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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 23rd, 2023

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  • No - it was the language that I said was transphobic, not the author. Given that there were two different word choices (“transsexual” and “perceived gender”) that reinforced each other, it seems more likely than not that they reflected the mindset of the author, but not having looked further for their other writings I was not sure. That’s why I said " transphobic language" and not “transphobic author”.



  • There’s nothing wrong with the example in and of itself, but the word “transsexual” in place of “transgender” is not generally random. It is explicitly chosen by Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs) as well as by right-wing transphobes as a dog whistle to conflate gender dysphoria with drag queens and cross-dess fetishists so as to delegitimise transpeople and suggest some sort of sexual deviance. Coupled with the equivocation of “perceived” gender, motive doesn’t even have to come into it. The words themselves and the concepts they reinforce are transphobic and harmful.

    A witch hunt would have been for me to say that the author is a transphobic asshole whose writings need to be wiped from the internet - which is very far from what I actually posted, which was regret for the way the language they chose distracted from the flow of their argument by reinforcing the social stigmatization of trans people. (Edit: That was a deliberate choice on my part. Not knowing enough about the author to be sure of motives and having no desire to deep dive into their history, I decided that it was only appropriate to point out the hurtful nature of the language and not imply motive.)






  • In the US, this is a common question from most psychologists and therapists. On the one hand, insurance companies require a diagnosis code in order to pay for any treatment and the same is true for certain kinds of government assistance. On the other, being diagnosed with a mental health condition considered “serious” can trigger various consequences for employment (especially if it involves security clearances), court (particularly custody battles), and random social consequences from people (especially family) who still believe neurodivergence is something to be ashamed of.

    Typically the person asking is trying to find out whether an official diagnosis would be helpful or harmful to you, so they know what to put on the billing or other paperwork without causing more harm than good. This is really better done in a conversation where they explain that than on a form where they don’t, though.