STOP THE CHILD ABUSE

 A cartoon:

(Transcript: First panel: A woman wearing a teeshirt that says "Adult Human Female" is practically sobbing with outrage. She says, "We need to act to ban trans care and make sure children develop naturally and healthily!" Next panel: a woman gobbling a burger and fries asks, "So you're going to do something about ultra-processed foods and additives? Against rampant child malnutrition?" Third panel: Same woman in a hockey suit asks, "Will you ban ballet classes, since they alter children's muscles and limbs forever? Or contact sorts like hockey or football, for giving them lifelong head traumas and concussions?" Four Panel: Same woman, looking disgusted: "Or is hunting down a handful of trans kids who just want to live their life as themselves and participate in society more urgent than all this?")

I've noticed transphobes who bleat about "natural development" and "mutilating children" could not care less about the damage being done by sports programs around the nation, or yes, ballet, for that matter; or about the damage being done by social expectations for little girls to be skinny and cute above all; or such "mutilations" as nose jobs, breast enlargement surgery or breast reduction surgery for boys with gynocomastia. That's all fine.

I've also noticed they don't worry about "natural" development when they're putting braces on their kids teeth, buying them eyeglasses or contacts, and dying their own hair. All that is fine too. It's only the nasty transes we have to police.

Note: I would have never let my kid play hockey or football, and probably would have hesitated about ballet, for the reasons stated above. But I'm all for braces, eyeglasses, and whatever anyone wants to do with their own hair. My point here, though, is entirely other. They don't really care about trans kids. They care about being allowed to be bigots. Trans kids, and trans people, are a safe target right now. Ten years ago, they would have been attacking gay people. Thirty years ago, feminists. Fifty years ago, black people. It's all the same playbook, just different targets.