Quote:
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You don't need to understand something to accept that it's not actually a danger to you or anyone else, and you can learn to accept that all kinds of people have a right to exist around you. You can learn to understand that you are not better or more special than others, and thus you have no right to rule over them.
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This is kind of the crux of the issue, though, and why posts like that one always fall on deaf ears. A lot of people think like that Tuco poster and simply
will not accept this. They've convinced themselves that transgenderism IS a danger, not to them (of course not, they're very strong and masculine and not at all threatened) but to children. In those circumstances, to "protect the children", extreme behaviour in response to the threat is excusable, even warranted.
This is, of course, the exact playbook that was run with gays, particularly gay men, 30 years ago, and why one of my third grade teachers had to hide who he was for so many years in parent teacher conferences. Bigots don't want to think of themselves as irrationally hateful or fearful for no good reason so they invent a reason that they can justify to themselves. As a result, no amount of mockery or condescension or even well meaning explanation will convince them otherwise. This is what a moral panic is - that's why it's called a panic. Panicked people aren't just unwilling to think rationally, they're incapable.
The only actual cure for this seems to be exposure; i.e., "I actually met and interacted with a trans person and it turns out they aren't the menace I thought they were." Basically the Daryl Davis method.