New Priorities for 2023
Four things to do to turn things around for trans people
2022 was a bad year for trans people and the trans discourse, and we want to turn things around this year. Right now, the discourse around trans people and trans issues is more confusing than ever. The politicization of these issues by forces with broader political agendas isn’t helping either. To hopefully change things for the better, this year, I will focus on the following things:
1. Making the Scientific Case for Trans Acceptance
The anti-objective attitude of postmodern activists and the religious-dogmatic attitude of right-wing culture warriors are combining to make the trans discourse increasingly unscientific. We need to inject a big dose of science and objectivity back into it. This work needs to be done continuously.
2. Creating Common Ground for a Reasonable Compromise on Trans Rights
Much has been said about finding a workable compromise on the inclusion and accommodation of trans people in society, while respecting the concerns of other stakeholders. However, no proposal has been able to gain momentum, due to failure to win broad support from the trans community. We need to change this if we are to have any hope of getting any ‘reasonable compromise’ done. I will be focusing on how to get more trans people on board the compromise, in particular. Many people out there simply don’t understand what trans people want or fear, which is why they are failing despite good intentions.
3. Countering the Biased Reporting from Culture Warriors
The Republican-aligned part of the ‘anti-woke’ movement is increasingly viewing all trans people and trans issues as ‘woke’, and anti-trans (as well as generally anti-LGBT) attitudes are increasingly mainstream inside the movement. This change is clearly seen in the way ‘anti-woke’ media is now reporting trans issues. I fear that things could get even worse if the movement rallies around a DeSantis campaign for the 2024 Republican primary. We need to call out the biased reporting that is creating a distorted view of trans people, and dispel the over-simplified views coming out from the culture wars.
4. Building Bridges
Finally, we simply need to continue to build bridges and increase our understanding of each other, and where each person is coming from. The current toxicity of the trans discourse, and its hijacking by those with broader political agendas (on both the Left and Right alike), is largely rooted in a lack of understanding. Therefore, especially in the longer term, building understanding is the most important thing.
Originally published at https://taraella.substack.com on January 29, 2023.
