we should target our arguments according to the circles we find ourselves in
That’s true, but I would also suggest that some arguments just don’t need to be had. For example:
rather than jumping into extremely serious surgery blindly
I suspect this might be hyperbolic, but even so, this is not a position any actual person holds. Nobody who is in favor of transgender rights thinks that people should just “jump into extremely serious surgeries blindly.” Repeating this framing of the problem in this way plays into the hands of people who are intentionally misrepresenting what the actual argument is in order to create division.
If you want to target your arguments to your audience, you should steelman the arguments you’re targeting, otherwise you’re just confirming their beliefs.
Point taken, that was somewhat hyperbolic, but there are large groups of people who believe that anyone who asks for gender reassignment surgery should immediately get it, and doctors who try to slow things down are evil/misguided.
I’m trying to find the ones that I saw a few years ago, but now all the results show up news articles about states banning various trans related therapies. It could be I’m misremembering (this was about 5 years ago), but I believe that I found this quite a common opinion at the time.
I’ve never seen anyone argue for that position. I’m sure there are people who think that, but they must be a small minority. I’m willing to be convinced that I’m wrong, though.
Ok, it’s possible I’m misremembering some conversations I had a while ago. There’s a large number of people who are complaining that gender affirmation therapy is provided too easily without due diligence (random example https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/woman-says-rushed-gender-reassignment-treatment-left-her-suicidal-11946763), but I seem to remember seeing a lot of articles saying the opposite, and discussing them with people—along the lines of “if somebody says they’re trans they’re trans, and we don’t need doctors to decide whether they can get therapy”.
That’s true, but I would also suggest that some arguments just don’t need to be had. For example:
I suspect this might be hyperbolic, but even so, this is not a position any actual person holds. Nobody who is in favor of transgender rights thinks that people should just “jump into extremely serious surgeries blindly.” Repeating this framing of the problem in this way plays into the hands of people who are intentionally misrepresenting what the actual argument is in order to create division.
If you want to target your arguments to your audience, you should steelman the arguments you’re targeting, otherwise you’re just confirming their beliefs.
Point taken, that was somewhat hyperbolic, but there are large groups of people who believe that anyone who asks for gender reassignment surgery should immediately get it, and doctors who try to slow things down are evil/misguided.
What sources do you have for your claim that “large groups” of people believe this?
I’m trying to find the ones that I saw a few years ago, but now all the results show up news articles about states banning various trans related therapies. It could be I’m misremembering (this was about 5 years ago), but I believe that I found this quite a common opinion at the time.
I’ve never seen anyone argue for that position. I’m sure there are people who think that, but they must be a small minority. I’m willing to be convinced that I’m wrong, though.
Ok, it’s possible I’m misremembering some conversations I had a while ago. There’s a large number of people who are complaining that gender affirmation therapy is provided too easily without due diligence (random example https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/woman-says-rushed-gender-reassignment-treatment-left-her-suicidal-11946763), but I seem to remember seeing a lot of articles saying the opposite, and discussing them with people—along the lines of “if somebody says they’re trans they’re trans, and we don’t need doctors to decide whether they can get therapy”.