Is free speech under attack, on Canadian campuses and in society at large? The National Post has a new documentary examining this very issue. In the coming weeks, a series of essays will also explore the subject. Today: The Toronto Public Library was recently strongly criticized after it hosted an event featuring feminist Meghan Murphy, who has been frequently accused of transphobia. Murphy’s defenders asserted her right to free speech.
The writers who address this issue in my publication, Quillette, aren’t conservatives. They’re feminists and lesbian-rights activists who are tired of being told that their progressive beliefs must now be filtered on the basis of gender ideology. As one of my authors, April Halley, recently wrote, even a female rape victim who expresses concerns about being in close proximity or even imprisoned with a male-bodied criminal will find herself accused of denying the “legitimacy” of trans people.
If one experiences body dysphoria, they’ll probably consider surgery — especially if they keep finding themselves on the brink of self-harm. If their experience is more of social dysphoria, then they might take a different path, and need to look inward and/or express outwardly for a while, until they figure out where they fit comfortably . Many trans folks experience a combination of the two, so there can be a couple of concurrent journeys of self-discovery happening.
Kay: I agree that the term “gender ideology” is used in many different ways. But when it is used in regard to the debate over trans rights, it typically is used to describe the specific viewpoint that a person’s self-identified gender trumps their biological sex in most or all important areas of human activity, policy-making and even inwardly felt experiences.
Regarding whether “a person’s self-identified gender trumps their biological sex,” when I hear that, I have to wonder why my “biological sex” would be relevant in most situations. My biology is my business, my spouse’s business, and sometimes my doctor’s business. There aren’t too many areas of human activity that involve genitals. If society started policing according to genitalia, then we’d start heading down a road toward invasive checks.
Social dysphoria is more subjective and even harder to explain, but no less constant. It’s a sense of being out of place in social situations because the sense of kinship and belonging that you feel with people is in conflict with the roles, expectations, assumptions and interpersonal dynamics that are foist upon you, because of how you are perceived due to your gender. This is more of a feeling, yes, but the ever-present nature of it becomes distressing and even socially crippling.
The only time I have read both sides in a single place, what I have been waiting for. Was not 'a waste of time' nor are questions erasing anyone's existence. Does not seem to be one area where the movement shows any concern for anyone else, just a campaign to silence.
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