While you have presented a practical objection, you have not presented a philosophical one, which is more fundamental to the right-wing position:
* The 'gender spectrum' is a false construct that conflates biology and sociology. While some men may be effeminate, they are still (and will always be) men.
* Transgender ideology presents the issue as if empirical biology, and subjective sociology, are complementary, peer-level concepts--or even worse, that the subjective sociology is more "real" than the biology, when in fact the opposite is true. This is an epistemological error of such magnitude that it will poison children's ability to reason clearly and logically in many unrelated areas, possibly for the rest of their lives.
* Gender dysphoria is a mental illness which affects fewer than 1 in 10,000 adults, and while those people should be treated compassionately, the disconnect they experience between their biological realities and sociological expectations is not a cognitive model that should be normalized any more than teaching children that morbid obesity is a body identity that they can achieve if they eat 20,000 calories of sugar every day.
FWIW I think left-right is the wrong axis here. In the UK, at least, much of the opposition comes from liberal feminists who disagree with the concept of gender identity; they think that this sort of education ends up telling children that whether you're a boy or a girl depends on whether you behave in stereotypically male or female ways. They would say that you can be a boy in a dress or a girl who likes trains, etc. Of course the advocates for this education would say that they agree with that, but that's the argument, I think.
I think of the Left, Middle, and Right as solar systems, with each having a number of worlds in their orbit, who don't always agree. I would put both transgender activists and liberal feminists on the left, but of course they're engaging each other in what has been called the TERF wars, and that focuses on where should transwomen not be allowed within ciswomen's spaces (domestic abuse shelters, sports, bathrooms, etc.). Where transgender activists have tried to silence radical feminists, radical feminists have allied themselves with the Right, just like how on abortion the Left is allied with the Libertarians, or how in the 1980s feminists and Evangelical Christians fought on the same side of the Porn Wars (Spoiler alert - Porn won). So different sub-groups on the Left and Right disagree with each other, and there are cross-partisan alliances.
So I use Left and Right because it's the best imperfect macro-level model, and then I get into the details as I go deeper into the topic.
While you have presented a practical objection, you have not presented a philosophical one, which is more fundamental to the right-wing position:
* The 'gender spectrum' is a false construct that conflates biology and sociology. While some men may be effeminate, they are still (and will always be) men.
* Transgender ideology presents the issue as if empirical biology, and subjective sociology, are complementary, peer-level concepts--or even worse, that the subjective sociology is more "real" than the biology, when in fact the opposite is true. This is an epistemological error of such magnitude that it will poison children's ability to reason clearly and logically in many unrelated areas, possibly for the rest of their lives.
* Gender dysphoria is a mental illness which affects fewer than 1 in 10,000 adults, and while those people should be treated compassionately, the disconnect they experience between their biological realities and sociological expectations is not a cognitive model that should be normalized any more than teaching children that morbid obesity is a body identity that they can achieve if they eat 20,000 calories of sugar every day.
I've added this to the article. :)
I might have worked on editing a little better if I had known you were going to paste the whole thing. :)
You can still edit it. I'll change it to whatever you think works better since I'm using your argument.
FWIW I think left-right is the wrong axis here. In the UK, at least, much of the opposition comes from liberal feminists who disagree with the concept of gender identity; they think that this sort of education ends up telling children that whether you're a boy or a girl depends on whether you behave in stereotypically male or female ways. They would say that you can be a boy in a dress or a girl who likes trains, etc. Of course the advocates for this education would say that they agree with that, but that's the argument, I think.
I think of the Left, Middle, and Right as solar systems, with each having a number of worlds in their orbit, who don't always agree. I would put both transgender activists and liberal feminists on the left, but of course they're engaging each other in what has been called the TERF wars, and that focuses on where should transwomen not be allowed within ciswomen's spaces (domestic abuse shelters, sports, bathrooms, etc.). Where transgender activists have tried to silence radical feminists, radical feminists have allied themselves with the Right, just like how on abortion the Left is allied with the Libertarians, or how in the 1980s feminists and Evangelical Christians fought on the same side of the Porn Wars (Spoiler alert - Porn won). So different sub-groups on the Left and Right disagree with each other, and there are cross-partisan alliances.
So I use Left and Right because it's the best imperfect macro-level model, and then I get into the details as I go deeper into the topic.
Thanks for the response!
-Nate
Sources I’m collecting to include in my future article on this subject (Please send any recommendations you might have):
https://www.newsweek.com/new-homophobia-opinion-1698969 (Gay man who is concerned about transgender activism)
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/1557
CS/CS/HB 1557: Parental Rights in Education Bill (dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill by critics)
https://legiscan.com/MO/text/HB2649/2022
Similar Oklahoma bill.
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/policy/florida-advises-against-gender-affirming-medical-or-social-care-transgender-kids (article recommended on Twitter by National Center for Transgender Equity.