RE: Let’s see if we can discuss transgender issues without name calling. I think we can!
hi @kiwideb. Interesting discussion to raise. I agree with most of what @poetrybyjeremy has said here ^
I think one of the reasons some people raised in a heteronormative world perceive an increase in trans appearance people is because it's becoming safer now for ALL people to wear the clothes they want to wear. It's still not safe in many places of course, but it's a lot safer than it was even 30 years ago.
I also think that more people just enjoy wearing more variety of clothes, including things that express and play with gender identity. I think most people are on a spectrum of sexuality as well.
I don't know much about puberty blockers- I'd like to find out more about the pros and cons and hear from people who have taken them and those who haven't (and their families & loved ones).
I appreciate @poetrybyjeremy 's replies and think he makes some good points.
That might be why some people perceive the increase. What I'm (maybe mistakenly) seeing is nothing to do with clothes. You know me well enough to know that nobody cares less what people wear than I do. If I have given the impression this is about appearances, I've expressed myself extremely badly!
My comment was more in response to your comment,
"But if a whole generation is trans, there is probably something wrong, and it needs to be talked about."
Like @poetrybyjeremy, I didn't know why you were asking that. I thought maybe you were saying that on the surface it looks to you like our world might be becoming trans.
"Nowadays, there seems to be no talk of transvestites, only of transgender. "
I mentioned this recently to a friend. But I think it might be because the word trans does cover the spectrum of identity. But also it might be because transvestites, drag, cross-dressing as well as tom-boy style and fem-styles are all just becoming part of the way people dress and nobody really cares to comment because it's not really an issue anymore for many of us.
So maybe it's just not much in the discussion because it doesn't need the air time that people who are transitioning with surgeries and bio-chemical assistance need?
I want to make a couple of explanatory edits to the post, as I can see that some of what I thought was clear wasn't. The transvestites vs transgender is more about clarification. When I hear someone say "a trannie" I have to ask "which kind?". It's because they are so different that the clear distinction is so important for understanding that person.
As far as the whole generation, I didn't mean that it is now. There is an IF in there. My point was really that we need to start talking about it now, and understanding why it's increasing, rather than wait till it's too late. And I do think that is within the realms of possibility, at some future time.
To answer the accusation (not by you, but it could be flung back at me after what I just said) of being afraid - why would I be? I'm an cis female white baby boomer with no children. It doesn't affect me one bit. But it affects a lot of other human beings, both within and outside the LGBT community, and it affects the future of our society. And I kinda think that matters.