Thoughts to disturb groupthinking reactionaries on all sides:
Human sex is a generally binary biological fact. It’s dependent on the scientific construction of the idea of sex but it’s still a concrete reference to objective phenomena that, depending on your level of analysis, can not necessarily be changed with cosmetic surgery or hormonal treatment.
Human gender is a socially constructed spectrum of behavior and the identity it both expresses and reinforces. It’s socially and culturally dependent and references a subjective (self-)perception formulated in the context of others’ (self-)perceptions, and includes ranges of gender identity and expression far beyond any mere dimorphism; to be reduced to a mere two genders is to reduce gender to sex, and while cosmetic surgery and hormonal treatment may enhance one’s gendered self-perception, they don’t effect an absolute shift from one imaginary gender pole to another.
Once upon a time, not too long ago, gender theory was on the cusp of something bold and beautiful. Political ideologies and media narratives have since muddied the waters, derailing the discussion until the point where people’s lives are now actually at risk over what is essentially a personal question of how we choose to express ourselves in society.
Those who act violently are ultimately responsible for their actions as well as their beliefs. Misguided and misinformed fear is no excuse for unprovoked violence. And the suggestion that we should extend empathy only to those who are similar to us simply reinforces the lie that our differences are more essential to who we are than our similarities are.
Trans people are *people*, who choose to express their identities in ways that are different from how I choose to express myself. We don’t have to agree on gender theory for us to recognize that we all deserve to have our human and civil rights protected.