Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
I don't know man, calling it a "top-down approach" was pretty disrespectful to the LGBTQ advocates who've been working their asses off to get these things on the political agenda for years, whether you agree with them or not.
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I think this is where we have to draw a line. Obviously, conscientious advocates have to engineer certain top-down solutions that end up being just. Moreover, conservative moderates like me - who sometimes value order over justice - have to be reminded as to what is the right thing to do.
See MLK, suffragettes, and all that. See the gay rights movement.
These groups all argued for equality under a specific legal umbrella, and didn't want special accommodations.
I don't want to deny trans-kids anything that would help them get through their difficult life journey. I also don't want to stigmatize them unnecessarily. What is fairly clear to me is that the NDP's initiative will probably do the latter, and not the former.
A lot of what we know about the transgendered comes down to the fact that our society (whatever that is) tends to almost unilaterally - and probably unconsciously - stigmatize them. We also know that this phenomenon may be getting worse.
We don't know nearly enough to make grand, sweeping psychological or biological statements about sexuality and gender to come up with anything more than ideologically-motivated justifications for these kind of overt interventions - especially, when some ancillary evidence shows more harm than good.
As Cliff said, this really boils down to a pious gesture from our government, and its supporters. Nothing in this thread has convinced me that anyone who supports this policy does so on any basis of justice, except that their hearts are in the right place.
In the larger picture, what would help? Well, I don't know.