Why trans? Short answer: convenience. Long answer...
Humans are social animals. We can't survive alone without external support (look up Alexander Selkirk or watch any episode of "Alone"). We hunt, gather, farm and everything else in groups. Millions of years of biological evolution and millennia of social evolution inclines us to defend …
Why trans? Short answer: convenience. Long answer...
Humans are social animals. We can't survive alone without external support (look up Alexander Selkirk or watch any episode of "Alone"). We hunt, gather, farm and everything else in groups. Millions of years of biological evolution and millennia of social evolution inclines us to defend a territory for food and protection (consider chimpanzees and meerkats). Much of recent social evolution has been to widen our in-group (tribe) to include more of what used to be outsiders. A century ago we in the US had lots of derogatory words for people based on national origin (mick, wop, polak, etc). These are gone now; outsiders became insiders. More recently we've made some progress bringing Blacks and gays in; that's been harder.
There are many casual haters. They hate some type of other because they were raised that way or they join in with some group (co-workers, fellow students) to become part of the tribe. Rarely, they escalate to actual violence (assault, murder, mass murder).
Then there are the hate mongers. They use hate to gather a tribe about themselves to gain power, money, and fame. The target of their hatred may be some group they truly hate or it may be some convenient target that they judge to be best to incite their followers. Trump, Musk, Rowling, Westboro Baptist Church, many mega-church leaders, and nearly all Republican politicians are hate mongers.
For years, Blacks along with gays were primary hate monger targets. Blacks have become too politically important to be primary targets. Gays gained some status but have fallen back recently. The problem is that there are too many Black people and out gay people around. A hate monger risks turning people away that admire a Black athlete or have a gay cousin.
Trans people are a perfect hate target. There are very few trans people, and unlike Blacks or Irish, there won't be many more trans people than the current small percentage. So, to the vast majority of the country, trans people are truly "other"; hence, a perfect target.
Hate mongers are the worst of the worst. Fascism is built on hate. If I could lock them all up forever, I'd happily do it.
I read before that the rightwing Christians lost their fight against the LGTBQ+ community because it became accepted by so many. They needed a new target to polarize people and they found it in the most vulnerable trans community. I wished we all could see them like many native cultures see them. Some call them "two-spirit" and they revere them for the special insight they have.
Why trans? Short answer: convenience. Long answer...
Humans are social animals. We can't survive alone without external support (look up Alexander Selkirk or watch any episode of "Alone"). We hunt, gather, farm and everything else in groups. Millions of years of biological evolution and millennia of social evolution inclines us to defend a territory for food and protection (consider chimpanzees and meerkats). Much of recent social evolution has been to widen our in-group (tribe) to include more of what used to be outsiders. A century ago we in the US had lots of derogatory words for people based on national origin (mick, wop, polak, etc). These are gone now; outsiders became insiders. More recently we've made some progress bringing Blacks and gays in; that's been harder.
There are many casual haters. They hate some type of other because they were raised that way or they join in with some group (co-workers, fellow students) to become part of the tribe. Rarely, they escalate to actual violence (assault, murder, mass murder).
Then there are the hate mongers. They use hate to gather a tribe about themselves to gain power, money, and fame. The target of their hatred may be some group they truly hate or it may be some convenient target that they judge to be best to incite their followers. Trump, Musk, Rowling, Westboro Baptist Church, many mega-church leaders, and nearly all Republican politicians are hate mongers.
For years, Blacks along with gays were primary hate monger targets. Blacks have become too politically important to be primary targets. Gays gained some status but have fallen back recently. The problem is that there are too many Black people and out gay people around. A hate monger risks turning people away that admire a Black athlete or have a gay cousin.
Trans people are a perfect hate target. There are very few trans people, and unlike Blacks or Irish, there won't be many more trans people than the current small percentage. So, to the vast majority of the country, trans people are truly "other"; hence, a perfect target.
Hate mongers are the worst of the worst. Fascism is built on hate. If I could lock them all up forever, I'd happily do it.
I read before that the rightwing Christians lost their fight against the LGTBQ+ community because it became accepted by so many. They needed a new target to polarize people and they found it in the most vulnerable trans community. I wished we all could see them like many native cultures see them. Some call them "two-spirit" and they revere them for the special insight they have.