One of the things that we as a community have to do is better education, there’re so many people who think being trans is a lifestyle, that it is a choice and we have to educate people about the truth.
I think it is the latter, I think she doesn’t understand that it is a lot more than just the clothes. That it is part of our identity. For many it is about hate but for many more they have no knowledge of transgenderism, all they know is what they see on the news or read either online or in their newspapers.
Unfortunately, it still has a negative effect on the community.
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| From Kristi Merritt Facebook page via the BBC |
How one woman's 'bathroom bill' campaign went viralIs it hate? Or is it the fact that they don’t understand?
By BBC Trending
20 April 2016
Meet Kristi Merritt, from Washington in the US.
She's posed for a string of photographs that compare dressing up as a Mexican, or a pirate, to being transgender.
More than 70,000 people have shared the images that Merritt posted to Facebook, and more than thirty thousand have hit the like button. But many are unhappy about the comparison, and it's triggered a slew of negative articles online as well.
The caption accompanying the pictures reads: "A man in women's clothes does not make him a woman. Men should not get to be in our bathrooms or lockers!" which explains Merritt's bone of contention.
[…]
Messages on the post were limited to Merritt's friends and were mostly sympathetic. "This is not hate speech, this is basic common sense," and "seems to me she has a point," wrote two users. Not all of her friends agreed, however. "These posts are PURE ignorance. Please keep your hate to yourself. It's just a bathroom!" wrote another.
I think it is the latter, I think she doesn’t understand that it is a lot more than just the clothes. That it is part of our identity. For many it is about hate but for many more they have no knowledge of transgenderism, all they know is what they see on the news or read either online or in their newspapers.
Unfortunately, it still has a negative effect on the community.
People like her tend to think of everything in life as A/B, yes/no, black/white, right/wrong. They are not interested in subtleties, gray areas, or concepts that take more than 5 seconds to understand. To them, men are men and women are women, period. It's easier that way; I mean, actually THINKING is just too damn inconvenient, right? Besides, if they dared to think, they might actually realize that something they believe is WRONG, and they simply can't abide that.
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