Talarico: ... what do the American people care more about -- pronouns or prices?"

[radical noodle]

13. It is not either/or but...

We rise to their bait every time. Some group is hurt every time they do this. The trans community has suffered because of this and we could have responded in a different way to take the pressure off, but instead we unwittingly gave fuel to the fire.

We care about LGBTQ rights. We care about prices. But somehow we always pick the wrong argument. The more we defend trans people the way we do the more gas gets thrown on the fire for the culture wars.

I have a dear friend with a trans daughter. She was living a fairly normal life until the trans culture wars began. Now she is living in fear, practically in hiding. Her boyfriend has left her because he became afraid. Her doctor has been arrested and she can't find another one. Our defense of her did not help. It made the argument louder, more prominent. We should have turned that argument around.

I admit to being a fairly ignorant about trans people and how they generally feel about all this. I only have one person to look to in order to form an opinion. It worries me right now that I may have said something with this post that could be hurtful to someone here. I hope not, but if I did I am certainly open to being corrected.

We are all human beings (well, okay... there is some question about this current administration) and while we need to defend all people we must do a better job of it. While we're at it, why don't we educate people so they know that there are not just male or female babies being born? Most people have no idea there are intersexual people. That "only male or female" argument could have been slowed a long time ago.