Read on Twitter
‘People are who they say they are’. I’ve seen this said a lot about trans people, mainly by celebrities, in response to JK Rowling and it’s been bugging me for days./1
I get why they say it - it sounds validating, accepting & inclusive. It’s part of being ‘kind’. Like others I too want to accept & include trans people and this phrase is seductively simple. /2
However, as a victim of a child abuser, someone who successfully kept a mask of respectability for 35 years, I know from the most painful, heart-ripping, life-ruining experience that people are not always who they say they are. 3/
It’s an incredibly dangerous message to send to children. The man trying to persuade a schoolgirl into his car, pretending to be a friend of her parents? He is who he says he is. 4/
The 50 year old man on the internet, pretending to be 12? He is who he says he is. The neighbour waiting for an opportunity to be alone with a child so he can abuse her & scare her into silence? He is who he says he is. 5/
Or the male-bodied person sexually assaulting a 10 year old and being housed in a female prison? /6 https://metro.co.uk/2019/03/16/transgender-woman-18-sexually-assaulted-girl-10-morrisons-toilet-8914577/
Of course, not all trans people are predators. WE KNOW THIS. Predators are a minority. It’s as ludicrous & offensive as suggesting all gays are a danger to children. This is about the message we send to children /7
And at the moment we are telling them to trust everyone; nobody is lying; nobody has ulterior motives; they should believe everyone. In fact they should ‘embrace discomfort’ /8 https://twitter.com/iwilscot_/status/1224668894096433153?s=21
We need to find a way of telling children that acceptance & inclusion are crucial, that trans ppl should be loved & accepted like anyone. But driving a bus through the safeguards parents spend years building in them by saying ‘people are who they say they are’ is not it. /9
Apart from anything else, it makes no sense. I’m British & thanks to Brexit I could do with having another nationality. Can I say I’m French simply because I say I am? Is Rachel Dolezal who she says she is? /10
People pretend all the time for lots of reasons - some nefarious, some benign. It is not ‘hate’ to talk about this. 11/11
And then there’s this. A groomer’s dream. https://twitter.com/ripx4nutmeg/status/1271739036026179584?s=21 https://twitter.com/ripx4nutmeg/status/1271739036026179584
