Monday, October 28, 2013

Going Off the Deep End

Sometimes, sadly, you just can't reason with some people.  You try to present your point of view, calmly, and rationally.  Perhaps you even admit you made an error.  But they are not going to be happy unless you totally give in to their position, and when you don't, they go off with insults.  Sad, but it happens.  I admit, I've done it myself, but I try to learn from that mistake.

It usually happens with deeply held beliefs are challenged, and the person has no real answer, and they don't want to consider that they might be wrong.  Even if you try to calmly respond, they simply get angrier, and angrier.  Usually, you see this sort of response in religious discussions, but it can also happen when the topic is politics, or just something deeply personal to the person.

Recently, I made some remarks about the student in a Colorado high school that I regret.  I did not have all the facts, and I jumped to some conclusions I should not have.  Elizabeth, at Notes From the T Side took me to task for that, and I admitted my mistake, but that turned out to not be good enough.  Apparently I was expected to blindly agree that the "rights" of a transsexual or even a transgender student completely trump those of others.  I won't do that, because that is, well, absurd.  

Legal rights generally have to be balanced.  I have stated, I believe that the controversial law that is intended to assist "transgender" students in California is poorly written.  It is very likely that a challenge to this law will be on the ballot next year, and it may well pass.  I have made suggestions as to how that law can be modified to deal with issues, that may or may not be legitimate, that will be raised, and which, if not answered, will almost certainly lead to the law being tossed.

Okay, I realize that some might not agree with this.  Some want those issues in place, because they really do think that "trans women" have an absolute right to expose themselves in women's spaces.  Some seem incapable of seeing that this is part of a bigger effort.  Some have naive ideas about "transkids."  

I would love to see laws in place to protect transsexual children.  I don't want to see transsexual children used to push through the transgender agenda, which includes the idea that simply saying one feels female, even if only temporary, validly establishes one as female.  Some apparently can't accept, in their blind rush to help kids, that this is the real agenda of some.

Some apparently cannot accept that some people have SRS who should not have.  I guess they are so insecure in their own identity that any suggestion that someone completely the process is no 100% a woman is terrifying.  

For whatever reason, and in spite of attempts to make peace, Elizabeth went off the deep end.  Unfortunately, the debate attracted the attention of the notorious troll "Diane" Lask.  Lask, who it turns out is non-op like her late partner in terror, Cheryl Mullins, develops obsessions over people.  As I pointed out, in the past, it was a Canadian transgender activist that Lask harassed for years.  When that person withdrew from the net, and apparently returned to living as a male, Lask had to find a new target.  Sadly, I became that target.

Now, anyone with a shred of sense, who bothered to look at some of Lask's more absurd posts harassing me, would realize that Lask is nuts.  But, as I say, people can choose to be blind.

I finally reached my limit.  It basically came to the point of either lowering myself to the level that Elizabeth had chosen, or simply walking away.  I have chosen the latter.  I am sure Lask, who has no real grasp on reality, will think he drove me off.  Not even close.  I simply realized that further discussion was futile, and decided not to waste more time on someone who cannot accept disagreement.

It's sad.  I respected Elizabeth, though I admit, as with others, the constant reminder of how she was a "transkid" gets a bit old.  Not all of us had the good fortune to have that choice.  The air of superiority that some who did, adopt, gets really old, really fast.  Elizabeth kept telling me I could not understand what it is like for someone like that.  The truth is, Elizabeth can't understand what it was like for someone who did not have the opportunity to get help that early.  I'm honestly happy for her that she had the good fortune that she did.  But I am saddened that she cannot comprehend what like was like for someone who did not have that chance.

In any case, I have removed "Notes From the T Side" from my blog list and she can rant all she wants, but it's not worth commenting any further.

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