put on a pirate themed parade and ask the women to show them their tits to get beads tossed to them. It is a far more sexualized experience than any pride parade and children are always present. Go to one sometime. You may just find you enjoy yourself.
The people wearing dog masks, that you so object to, will be well represented at these parades. They also have get togethers at various places. They are called pups. It is an interesting kind of fetish, which is often associated with the gay community, but an activity in which many heterosexual men also are involved. It is harmless fun. It is not my thing, but again no one is being groomed or sexualized. I am often amazed at the kinds of people hiding behind the masks when they take them off. You will find married doctors and lawyers and politicians. They are not hurting anyone, and I let them be who they are without judgment. You should as well.
Finally, let me address the issue of your objection to being described as a birthing person. You are a woman. I am a woman, but not a birthing person. This term has begun to creep into the language in response to the intolerance of the TERF and GC crowd who try to belittle and erase the legitimacy and the existence of trans women and transmasc men. Most trans men have vaginas and can give birth. Many of them do. But they do not consider themselves to be women. The term birthing person was developed to describe the class of people who can have children. Some of them identify as men and some as women. It is a way of including both in a larger group. It is not an attempt to erase the validity and rights of women. It is easy to see how it could be viewed that way by people who do not understand the issues. It is merely a matter of educating yourself to overcome your fear and distaste of the term.
What I see throughout your article is a strong negative emotional reaction to the fact that society is progressing and beginning to recognize the legitimacy and existence of previously invisible minorities. That is a normal reaction by many to something new. But it does not mean there is an insidious plot to destroy the fabric of society or negate the rights of women or anyone else. The key is education. I hope you will educate yourself. Once you know more you may find that all of the things you worry about turn out to be non-issues. I certainly hope you do.
