Tolerance…

A word that used to mean something. A word that has been thrown around a lot the last few years. It seems to me that we have forgotten what that word means.

We in the transgender community are quite familiar with this term. Many of us have heard it used by our family members for years; as in, they will show tolerance towards us, but not true acceptance and unconditional love.

However, this post is about the tolerance being discussed in many social forums recently.

You will often see a discussion about the rights of transgender people argued under the guise of tolerance. One side says that because we (the transgender people of this country) wish to enjoy the exact same Constitutional rights as every other American, we are infringing in their so-called “religious freedoms.”

When an attempt is made to explain that those with the most privilege are not being persecuted when they allow the rest of America’s citizens the same rights they have, the majority scream, “You are being INTOLERANT of our beliefs.”

This occurs on both sides of the aisle. I often see other members of my own community attack people for holding views that differ from their own. An identity they don’t agree with or understand, the use of a term they are uncomfortable with; these will often be more than enough to cause a major blow up on Facebook, instagram, tumbler, etc. More often than not claiming one or the other isn’t tolerant of the other person’s opinion.

Maybe it was when we started giving out participation trophies, or when the Internet spread and Everyone was able to post their opinion on Everything, but we have gone off the rails.

We have become the country of entitlement outrage. We sit behind our keyboards on our smartphones waiting to be offended so we can blast someone on how intolerant they are. RWNJs vs. SJWs. (right wing nut jobs vs. social justice warriors).

It seems like we have forgotten a lot of things lately, like there is a Right and a Wrong to many issues. That just because you have an opinion, it doesn’t mean that opinion bears the same weight as a fact. I mean, you know the old saying about opinions and a certain orifice…

Just because you don’t like the idea of global climate change, doesn’t mean that your opinion should hold the same weight as the environmental scientists who have studied the matter.

Because you don’t understand and agree with the prevailing science on gender, doesn’t change the facts that transgender people have always lived among us, or that the AMA, the WHO, the APA and every major medical organization says being transgender is not a mental illness, and it is not a choice.

I mentioned that some things have a right and a wrong answer. Well, I believe that if you cannot back your opinion up with facts (not beliefs or opinions, but facts) and the other side can, then you are more than likely wrong.

Maybe I am just turning into the old lady on the front porch complaining about the kids these days. You tell me.

Kate