Stop Letting People Trick You Into Being Scared of Trans People

Here's the thing about trans people: You don't have to understand it. If it confuses you, that's okay! If you personally would never identify as transgender, that's fine. Everyone is different. But the issue comes when you actively, materially discriminate against trans people, or hate them.

Look, if a cisgender person named Richard wanted to go by Rich instead, would you say "No, that's stupid. It says Richard on your birth certificate so I'm going to call you Richard"? No, because that's needlessly rude. 

If someone requests to go by different pronouns than the ones associated with their gender assigned at birth, what is the harm in that? It's something that makes them happy and comfortable. If you really, truly refuse to use those pronouns, simply don't talk to that person at all. 

Trigger warning: Mention of sexual assault below.

"But people are turning kids transgender!"

If a kid identifies as transgender, what's the harm? You might think it's a phase. Okay! Kids go through plenty of phases. If it does turn out to be a phase, and they say "I changed my mind, I don't want to go by he/him pronouns anymore, she/her is fine again," you didn't irreparably damage them. You showed them you're a safe person who's willing to help them explore their identity like literally every kid does, trans or not.

No one is giving hormones or surgeries to little children. At young ages like that, the most "transitioning" that would happen is what's called "social transition," which is just... dressing in different clothes (like all kids do) or maybe going by different pronouns or a different name (plenty of kids go by nicknames!). 

With older kids, they might go on puberty blockers, which might sound scary but really aren't. Puberty blockers just... temporarily block puberty. If the kid decides later to stop, then they can, and they'll go through puberty like normal. Studies have proven that there really aren't any permanent long-term detrimental effects.

And even older teens might get hormones or a surgery. But this isn't something that you just decide one day and get willy-nilly, no questions asked. The waiting periods are LONG. There are consultations with people to determine that this is the right decision for you.

Do some people end up regretting it? Sure! But knee surgeries and tattoos have higher regret rates than gender-affirming surgeries do. Ultimately, the person made their decision. They had free will. 

"But trans athletes are defeating cis athletes in sports!"

That is SUCH a non-issue. There are fewer than ten trans athletes playing at a collegiate level across the United States. And once you are on hormones, your body gets physically changed. Someone assigned male at birth who has been on estrogen for a while simply does not have the muscle mass or "biological male benefits" that you think a cisgender man would. Even if they did, guess what? Cisgender athletes compete with natural biological advantages all the time. Michael Phelps has a longer armspan than average, which gives him a huge advantage in swimming, but no one is advocating for him to be banned due to fairness concerns.

"But men are identifying as trans just so they can assault women in bathrooms!"

Well, no. That isn't happening. If a man wants to assault a woman in a bathroom, he will just go in the bathroom and do it, unfortunately. No one will socially and medically transition just to do that. In fact, anti-trans laws and fear have led to cisgender people being sexually assaulted in the bathroom. Cisgender women, including teens, have been harassed and even pressured into undressing to "prove" that they are "biological women."

Actually, trans people are four times more likely to be VICTIMS of assault than cis people are.

People use baseless fear as a method of control. Do not let them fearmonger you into believing that transgender people are a threat.

Please don't let people fearmonger you into believing that kids are being forcibly transitioned at school. That just isn't happening. And please don't let people fearmonger you into believing that trans women are regularly destroying cis women in sports and "stealing" gold medals. That isn't happening either. And please don't let people fearmonger you into thinking that trans women are predators. Over 90% of predators are cisgender men.

Trans people are a group incredibly vulnerable to hate crimes, sexual assault, and civil rights violations. Their lives are already VERY hard. Please don't make it harder for them.