So you have been called a Transphobe. Maybe even a TERF! Hot words have been exchanged.
It's easy to get defensive, dig in, camp up and not take any shit from these "woke idiots" on the internet. Yeah you could do that.
Mind you, you could also have a read and try to understand some of what they are trying to tell you. Here is a reading list of links to help you digest all this new information outside of an angry twitter thread. They range across the scientific and cultural, to news pieces, politicla statements, and informational statistics.
No one can make you read these, no one can force you to develop your understanding of the world around you, only you can take the step to being a person capable of educating themselves and changing their opinion based on new information. I truly hope you are able to do this and begin your journey to better understanding this whole trans thing.
It's worth noting as well that the arguments your transphobic friends and sources present usually utilise are laden with scientific reductionism and pseudo scientific jibberish. This reminds me very much of climate change denialism, these links are often presented as an obvious truth and are used to make you feel like a victim, a defender of the obvious against a self indulgent enemy who is trying to make you change everything you know to be true. The right wing call this "Cultural Marxism", the left wing tend to call it "the PC Brigade" or "IdPol". Tho woefully inaccurate in their usage these terms are often used as a "dog whistle" for horrendous bigotry, racism and misogyny.
Subsequently when you've shared a seemingly righteous link defending women from predatory men or something, someone has got pissed off at you, cussed you out and spewed out all that angry rage which you've been warned about so much.
The thing is, whether wittingly or not, when you share those articles you are finding on Mumsnet or whatnot you are contributing to a hostile environment which very literally kills people. Overwhelming it kills women, and of them, women from the black and minority ethnic communities are over represented.
This series of links is a counter to that, the vast majority are from peer reviewed publications and institutions. If you believe in science, you have to come to terms with the reality that some of the things you have "always known" are false and that our understanding of the world around is ever developing. It is here to provide you with a easily accessable source of information to cleanse that rot from your head. A tool to educate yourself with and hopefully return to being a person who uses their political voice for compassion and solidarity. ■
Peter Ó Maille
- This is a living document and is subject to change and addition, feel free to suggest new links -
- This list is partially based on a version I was sent as a email, I assume it is online and would appreciate a link to it -
TO BE ADDED Expansive list of studied and data https://twitter.com/DadTrans/status/1533890784663154690
Canadian census https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220427/dq220427b-eng.htm Summary of the above https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/06/08/trans-non-binary-census-data-canada-uk-stonewall-nancy-kelley/
General Resource: https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/
American Academy of Pediatrics Gender Identiity 5 Years After Social Transition https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/150/2/e2021056082/186992/Gender-Identity-5-Years-After-Social-Transition
European Society of Endocrinology Transgender Brains Are More Like Their Desired Gender From An Early Age www.ese-hormones.org/publications/press-releases/transgender-brains-are-more-like-their-desired-gender-from-an-early-age/ Study: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2014.00060/full)
Medline Plus Encyclopedia Intersex www.medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001669.ht
TRANS RESOURCES: Transgender Action Block Transgender Healthcare: A Guide for GPs https://cryptpad.fr/drive/#/2/drive/view/lCHbuXqvNnkhitIC0ROvCn64iTNW1xOAFWzC8ypHyrs/
Indian Country Today Two Spirits, One Heart, Five Genders www.newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/api/amp/indiancountrytoday/archive/two-spirits-one-heart-five-genders-9UH_xnbfVEWQHWkjNn0rQQ
Organise! Magazine Transphobia is a Class Issue https://organisemagazine.org.uk/2018/09/09/%ef%bb%bftransphobia-is-a-class-issue/ RESOURCES GENERAL Remembering Our Dead - https://tdor.translivesmatter.info/ A supporting resource for anyone involved in Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) events which keeps a record of those who have passed.
Transpac Resources for trans parents, carers and their families transpac.positiveidentities.org.uk/
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