Opponents say [Washington state] voters were persuaded at least partly because the initiative and its boosters exploited deep-seated prejudices and misunderstandings about transgender people to erode their rights.
Opponents say [Washington state] voters were persuaded at least partly because the initiative and its boosters exploited deep-seated prejudices and misunderstandings about transgender people to erode their rights.
We do not need to give in to fascist demands. The actual solution is to simply dismiss these concerns as rightfully inconsequential. It is the equivalent of politicans running on a policy of women’s volleyball uniforms.
You claim the slippery slope wouldn’t happen as you directly describe the slope you’d slip down. If any credence is given to the bullshit of, “trans folks should be banned from sports” then that will absolutely, 100% be used as reasoning to ban them from other parts of life.
Anti-social behavior like racism or sexism didn’t improve over time as old people naturally died off. The were actively defended and rights were directly fought for. What you describe as endurance is actually capitulation.
Then we can keep focusing the national spotlight on trans athletes for the next 20 years as nothing changes. I dont think anything will convice the “we should protect women in sports” crowd.
I know my solution is not fair to trans athletes, and if you want to frame it as “capitulation” you can. But if all trans people, as a group, decided they would no longer play competitive high school sports then that would be the end of the trans athlete debate, and anyone still pursuing it would be seen as a conspiracy theorist. And eventually people will get annoyed with them as they pass legislation that only hurts cis girls like that Washington state bill will. And maybe, eventually, people will begin to question what the big deal was in the first place, and FINALLY let trans kids play high school sports.
You can give ground without giving up entirely.
Convince them? We don’t need to do anything of the sort because these delusional freaks are a vocal minority. Most people don’t give a fuck about what trans people are doing. Instead of trying to convince the trans community to give up their right to free expression and bodily autonomy, why don’t we tell these anti-trans weirdos to fuck off?
Your idea is absurd. Abortion access is widely popular, should we try to convince women that they should give up their access to healthcare and bodily autonomy just to maybe get it back later because we have to appease the anti-choice crowd? Should we ask black people to give up their water fountain access because of a few people’s “legitimate concerns”? Should immigrants not be allowed to own pets to defuse the President’s claims that they eat cats and dogs?
These rights need to be defended because they are everyone’s rights. If it can be stripped away from a minority, it can be stripped away from everyone.