Funnily enough, meeting far-right people increased my far-right-ophobia.
Similarly, 20% of respondents who are personally close to a trans person agree that it’s never appropriate to discuss that some people are trans in public schools — a view that has been pushed by the anti-LGBTQ+ group Moms for Liberty and other so-called “parents’ rights” groups. That percentage rose to 41% among respondents who don’t know any transgender people.
Trans people must be very powerful, if the mere knowledge of their existence appears to be this dangerous to these ppl.
Trans people must be very powerful, if the mere knowledge of their existence appears to be this dangerous to these ppl.
Aye. Knowing about the existence of trans people might cause a person to query a whole bunch of stuff about gender, and from that they might come to query many other norms and constructs.
Which to a conservative is about as threatening as it can possibly get. Or rather, the increased awareness in the general population that results from querying things is, and how that population might shape society in response. People who derive a sense of security and well-being from clearly defined roles and rules and hierarchies, even if those are enforced harshly against them, don’t only fear that instability and worse conditions could come in the wake of major socio-political reforms - they fear it as an existential threat because without those clear roles & rules, etc., how will they themselves know how to be?
Though for the most part they’re only having this grotesque hate-tantrum because their corporate overlords prefer it when they’re distracted and emotional, and trans people are a particularly tiny minority to direct their attention at.
Can’t confirm, I’m very weak :(
spoiler
Maybe I should start working out
If I did a push up every time I thought about how I should be working out I’d be ripped.
I should really work out.
I know that for gay marriage and acceptance there’s been some studies that having gay characters in TV helped shape public perception. I think the study was around people watching Will and Grace and Modern Family and their acceptance of gay marriage.
It’s kind of beautiful that watching imaginary characters can make such a emotional impact since we bond with this “people”. That’s why representation on mass media is so important especially since most people won’t meet a trans person in real life since they are a small percentage of the population. Especially if they are talking about their own life.
Trans folks are such a small sliver of the population, it’s very difficult for most people to know a trans person.
On top of this, many trans people try to live “stealth” so they’re not harassed for simply existing.
It’s sad, because this is a known phenomenon. It’s the “why” of why LGB acceptance has grown in the last several decades, it turns out when friends and loved ones are lesbian, gay, or bisexual, it becomes something people are more willing to accept.
LGB is about 3.5% of the population while T is about 0.3%.
It’s so much harder for people to meet a trans person to begin with, just based on numbers. This puts trans people at a natural disadvantage in being able to grow acceptance in society.
Now this is where I put on my tinfoil fucking hat.
I feel like conservatives chose trans people as a target because they know this, too. They know the small numbers mean acceptance will be an even slower and harder road than for the LGB part of the community. They’re fucking banking on it, so they can continue to sew division and hate.
I feel like conservatives chose trans people as a target because they know this, too. They know the small numbers mean acceptance will be an even slower and harder road than for the LGB part of the community. They’re fucking banking on it, so they can continue to sew division and hate.
I’m sure this was a deliberate choice since they lost on gay acceptance. They are using the same techniques and talking points as well. It’s also backlash since there was more acceptance in some circles and had to jump on it before it became widespread since most people haven’t thought about it before. Got to get that indoctrination in first or else it won’t stick
If you’re talking about the US, those figures are out of date 1 2 3
Also a little over 4 in 10 Americans say they personally know a trans person
Yoooo, didn’t you use to be active on /r/CenturyClub? I recognise your username, though I wouldn’t expect you to remember mine.
This is absolutely a real and important effect, but we should bear in mind that this poll isn’t the thing proving it so it’s kind of a bad headline. In particular, the headline suggests that this is a new and tentative finding rather than something that’s been known for ages, and that it’s possible to disprove the effect by knocking down this survey. Intergroup contact theory actually goes back to the 50s and AFAICT is incredibly well-established.
To prove the effect exists with a survey like this, you would need to carefully disentangle the people who “don’t know any trans people” because they don’t know any trans people from the people who “don’t know any trans people” because all the trans people in their life are terrified of coming out to them. Conversely, you would need to carefully disentangle the people who “know a trans person” because they know someone who’s out to the world from the people who “know a trans person” because they know someone who’s out to only a very few people who they already had good reason to believe would be supportive. There are ways of doing this for people who are better at statistics and experiment design than me, and as I understand it there are studies which do it carefully and do prove the effect, but this isn’t one of them and doesn’t try to be. (And why should it try to be, when the effect’s existence has already been established and studied separately, and when the raw data on a large current sample is useful without reinventing the wheel?)
This just in! Water is WET!!! Full report at 9.
deleted by creator
Americans who have a close personal relationship with someone who is transgender (a close friend, a family member, or they themselves are transgender) are generally comfortable with learning that a friend is transgender (62%). Americans who have an acquaintance who is transgender are similarly likely to say they would be comfortable learning a friend is transgender (57%). Around one-third of Americans who do not know anyone who is transgender (32%) say they would be comfortable learning that a friend is trans.
From the survey itself which the article linked to. https://www.prri.org/research/the-politics-of-gender-pronouns-and-public-education/
This poll seems to have managed to confirm that people who are not transphobic are in fact, probably not transphobic.
Amazing.
That’s logical in retrospect, isn’t it?
I let out an audible “no shit” when reading the headline, but I guess it’s important to demonstrate even obvious relationships
No, it’s not obvious. There are plenty of bigots who maintain their bigotry even whike knowing people their bigoted against.
Sadly have seen it myself. When talking to an ex-friend, they unloaded about trans people being sick delusional groomers. When I said that they would change their mind if they knew any transgender people, they responded that they did have a trans friend. I responded “then you should let them know what you really think of them and see if they’re still your friend tomorrow.” Hung up, blocked their number. I hope that trans friend is doing alright. Fuck transphobia.
Are you sure they have a trans friend?
A lot of bigots I find tend to have no problem with lying or making stuff up too
I don’t know and don’t care enough to find out. I’m happier with them gone from my life.
It’s another example of the effect of meeting people from X demographic making you more tolerant of X demographic. It’s good to have lots of real and concrete examples of known effects to prove that the effect is indeed real and still applies in the modern day. “Look, it’s not just a hypothesis, here is it actually happening! Several examples so you know it’s not a fluke! Something recent so you know a culture shift or whatever hasn’t neutered it!”
I learned about this effect through reading stuff on the internet when I was young. It might be some other 10-year-old onlooker’s first intro to it.
