I don't think it's about being right or wrong, per se. I'm not sure if there is a right or wrong answer to any of this. It's a complicated and sensitive topic which has unfortunately gone very toxic thanks to social media and the culture war stuff we've all been sucked into since around 2016. Trying to learn about the perspective of the other side is more about making an informed decision.
I think the point being made by
@BlueHammer85 is that it's about seeing someone from the other side of the debate as a human being, and understanding how they might feel about it. As
@Scottyboi can attest to, a post made by a transgender person in this thread has caused him to maybe rethink a few things RE: the TRA vs GC debate. Sometimes it's worth having your views challenged.
I'm good friends with transgender people in my life and I've also got family relations who fall down on the gender critical side of things. I've listened to both sides a lot over the years because it's a subject close to my heart, and I've reached an understanding based on years of reading and listening to people on all sides of this. I'll never hate someone I know who's gender critical because it's very hard to hate someone you know.
But I will admit to becoming angry at people in this thread simply because it's easier to hate usernames instead of people. By the same token, it's been tough to read your posts in this thread because we've chatted about how your wife taught me at primary school and how much of an impact she had on me in fifth year after I spent fourth year basically being bullied by the twat who was supposed to be teaching me.
You've mentioned a couple of times in this thread that your daughter goes to school with two kids who have animal alter egos. Even as someone who casually knows a couple of adults who are furries, I doubt that the kids in your daughter's school have a full understanding of what they're dealing with, but... kids are kids. If you can't experiment and explore your identity as a teenager then when can you? Not everyone needs to experiment, but some do.
But anyway, my point is - have you ever chatted to these kids' parents in the playground to try and work out why their kids feel the way they do? Has your daughter ever spoken to them in school and tried to learn about how those kids feel? If you don't want your daughter asking those questions - have you ever tried to see things from the point of view of those kids who think they're cats sometimes? It might be a little weird, sure, but it'll be less weird once you learn something about it.
I think this is what I find so depressing on both sides of the TRA vs GC debate, and throughout society right now - it's definitely gotten worse since Twitter and Facebook and all that. There's a real lack of empathy and curiosity among everyday people. It feels like we're becoming less and less capable of meeting people in the middle on things, while trying to learn about different cultures and identities and perspectives and ideologies is becoming harder and harder.
To put it in even simpler terms, what's happened to the phrase "live and let live"? I was always brought up with the philosophy that if someone's acting in a way I think is strange but not hurting anyone then I just let them get on with it. More and more these days I'm seeing this desire among people to correct things that stand out for any particular reason instead of just letting sleeping dogs lie, or dismiss things that seem foreign or strange. I just feel sad reading threads like this because I think the lack of appetite for cooperation will ultimately bring us all down.
