Fake transphobia

The latest target for othering by the misanthropists is transsexuals, a group that has been on the fringes of society for a very long time.

We know from past right-wing targeting that they don't really care less about their targets, as they are just a step to power by having someone to blame for society's ill and thus distract from their power grab. As each target group has gathered support from those who wanted more egalitarianism, the right-wing has progressively sought to demonise those with less and less power. Unfortunately, transsexuals have been the most marginalised of all groups because they challenge some of our very basic ideas about identity.

Gender has traditionally been seen as binary just because most never come across those few who do not fit strictly into the strict biological male or female moulds, but have conditions that blur the line between them. The fact that they exist, regardless of why, immediately undermines any argument that posits that there are only two genders. Their existence requires us to acknowledge that they do have a place in our society and we cannot just pretend they don't exist, like we have in the past.

Of course, the right-wing has used the binary biological argument to posit that any notion that we can chose our gender is nonsense, but in the past we have required those who were biologically fuzzy to choose one, or even made that choice for them and expected them to play that role for the rest of their lives. That those choices were made undermines their whole argument against people being able to choose their gender.

That their arguments have no real basis is not their real point, as trans people are often seen as fringe and a challenge to the identity of groups who were themselves the targets of right-wing propaganda, like gays. They are seeking allies by playing upon their prejudices so that they work up an emotional response that undermines proper reasoning about the principles involved. We thus see people like Judy Singer, who has been an advocate for those with autism, using terms like trans femoid, where femoid is used by the extreme right-wing incels as a derogatory term for women.

Getting people to double-down on their prejudices instead of reasoning their way out of them is exactly the purpose the right-wing wants to achieve, as people who are emotionally caught up in their own prejudices are more easily manipulated into supporting them. I doubt that J K Rowling or Singer ever consciously thought they would align themselves with radical right-wing ideologs, but that is the choices they have made.

Fortunately, many others have chosen to support trans people as a matter of principle in support of equality and expression of free will, which are antithetical to right-wing ideology. That ideology has had to pick on more and more marginalised groups as each attempt at othering has prompted many more to stand up for equality. At one level, this right-wing push is forcing us to confront ourselves and make real decisions about what we really believe in. We become better human beings if we stand up for equality and free will for each to choose their own lives.

For the right-wing, there are few other groups they can now ostracise, so the only place they can go is within their own ranks, which will weaken and fragment them. Those who have been their backers will have to find other ways to gain support for their exploitation and dismantling of democracy, but as more wake up to their nefarious activities, their stranglehold on the levers of society will weaken. Their political machinations are being thwarted by anti-corruption bodies, giving them even less avenues for exploitation.

From one level, it may look like we are in a big mess, but we are really in an end-game, where those who seek to exploit us will implode as more of us choose to support each other. Whatever they have done to destroy the world and our societies can be undone, but we need to make more resilient institutions that are built for keeping us free to make our own choices of how we want to live. We are on the threshold of having truly free societies, built out of the struggles we have gone through to rid ourselves of the prejudices that have stopped us seeing how free we actually are.