This Transphobic Argument Needs To Go Away Forever
“I can say I identify as a cat, but that doesn’t make me one!”
As parents of trans kids know, anti-trans arguments are pervasive throughout society. But, there’s one in particular that gets deployed all the time, and it goes something like this: “I can say I identify as a cat, but that doesn’t make me one!” Occasionally the nouns may change around a bit: “You identify as non-binary? Well, I identify as a pumpkin/lamborghini/skinny person/1970s vintage recliner,” etc., etc., etc. Every version is uttered, joked, and memed to death. And, well… to put it mildly, it’s just tired. Tired AF.
It’s not just that it’s annoying; this type of argument also represents a foolish false equivalence. Because, for one thing, unlike the child who is “becoming” a cat during a developmentally appropriate game of pretend play, in which they understand the game is pretend, trans people are simply being themselves — they aren’t pretending.
That is, unless they’re pretending to be cisgender (meaning, someone whose sex assigned at birth is in alignment with their deeply held, internal sense of gender, a.k.a., gender identity.) Until more recently, many trans people grew up playing the role of a cisgender boy or girl, but only for the sake of survival — to avoid the constant questioning…
