Hey @clairecmc, have you ever considered that transgender and non-binary people are part of the working class? That until this summer, in most of the United States, we could be fired from our working class jobs solely for being trans?

If you're cisgender and eager to leap to Claire McCaskill's defense of this, you really need to take a break here and rethink your approach.

You know, I really do try to offer grace as much as possible on these things. People can be confused or uninformed and engage in good faith. But when you're a former U.S. senator being paid to comment on politics, you have a responsibility to get it right. She didn't even try.

So, to cis people who are worried about making mistakes or saying the wrong thing or whatever the hell, ask why you feel a greater need to rationalize this powerful person's lack of effort than in using it as a teaching moment for yourselves.

This is a horrible bind that trans and non-binary people are constantly put in. We're forced to debate and defend our humanity with intentionally uninformed people and to be nice while doing so. And the moment we show hurt or anger or frustration, we're told we lack grace.