Look, I'll level with you. I'm Jewish. I was also once a bisexual crossdresser. I gave it up. Lost interest, believe it or not. I'm now married to a woman with two children. And I'm glad I made that choice in life.
I'm not a supporter of gay marriage. I'm totally glad to have you live well and free and have some protection (Civil Unions was, I thought, the perfect compromise).
The transgender stuff is extra weird to me. Because I lived it. I was tempted to transition. I didn't though, and that G-d because, again, I got those children who are worth much more to me than the high I used to get from dressing up.
If there was this kind of movement around when I was a teenager, I don't know what would have happened to me. They could have pushed me to transition and I might have thought it was a way to be cool and get friends. After all, I was a lonely nerd back then. And you know what those hormones can do? Sterilize you. Fast forward to where I am today, and the best thing I did in my life would not be there.
And I don't want that to happen to other people. I read harrowing, horrible stories of parents losing their children to transition, wives losing their husbands to it. It takes away the entire person. And I've met very, very, VERY few trans people who were well adjusted and happy. And I met more than the average bear. I used to be in those circles.
So when we have this being pushed in our faces, down to drag queens reading to children in libraries -- it's like, what's next? Take your kid to a porn shoot? This is ridiculous! Enjoy the adult things, but keep it away from children. Now this SCOTUS decision is going to continue to make that harder and harder and harder.
Your story seems eminently believable to me. A large percentage of people growing up feel they somehow don't fit their body. I personally never had that feeling in this way, but I certainly had plenty of other feelings growing up, like all of us. Adolescence is difficult.
I think the root of the problem is that modern parents seem hell-bent on controlling every aspect of their children's lives and can't deal with uncertainty. Instead of treating transgenderism as something that might or might not be an adolescent phase it has to be one or the other. The fact is you can never really know what is in someone else's head, not even your own child. Every human has a different experience.
Kids are blessed with the wonder of not having to make a firm choice one way or the other on any given topic. Adults seem to actively discourage that way of thinking. Obviously part of being an adult is the reality that you do need to make decisions and choices. The flip side is you also need to know when to make the choice to not make a choice.
I'm a lot more positive on Gorsuch's ruling. I think it restores Title XII as an enumerated individual right instead of the swamp interpretation we've been operating under.
Yeah I was... not confident at all in my teens and twenties. I could go into details, but it was a pleasant escape. In my 30s I started doing it less... a lot less... then there was a crisis. I lost a job during the downturn (not exactly related, but I think the downturn made them fire-happy since they could escape paying unemployment) and the crossdressing came back with a resurgence. It dropped almost completely since my second child was born. Maybe it's life circumstances or maybe its age. I'll probably never know.
I'm very dispirited about the ruling. Maybe you have some legal knowledge I lack, but it seems to me that the rainbow jihad has gotten everything they couldn't get through congress, and us dissenters are going to be in for a world of hurt.
I'm in good spirits because I think there are a number of people who are in circumstances similar to the ones you experienced in your life and who just need some love and understanding from the majority of humanity. They need to be allowed to have their own experiences without opposing politicos trying to push them around.
I can't do anything about the subset of LGBT politicos who openly treat this as a "rainbow jihad" as you put it. What I can do is show love and understanding to all and encourage others to do so. I can quietly, calmly, and lovingly encourage people to just be whomever they want to be and not allow their sexual identity to get them caught up in a political movement.
The political movement's goals have nothing to do with anyone's individual freedom and everything to do with manipulating and abusing people for political gain. You don't fight those assholes by engaging them on their terms, you fight them by blowing up the premise of their argument.
That's why I like Justice Gorsuch's legal opinion. He firmly grounded the debate back to one of individual rights and freedoms. I am following his lead and leaving behind the childish political gang warfare of the past half century.
Short term... you're probably right, it will embolden some politicos. Long term I think we'll all be better off. Gorsuch delivered a centrist opinion based on conservative principles (like individual liberty) and relatively sound reasoning-- at least better than any I've heard up to this point. I'm in favor of that type of thing.
Look, I'll level with you. I'm Jewish. I was also once a bisexual crossdresser. I gave it up. Lost interest, believe it or not. I'm now married to a woman with two children. And I'm glad I made that choice in life.
I'm not a supporter of gay marriage. I'm totally glad to have you live well and free and have some protection (Civil Unions was, I thought, the perfect compromise).
The transgender stuff is extra weird to me. Because I lived it. I was tempted to transition. I didn't though, and that G-d because, again, I got those children who are worth much more to me than the high I used to get from dressing up.
If there was this kind of movement around when I was a teenager, I don't know what would have happened to me. They could have pushed me to transition and I might have thought it was a way to be cool and get friends. After all, I was a lonely nerd back then. And you know what those hormones can do? Sterilize you. Fast forward to where I am today, and the best thing I did in my life would not be there.
And I don't want that to happen to other people. I read harrowing, horrible stories of parents losing their children to transition, wives losing their husbands to it. It takes away the entire person. And I've met very, very, VERY few trans people who were well adjusted and happy. And I met more than the average bear. I used to be in those circles.
So when we have this being pushed in our faces, down to drag queens reading to children in libraries -- it's like, what's next? Take your kid to a porn shoot? This is ridiculous! Enjoy the adult things, but keep it away from children. Now this SCOTUS decision is going to continue to make that harder and harder and harder.
Your story seems eminently believable to me. A large percentage of people growing up feel they somehow don't fit their body. I personally never had that feeling in this way, but I certainly had plenty of other feelings growing up, like all of us. Adolescence is difficult.
I think the root of the problem is that modern parents seem hell-bent on controlling every aspect of their children's lives and can't deal with uncertainty. Instead of treating transgenderism as something that might or might not be an adolescent phase it has to be one or the other. The fact is you can never really know what is in someone else's head, not even your own child. Every human has a different experience.
Kids are blessed with the wonder of not having to make a firm choice one way or the other on any given topic. Adults seem to actively discourage that way of thinking. Obviously part of being an adult is the reality that you do need to make decisions and choices. The flip side is you also need to know when to make the choice to not make a choice.
I'm a lot more positive on Gorsuch's ruling. I think it restores Title XII as an enumerated individual right instead of the swamp interpretation we've been operating under.
Yeah I was... not confident at all in my teens and twenties. I could go into details, but it was a pleasant escape. In my 30s I started doing it less... a lot less... then there was a crisis. I lost a job during the downturn (not exactly related, but I think the downturn made them fire-happy since they could escape paying unemployment) and the crossdressing came back with a resurgence. It dropped almost completely since my second child was born. Maybe it's life circumstances or maybe its age. I'll probably never know.
I'm very dispirited about the ruling. Maybe you have some legal knowledge I lack, but it seems to me that the rainbow jihad has gotten everything they couldn't get through congress, and us dissenters are going to be in for a world of hurt.
I'm in good spirits because I think there are a number of people who are in circumstances similar to the ones you experienced in your life and who just need some love and understanding from the majority of humanity. They need to be allowed to have their own experiences without opposing politicos trying to push them around.
I can't do anything about the subset of LGBT politicos who openly treat this as a "rainbow jihad" as you put it. What I can do is show love and understanding to all and encourage others to do so. I can quietly, calmly, and lovingly encourage people to just be whomever they want to be and not allow their sexual identity to get them caught up in a political movement.
The political movement's goals have nothing to do with anyone's individual freedom and everything to do with manipulating and abusing people for political gain. You don't fight those assholes by engaging them on their terms, you fight them by blowing up the premise of their argument.
That's why I like Justice Gorsuch's legal opinion. He firmly grounded the debate back to one of individual rights and freedoms. I am following his lead and leaving behind the childish political gang warfare of the past half century.
Short term... you're probably right, it will embolden some politicos. Long term I think we'll all be better off. Gorsuch delivered a centrist opinion based on conservative principles (like individual liberty) and relatively sound reasoning-- at least better than any I've heard up to this point. I'm in favor of that type of thing.