434 Comments

Here we go again. I was 4. I knew I was more like my sisters than my brothers. I knew I was a girl. People have no idea the pain it causes. This narrative that it's one gene that determines everything is ancient and has been replaced by far more sophisticated process. Transgender people exist, whether there is current proof or not. To add on the lies about assault and abuse shows that they're not even arguing in good faith. Now that the information is readily available, of course more young people are able to describe what they feel and ask for help. I WISH I had known that being transgender was real as I struggled through my life for nearly 40 years. This situation with these organizations and scientists whom were respected and admired by many of us is heartbreaking, and even worse now that the right wing fascists and christians have ramped up the attacks, abuse and denial of our rights. The thing is that people aren't up for debate. Let people live their lives for goodness sake!

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Never forget that, despite the hardships you've faced, you've lived a life of bravery and determination, Jennifer. The buffoons and fools who would like to pretend you out of existence aren't the majority, and certainly not the majority here. We see you. We value you. And we have your back. Thank you for sharing your experience.

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Seconded, wholeheartedly!!!

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I think I'm gonna keep it simple and say: YOU GO, GIRL!!! 👍

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Thank you Troublesh00ter!

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Any old time!

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In an oil and steel town in 1950's miurka, I ws oppressed and forced to be like everyone else. I wanted to be a woman. I still wnt to feel a neww life growing wsithin me. Thank yoiu for posting my story also.

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I'm so sorry, Bagat. I'm open if you want/need to talk.

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Thanx.

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I may not understand well what you went through, but I'm so very sorry you went through that. The fact you're still here is a tribute to your strength and perseverance. Thanks so much for posting this, Jennifer, it's much appreciated.

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You rock!

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Sorry for the late reply, but Brava! 👏👏👏

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I fully support you being able to live as your best self.

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I (borned, raised and recognise myself as a female) was 8 yo when my mother told me my friend was NOT what I believed. My friend was recognised as female at birth. What my mother did not understood 53 ya was that non of us kids thought of my friend as female and neither did we care. We laughed a lot about that episode later.

(Edited to correct my mother's statement).

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"I WISH I had known that being transgender was real as I struggled through my life for nearly 40 years." Same story for me.

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Jan 23
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Social and medical transition exists

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And the picture of 3 white males . . . with their faces saying "we are white males, we know what is best for everyone."

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Their faces also say, 'How DARE these mere mortals question us and our privilege!!??"

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And defended by white male supremacists afraid of anyone different from them.

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That's the heart of their problem, Bagat. They're afraid. Of things they can't comprehend. Of people who aren't like them. Of people who disagree with them. And that the times are changing. They feel themselves losing influence, so they've made common cause with the worst people in the people in the world - all because the low-lifes give them the attention they need. They've turned into caricatures of their once-respected selves.

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ALL of their fear comes from gods. Daniel C, Dennett posited in "Breaking the Spell" that religions evolved as a unifying idea reinforcing tribal unity against differing tribes. Today we see that fear of difference in this hatred.

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When you're used to standing over others, "understanding" sounds an awful lot like "defeat."

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And my near-involuntary response remains: PUL-LEASE!!!

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Some things NEVER change!

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"That section concludes with a plea: Why won’t anyone think about cis women?"

No. Nope, you lot don't get to pretend this is about protecting cis women, too often athletic women get accused of not being feminine enough as it is. Who is or isn't a woman isn't something three old white guys get to determine by pretending it's what the 'science' says, particularly when the actual goal appears to be kowtowing to the MAGA crowd.

I'll just admit here that I don't understand trans folks; I'm fortunate enough that I identify with the gender my body expresses so it's a nonissue for me personally. I find I don't have to 'get it' to understand that trans people are, in fact, people and should therefore be treated with respect and attention to their social and medical needs just like anyone else. As a result, I resent the idea that I need protection from the 'big, bad, awful trans person' just because they weren't born with plumbing to match their gender. Find some other way to fail at debate, you three, and quit recklessly dragging in unwilling cis women.

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They'd be better off protecting cis women from their coaches it seems to me.

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I fully agree with your comment. Especially the line that trans people are people. They are human beings and should be treated with respect and care.

And that includes access to toilets - because all humans need to pee and poo.

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Exactly. Not 6 months ago Dawkins was falsely accusing multiple cis women athletes of being trans and calling them “men/males”

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Jan 23
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Members of your religion do not know what being female is. As I mentioned, Dawkins when on a screed falsely accusing multiple cis female athletes of being “male”. Your cult suffers not solely from delusions, but vicious ones that they force onto others.

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Feb 2
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The anti-trans “gender critical” religion. It’s a pseudoscientific cult. Specifically an offshoot of the Catholic anti-gender movement, which evolved from a hybridization of conservative Catholic views on gender roles and Nazi phrenological theories. The Nazis invented it. It was part of a broader pseudoscientific theory which focused primarily on race and ethnicity, but which the Nazis also applied to sex.

And as we established, you have no education in biology.

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Feb 2
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Every accusation is a confession.

You have no education in biology, we both know it. And I fully acknowledge that I myself am not a biologist. I took life science in my undergrad but am not a biologist.

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When people rail on and on about “transgender activism“, rather than transgender rights, transgender treatment, transgender science, what they are telling me is that they are interested in the culture wars and the political issues, not transgender people, not gender dysphoria, not medical science.

It’s identical to this situation: when people rail on and on about the “homosexual agenda”, rather than gay rights, Equality before the law, And scientific fact on the subject, what they are telling me is that they are interested in the culture war and political issues, as well as religious issues…

NOT GAY PEOPLE.

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Generally, they are the same non-thinking lemmings, who vomit out the massively flawed debunked theories.

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Yes, and pointing out actual facts never stops subsequent vomiting.

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Strictly speaking they are not theories. But I agree with you 100%. They are not dealing with facts, logic, or experience.

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Everything fits in one of two boxes if you ignore everything that doesn't fit in the boxes.

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Or stretch the boxes until they're amorphous blobs with completely arbitrary and ever-changing boundaries.

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Maybe it's time to dispense with the boxes.

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I think that's a reasonable idea. Let's come up with non-gendered singular pronouns rather than trying to make our inadequate binary gendered pronouns work for everyone.

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That Dawkins et al are simply lead by the science is easily disproved by the fact that they regularly ignore it. But even if they were correct about it it would not justify the cruelty which is being meted out to the trans community in the name of protecting women and girls. Yet as a 68 year old cis woman I feel no threat from transgender people, which is quite unlike the dangers I have faced from cis men.

But when did R Dawkins and his mates ever ask us what we think?

That would be never.

If trans men are forced to use ladies’ bathrooms we will accommodate them. But will those brave cis men whose delicate sensibilities have largely brought about this situation be so accommodating to trans women? I’m guessing not.

So again, which group poses the most danger to the rest of us? Yes, those caring cis men, again.

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👆👆👆🎯I'm not sure what they think we do in the restroom, but it sure isn't linger, they tend to smell.

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Honestly, I have to wonder if ANYONE at CFI has ever met a trans person or could be bothered to understand their personal experience and point of view. My sense is that: 1) No, they haven't and 2) Why would we want to do such a thing, as that would contradict our previously (ill-)informed opinions?

I can't help but wonder if it's Dawkins that is pulling CFI down or whether it's just a bunch of bullheadedness in the front office. Either way, it's NOT a good look.

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They hide in their ivory towers.

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Of course they haven’t. Frankly, I’m not sure if Dawkins has been outside in the last few years. Like Elon Musk and JK Rowling, he seems to be posting screeds on social media 24/7

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I can personally confirm that Robyn Blumner has employed openly trans people. Ignorance is no excuse, but she can't even claim that.

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Enough with the idea that trans people don't know anything about biology. We are all too painfully aware of our biology, which is why many of us go through such lengths to change it. But social acceptance goes a long way in alleviating the pain of dysphoria.

Let us not forget, bigoted Christians also used 'biology' as a flimsy justification for their homophobia, saying two men can't make a baby, men and women are made for each other, etc. It's the same tactics all over again, and that the sceptics don't seem to recognise it is sad and baffling.

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And women don't deserve bodily autonomy, with their abortion bans, They don't give a fuck about women. Any of us. Trans or cis.

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Truly! Which is what makes their hand-wringing about natal women's civil rights ring so hollow.

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Yes, the hypocrisy is off the charts. If you side with the oppressors (of us all, ultimately) you are not good, or intelligent people!

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I have pointed this out many times. Exactly the same people are telling exactly the same lies for exactly the same reasons.

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Seriously, the anti trans folks prove they do t gaf about women’s issues, aside from the fact that many of them are vocal misogynists when they aren’t speaking about transgender people, by pretending to care about women’s sports or healthcare but only when it pertains to transgender. Where’s the call for funding healthcare or sports? Where’s the outrage that women haven’t been studied by the healthcare industry? Where’s the gnashing of teeth over the lack of interest in women’s actual health issues, where we suffer from pain and symptoms that are just considered “normal for women” but any man has a fucking hangnail and the industry is suddenly all over it. No research into endometriosis, fibroids, or any number of things plaguing women causing them difficulty to function normally, they’re just what women deal with. If it gets too bad we’ll cut out your uterus, too bad if you weren’t done having children. Oh and that didn’t work on your endometriosis? We will just have to go back in and cut out more organs, including half your lower intestine whatever the endo has attached to. Silly.

Sports are no where near equal for men’s and women’s leagues. And cis women are often even targets for the anti transgender bullies trying to punch down on transgender women. They can always tell and they don’t care if they’re correct or not.

They just don’t care if women’s health or women’s sports advance, they just don’t want transgender women participating.

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It's ultimately aimed at abolishing women's sports, and limiting women's participation in public life. There aren't enough trans people to make any of this horseshit worth the effort to shovel, for the sake of 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 attacking trans people, and I don't believe for a moment that it's any coincidence non-Christian-tradwife-conforming, anything-but-barefoot-and-pregnant-in-the-kitchen cis women invariably bear the brunt of the "transvestigations" resulting from anti-trans sports and bathroom policies. It 𝘩𝘢𝘴 to be an attack on women, generally, and one that goes hand-in-hand with attacks on abortion rights; they just can't get away with saying that part out loud.

Yet.

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“For instance, if there is a medical clinical trial for women to determine if a medication has a different impact on women than men, should transender women participate?”

Women are getting researched for medical care!?!? Where? When?

Okay I’m exaggerating a tiny bit. Seriously, the birth control pill was tested on men. They haven’t done clinical trials on women until very recently because they’re too lazy and cheap to figure out how to make them work. So, more likely than not, the transgender population that would be affected by being in a clinical trial would be transgender men, but these dillholes don’t believe they exist.

They did medical research on slave women early in US history, but that was more to torture the slaves than find any real medical breakthroughs.

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"Seriously, the birth control pill was tested on men. "

And the pregnancy rate was zero!

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The clinical trials are the 50? odd years of women using it and dying of strokes and shit and suffering from debilitating side effects or whatnot, trying to find the least invasive hormonal birth control method. I mean, it works for birth control mostly, it even helps other health issues on occasion, but there really are so many side effects and warnings it wouldn’t even be on the market if it were meant for men.

The medications marketed for women are mostly clinical trial by fire for women.

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My late wife was involved with a group for women with heart disease, in the course of which she learned that for years, there were zero women subjects in clinical research on heart disease because the assumption was women are just small men - so you could translate data from men to women just be allowing for body mass. It has only been in last decade or two that there have been conscious efforts to change that practice.

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Of course the transphobic trolls are going to try and shit on this. I am so disgusted by their bigotry that this will be the last I say here. ATTENTION TRANSPHOBIC TROLLS:

Fuck off. That is all.

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Christ on a bike. You'd like to think an organization that claims to stand for reason wouldn't engage in bad faith straw man arguments, but here we are. The only 'transgender activists' I see are those on the bigoted right regardless of their claims to secularism. When you're adopting and promoting christian nationalist views, what difference does it make what you call yourselves? The Center for Inquiry has apparently lost its interest in actual inquiry in favor of pushing hot button, disingenuous culture war shit for clicks and likes.

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Aw gawdz, it's gonna be troll central anytime now.

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Report and block. Don't engage. It only keeps them coming back.

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As you can see, I can’t be bothered to waste my time responding to them directly. I talk around them with others. I don't block them because they'll be gone when Hemant moves on to a different topic they care nothing about, so it would be a futile effort.

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Like the newest one below. No likes, no posts, no activity = troll

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The first one beat you by 4 minutes.

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There was no first one when I posted.

If you go by "Newest first" my comment is the first posted.

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There's two now.

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They're getting an early start on this article. Betting the first one blew the whistle and informed the others.

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They have a Google alert, because they always swarm like flies on shit.

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Yep

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Also, if you go by "Oldest first," my comment is the first one that was posted. :)

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No doubt. 🤢🤮

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Why won’t anyone think about cis women?

Oh yes, masster. Talk in my place, me poor little brainless woman. How would I survive an encounter with a happy and bien dans sa peau trans woman* without you ?

Those privileged bigot assholes who propage anti trans idiotic claims about trans women doesn't even know the difference between a tomboy and a trans girl, nor they want to. I was in the first catégory, never the second.

In conclusion, go fuck yourself with a rusted rake, and I don't mean the handle.

To our trans members here, virtual hug.

* I know one. Actually, I knew she was born Mario and not Maria a couple of year after meeting her. My reaction ? Oh, good for her to be herself.

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"go fuck yourself with a rusted rake, and I don't mean the handle."

I see you've lost none of your gallic charm.😇

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Good to see you 'round here again!

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Good to hear from you.

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Welcome back. I speak for the regulars it is good to see you agin.

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Well put. 🎯

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Welcome back!!! I missed you!!!

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What if it's a D-handle?

https://images.thdstatic.com/catalog/productImages/1000/89/89c4a310-a393-4a67-86b6-b96f6c518392_1000.jpg

Now, I've never seen one on a rake, but you can customize.

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I'm happy to see you here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1UU7zIp-3s

I would have replied sooner but I was experiencing another floopy internet day.

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WELCOME BACK!!! 🤗🤗🤗

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Hey! You’re back!!!! Missed you!

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I just went to meetup and left the CFI group that I was in. They shall henceforth be known to me as the Center for [Genital] Inquiry. It's none of their F##king business!

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De-transitioning sounds a lot like ex-gay and we've seen how effective that is at making the feelings go away.

And I never trust someone who can't write a scientific commentary without using inflammatory language like Blumner. How we say things shows a lot more about what we think than what we say.

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To be 100% fair (and I say this as a huge supporter of trans rights and think Dawkins, Pinker and Coyne are hateful, science denying morons), there are legitimate de-transitioners. They are very rare, but misdiagnosis of gender dysphoria can very rarely occur, no different than misdiagnosis of any other condition. It should be noted also though that the vast majority of detransition occurs not because of misdiagnosis, but because transition is not feasible, either because of an unaccepting environment, lack of resources/access to healthcare, or unrelated health issues which prevent medical transition from being possible.

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