The Transgender Pseudo-Skeptics
Behind a veneer of healthy curiosity, these anti-trans ‘skeptics’ peddle a harmful agenda
N.B.: I am a cisgender male. As such, I would never pretend to speak for transgender people or claim personal knowledge of anything other than my own cisgender experience.
My sole claim to any expertise on this subject (if any claim can be made) is that I have been writing a novel in which a young transgender girl plays an important role. In an attempt to present this character as authentically as I can, I have conducted a couple of years of entirely autodidactic study on the subject.
It is easy to find virulent anti-transgender rants online. It is equally easy (and probably healthy) to dismiss the authors of these rants as bigots. For most thoughtful, open, curious people, arguments arising from unalloyed bigotry are not worth the time to read or watch.
However, there is another strand of anti-trans thought which I call “trans pseudo-skeptical.” Trans pseudo-skeptical arguments are often delivered in a clear, calm, erudite voice by an author with (sometimes dubious) professional credentials. The trans pseudo-skeptical authors present as skeptical, yes, but in a healthy way; the way we are taught to be skeptical of fad diets and used-car salesmen. They want us to…
