It isn't the same. In the spring of 2016, I attended an Educator's Conference at Exeter and discovered the far left had lost its mind. Our group leader, a trans male, began stressing the importance of the new trans platform. I told him that from Stonewall in 1969 to 2015 gay marriage the summer before was 46 YEARS, and expecting the coun…
It isn't the same. In the spring of 2016, I attended an Educator's Conference at Exeter and discovered the far left had lost its mind. Our group leader, a trans male, began stressing the importance of the new trans platform. I told him that from Stonewall in 1969 to 2015 gay marriage the summer before was 46 YEARS, and expecting the country to gravitate to codifying trans concerns was going to take more than 6 months. I was honest about my reservation of shining a spotlight on it. He was outraged and instantly accused me of being transphobic.There were other disagreements I won't listen here, but his hostility was real and prevented anyone from discussion many topics at the conference. Nowadays, I don't give a rat's behind what they think, but it took a few years to insist on the pushback. People who were FURIOUS with me now say they were glad I wasn't intimidated, but so many were, and ARE. It's a real problem.
IMO we need to re-learn how to foster a spirit of “Your perspective is welcome and important, and so is the perspective of everyone else in this room. And if we need to reach a consensus, some of us might not get everything we want. And if you didn’t get everything you want this time, you can keep pushing, keep advocating for your perspective, and bring it up again next time.” It’s frustrating, and it’s too slow, but that’s how change happens. As a woman, there are a number of items on my “change agenda” that I’ve yet to see come to fruition. (And other items I thought were settled that are moving backwards.)
It isn't the same. In the spring of 2016, I attended an Educator's Conference at Exeter and discovered the far left had lost its mind. Our group leader, a trans male, began stressing the importance of the new trans platform. I told him that from Stonewall in 1969 to 2015 gay marriage the summer before was 46 YEARS, and expecting the country to gravitate to codifying trans concerns was going to take more than 6 months. I was honest about my reservation of shining a spotlight on it. He was outraged and instantly accused me of being transphobic.There were other disagreements I won't listen here, but his hostility was real and prevented anyone from discussion many topics at the conference. Nowadays, I don't give a rat's behind what they think, but it took a few years to insist on the pushback. People who were FURIOUS with me now say they were glad I wasn't intimidated, but so many were, and ARE. It's a real problem.
IMO we need to re-learn how to foster a spirit of “Your perspective is welcome and important, and so is the perspective of everyone else in this room. And if we need to reach a consensus, some of us might not get everything we want. And if you didn’t get everything you want this time, you can keep pushing, keep advocating for your perspective, and bring it up again next time.” It’s frustrating, and it’s too slow, but that’s how change happens. As a woman, there are a number of items on my “change agenda” that I’ve yet to see come to fruition. (And other items I thought were settled that are moving backwards.)