It's almost mind-blowing how many times I turn on the news and instantly hear in no uncertain terms what absolutely horrible people we all are. CBC is particularly bad for this, but most of the major networks aren't much better. The context is usually (but not always) racism and/or bigotry/hate towards the LGBTQ population. And usually the connotation is that it's the far-right, conservatives, and basically anyone who is not considered “progressive” that is to blame.
Every time I hear this, I find myself trying to think of all the bigoted conservatives I know, or all those who want bad things to happen to those in the LGBTQ community, and I can't think of any. I really can't. Most conservatives I know (and I know a lot) don't want harm to come to anyone and think that everyone should have the same rights. Beyond that, they simply want to go to work, pay their bills, feed their family, and then if there's anything left over after that, maybe drink some beers on the weekend - kind of like most of the people I know on the left. I don't know anyone who hates trans people.
I fully reject this notion that there is a hotbed of racism and bigotry fomenting deep inside the far-right that, if left unchecked, will suddenly rise to overthrow all decent Americans and Canadians and thrust us back to the days when women were burned as witches for having strange ideas about the earth. If anything these days, I'm much more concerned about that from the left, but that's another story.
Regardless of the actual content of most of these news articles on this subject, the overarching theme is usually that those on the right are the source of most (if not all) the bigotry and discrimination for trans people.
So, basically this headline is saying (or at least implying) that most Americans are anti-trans. Obviously, right? I mean, they support anti-trans policies so what else could they be? And these anti-trans policies (which are supported by most Americans) are favored by the GOP, which for those not hip to the American lingo, is the Republican Party (or conservatives) . The sad truth is that the headline alone is already enough for most people to go on their way saddened by how awful the Republican Party (and most Americans) has become. And since most people don't even read any further than the headlines, there could be an awful lot of people with that idea based on this one headline alone. If you were to actually read this article, you'd find that:
• most American adults (57%) believe that there are only two genders and you’re stuck with what you're born with.
• Most Americans (65%) say trans women and girls (men and boys) should not be allowed to compete in sports with other women and girls.
• Most Americans (68%) oppose puberty blockers for 10-14 year-olds.
• Most Americans (58%) oppose hormonal treatments for 15-17 year-olds.
• Most Americans (73%) say it is inappropriate for teachers to discuss trans identity in classes younger than grade 6.
I have very little doubt these findings are fairly accurate, and they're probably much the same in Canada as well. Most people just don't believe weird stuff, regardless of what you've heard, and they're genuinely concerned about their kids, so this is what you might call common sense, for the most part. These findings were the result of a Washington Post-KFF survey. According to their website, KFF is the leading health policy organization in the U.S. and the Washington Post is, well they're the Washington Post.
The above findings are what has become known as “anti-trans”. So, evidently most Americans are anti-trans.
You can see why this article got the headline it did. The funny thing is that you don't have to read very far down the page before you find out that while all these Americans are working so hard at being so anti-trans, this survey found that at the same time:
A majority of Americans support laws prohibiting discrimination against trans people.
This majority was actually from 65-74% of Americans (depending on the topic). Here is the breakdown:
So while headline-only readers are left to believe that America is just overflowing with mean and nasty bigots, the actual takeaways of this article are that most Americans are not bigots at all, and actually want the government to protect trans people with appropriate laws. At the same time (because unlike social media, nuance is actually a thing in real life) these same people don't feel they should have to put up with ridiculous demands that undermine women's rights, or that they should have to adopt and believe twisted logic that doesn't make any sense.
The other takeaway from this is that when you hear the phrase anti-trans, what you're really hearing is a manipulative bit of propaganda designed to make you angry at the majority of the people around you. And so far it's been working.
And it's sad, because I like people (most of them, anyway) and I really like my neighbor. Now my neighbor's not trans, but he is a good guy who recently moved here from Ireland with his family. We've had him and his wife over for drinks a few times and we get along fairly well. As much as I like him, if I came out on my back deck in the evening and found him floating in my pool with one of my beers in his hand, I'd be more than a little perturbed and I'd probably say something to the effect of, "DUDE! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?" Not because I'm "anti-neighbor", or because I'm prejudiced against the Irish, but simply because that's just not how things are done here. And I’m pretty sure I wouldn't appreciate it if he then turned it back on me and called me an Irish-phobe and then tried to make me feel terrible for not being "inclusive" enough. That may actually get him physically thrown back over the fence from whence he came.
In 2016, an Angus Reid poll found that 84% of Canadians were on side with adding gender identity as a prohibited ground for discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Eighty-four percent.
That same poll found that at the same time, 70% of survey takers agreed with the statement "Society is too fixated on issues related to transgender people." Keep in mind, this was before (or right at the very start of) the crazy current fixation on this issue by the Trudeau government.
Pew Research did a poll similar to the Washington Post poll in 2022 and came up with similar results. They called it:
Personally, I think the only reason it's complex is because the media has been telling us their own version of it for years and that version doesn't really line up very well with reality. Confusion is a key component of that propaganda I was talking about.
That Pew Research poll found that:
• Most people (64%) favour protecting trans people from discrimination. And:
At the same time, 60% say a person’s gender is determined by their sex assigned at birth, up from 56% in 2021 and 54% in 2017.
So it appears as if these anti-trans views have spread significantly since 2017, and yet a sizable majority still feels that trans people should not be discriminated against.
It's almost as if “anti-trans” doesn't really mean what you think it means.
Public support for trans people is strong – as is support for trans policy action. 62% of the public want conversion therapy aimed at trans people banned. And 41% think schools should have a specific policy to tackle transphobia.
In June, IPSOS released a poll conducted in the spring of this year involving 26 countries. Canada unsurprisingly (or surprisingly if you listen to CBC) scored a fair bit higher than most on issues of trans rights:
Most Canadians agree that same-sex couples should be able to marry or have legal recognition, should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples, and that lesbian, gay, and bisexual people should be protected from discrimination. Support for all of these is higher in Canada than the average of 26 countries globally.
At the same time:
Support among Canadians for various aspects of LGBT+ visibility, including LGBT+ characters on screen, in sports, and in public displays of affection, is lower now than three years ago. Support in Canada is lower in most cases than the 26-country average.
Could this be mainly due to the constant barrage and the pushing of this ideology by government and media?
An Angus Reid poll from September of 2023 would seem to imply that's likely the case:
Canadians tend to feel there is a media fixation with transgender issues that give this subject “too much attention”. Three-in-five (60%) say this, an increase from 41 per cent who said the same in 2016.
That's a huge increase since we elected Justin Trudeau in late 2015.
Here are the global results of the above IPSOS poll:
Interestingly, it's the young people who are most in favour of allowing trans-women (men) into women's spaces and the least in favor of protecting them from discrimination. In contrast, it's the old guys (ages 50-74) who are most in favor of the protection of LGBT rights, even though they don't want men in dresses to share a washroom with their daughters. I suspect this group also cares deeply about the rights of their daughters.
In Conclusion:
Most people are not out looking for ways to hurt trans people, but rather they would like there to be better protection for them. This is true even though most people don't believe there are more than two genders, or that trans-women (men) should be allowed to invade womens’ spaces.
The main criticisms of the trans population is almost always in the context of the violation (or potential violation) of existing human rights. Rarely is it ever in opposition to a person living a different lifestyle than the majority, although it is constantly framed thus by activists.
As always, there's the story, and then there's the story and while these issues are important, there are likely more pressing issues for most people. The problem is that even though solutions exist, so far they have been out of reach because media and cowardly leadership have spent far too much time dividing people and exacerbating the problem rather than attempting to bring people together.
"I don't know anyone who hates trans people." I do, Ken. Most of them hate themselves. You can tell because they almost never give you the sense they're happy people. Not around others, not with themselves - not even around each other. "Drama Queen" sadly, isn't a label too far in most cases.
I work with fellow who "trans'd", including the surgery. He's one of the smartest people I've ever met.
Yet, even after the surgery and constant hormonal maintenance required, he's not 'happier' or even 'as happy' as a "woman" than before. It's also clear there's some strong regret for having gone under the knife. We have mutual friends who speak with him about it. Sure, I respect him enough to address him/her by his preferred name (he legally changed it to a unisex name). But when discussing his work with him and others I simply do not use pronouns and instead call him by his new name. It's no big deal to anyone at work although some of the ladies who don't know "Chris" (not his/her real or changed name) wonder why that man wearing a dress uses the womens restroom. Once they're brought up to date, they're 'meh' about it, too.
"Chris" does not push or demand in any sense that others 'accept' the transition. He/She simply wants to continue working as if nothing has changed. Everyone at work figures, "Hey, if that floats your boat, then we're happy for you."
Like you, though, I've never met someone who wants to harm a 'trans' person in any way. We can regret they feel that way about themself, but only for a short time. Like people with any other mental disassociation with reality, we can wish them well, hope they seek professional treatment and demand they don't harm others during their discovery/journey. At the same time they need to be forcefully reminded NO ONE is required to participate in their self delusion - and for g-d's sake take Pink Floyd's advice and "Leave them kids alone!".
This is really a perplexing article, from the part where you said "Canada ... scored a fair bit higher than most on issues of trans rights:" and then included a graphic that had nothing to do with trans people or trans rights, to the part where you lament about how fixated people are on trans issues: "Canadians tend to feel there is a media fixation with transgender issues that give this subject “too much attention”... I had a good long laugh at that one.
"I don't know anyone who hates trans people." I do, Ken. Most of them hate themselves. You can tell because they almost never give you the sense they're happy people. Not around others, not with themselves - not even around each other. "Drama Queen" sadly, isn't a label too far in most cases.
I work with fellow who "trans'd", including the surgery. He's one of the smartest people I've ever met.
Yet, even after the surgery and constant hormonal maintenance required, he's not 'happier' or even 'as happy' as a "woman" than before. It's also clear there's some strong regret for having gone under the knife. We have mutual friends who speak with him about it. Sure, I respect him enough to address him/her by his preferred name (he legally changed it to a unisex name). But when discussing his work with him and others I simply do not use pronouns and instead call him by his new name. It's no big deal to anyone at work although some of the ladies who don't know "Chris" (not his/her real or changed name) wonder why that man wearing a dress uses the womens restroom. Once they're brought up to date, they're 'meh' about it, too.
"Chris" does not push or demand in any sense that others 'accept' the transition. He/She simply wants to continue working as if nothing has changed. Everyone at work figures, "Hey, if that floats your boat, then we're happy for you."
Like you, though, I've never met someone who wants to harm a 'trans' person in any way. We can regret they feel that way about themself, but only for a short time. Like people with any other mental disassociation with reality, we can wish them well, hope they seek professional treatment and demand they don't harm others during their discovery/journey. At the same time they need to be forcefully reminded NO ONE is required to participate in their self delusion - and for g-d's sake take Pink Floyd's advice and "Leave them kids alone!".
This is really a perplexing article, from the part where you said "Canada ... scored a fair bit higher than most on issues of trans rights:" and then included a graphic that had nothing to do with trans people or trans rights, to the part where you lament about how fixated people are on trans issues: "Canadians tend to feel there is a media fixation with transgender issues that give this subject “too much attention”... I had a good long laugh at that one.