Nikki Hiltz comes out as transgender/non-binary

Give me an example of this happening.

briswiss wrote:

Lenny Leonard wrote:

I work with a non-binary person. They are married to a woman. They are a teacher, so rather than being Mr. or Mrs., they use the title Mx. (pronounced “mix”). If 100 people looked at them and had to say whether they were a man or a woman, I think you would less than 70% saying one or the other based on the outfit.

Being a male or female has to do with whether or not you have male or female reproductive organs. A persons outfit has nothing to with that. If I get a great makeup artist to make me look like a woman, that does not make me a woman just because I tricked you. Guys can have the same personalities/feelings as females but if they have a penis, they are male.

Having male of female reproductive organs does not determine a person's gender. My co-worker is not trying to "trick" anyone. Referring to them as "he" or "she" is not accurate, and as I was attempting to point out, I don't think they fit into either category based on superficial appearance or their general persona.

People love to say, "I just judge people based on their character and respect everybody. Don't make a big show of it."

But when someone says, "Don't call me "she," because I am not female," they are the first ones to say, "You're wrong! You're just doing this for attention! You're a liberal nazi!"

If you truly had this laissez faire attitude towards someone's identity, the concept of someone being transgender or using they/them pronouns wouldn't be such a controversial topic for you.

Love this. Only reasonable post on this thread.

People are not treated equally at jobs based on ability. Is that wrong?

ability does not equal race, religion, gender, sex, etc.

You know what is one of the best ways to increase the ability to preform tasks in a work environment and therefore make more money, live in a better neighborhood, have better access to resources include healthcare?

A proper high school and college education.

Just me wrote:

The misogyny and transphobia is strong in this thread...

I've noticed many people are saying "I don't care if she is trans" and then proceeds to bash trans people or define exactly why they care that Nikki is trans. Never underestimate the hypocrisy of these boards. Why do we still live in an age where people are unequally treated because of race, religion, gender, sexuality, etc.

You can disapprove of someone being LGBTQ without being a jerk about it. That's your belief just as it is Nikki's to be trans.

If this was the 50s you all would be the ones proclaiming blacks are asking for too much in equal rights!

I believe this type of post highlights a major issue in the conflict for LGBTO. 85% of the posts on this thread are supporting Nikki. Go be who you are...Nikki deserves respect...etc etc...there are the obvious folks who disagree with transgenderism, and the obvious trolls. But most people here couldn't care what she wants to call herself on any given day. Also many, like myself, don't really understand the need for this to be public news...but as I stated earlier, if it makes Nikki feel more empowered than good on her.

But somehow you turn this into a 'LRC is against the LGBTO community ' general comment. So you are lumping the 85% supportive people with the few trolls...your generalizations are damaging to the LGBTO cause as you are attacking people who support Nikki.

Sincere question: What is the NEED for knowing how a person gender identifies? Assuming that an unambiguous gender decision was made at birth, why is it unsatisfactory having the world know that you're biologically one gender or the other, while behaving, dressing, etc. however you want? What is gained by the individual, or society, in "declaring" an identity? Especially, arguably, when that identity is admittedly fluid?

And yes, if we didn't live in a PC society where there ARE some folks eager to crucify someone for not perfectly conforming to the new orthodoxy, my question above would probably be less important. But there are. So, it would be useful to know exactly why these self-identifications are necessary? Because it's only a matter of time before some teacher or manager or whomever is castigated and/or fired for not quite keeping up on the gender identification of all those with whom they interact. We have MORE than enough potential sources of friction in our society. Is this REALLY another that we need to add? Again, sincere question.

"In some cases of gender dysphoria, the disturbance can be so pervasive that an individual’s mental life revolves around activities that lessen gender-related distress. These individuals may be preoccupied with their appearance, especially prior to or early in a formal gender transition."

It's a very serious disorder that cannot only be treated by therapy. Many people who suffer from this psychosis also require pharmaceuticals .

"The best outcomes for those with gender dysphoria are associated with early diagnosis, a supportive environment, and comprehensive treatment that respects the wishes and desires of the individual."

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/gender-dysphoria

There are two separate issues at play here. One is Nikki coming out as nonbinary. The other is whether or not gender identity is a qualifying marker to partake in women's sports.

Nikki coming out as trans/ nonbinary should really not concern anyone. If it does, look inward. As I said in a previous post, when it comes to gender, we have always accepted a culture that is way too binary in the first place, and what Nikki is describing isn't out of the ordinary.

However, the question about gender identity being enough to partake in women's sports is a fair one. The people on here saying "I bet she won't be identifying as a guy being a dude on race day" is snarky, but there is an important question being raised here. What are the actual rules about participating in a division of sports, and should(n't) there be? Sports is a social construct that needs concrete rules for participation in order for it to work. I do see "mens" and "women's" going away soon, but I agree that gender identity is probably not enough anymore, and I used to be on the fence about it.

You're kind of waving away the one (non-sports) issue. When people are putting their preferred pronouns in professional correspondence (and organizations are implicitly or explicitly supporting that), it's no longer just a personal issue. The person is MAKING IT a non-personal issue. And maybe that identity changes every once in a while. Honestly, the vast majority of people don't care, and why should anyone be on the hook (and they WILL be on the hook) to "keep track"?

you really think this is a serious issue because of...email signatures? That's worse than the sanctity of marriage argument from years ago.

Y'all who are claiming that there is now discrimination and the world as they know it is changing because people are throwing their pronouns up on bios and email signatures, are... extremely fragile. No one is being forced to put their pronouns anywhere. Don't do it if you don't like it.

The singular “they” has been a part of English since at least the time of Shakespeare. It wasn’t grammatically incorrect then, and isn’t incorrect now.

Kudos to Nikki for having the courage to come out. It’s going to mean a lot to trans and non-binary youth who are often shunned by society and need more role models in sport.

I'm not fragile at all. I certainly don't care if they do it, but I don't think that people should necessarily need to keep track of it. And they WILL be expected to do so in many settings. And you have NOT explained why the rest of society NEEDS to know someone's (non-biological) gender identity? Really, why?

This is obviously an April Fools joke and all of you fell for it. Last year she stated she got married.

Figuringstuffout wrote:

oh letsrun.. wrote:

you really think this is a serious issue because of...email signatures? That's worse than the sanctity of marriage argument from years ago.

Y'all who are claiming that there is now discrimination and the world as they know it is changing because people are throwing their pronouns up on bios and email signatures, are... extremely fragile. No one is being forced to put their pronouns anywhere. Don't do it if you don't like it.

I'm not fragile at all. I certainly don't care if they do it, but I don't think that people should necessarily need to keep track of it. And they WILL be expected to do so in many settings. And you have NOT explained why the rest of society NEEDS to know someone's (non-biological) gender identity? Really, why?

Please provide me examples of people being punished/not let off the hook for failing to keep track of someone's preferred pronouns? Examples where it was accidental and not deliberately done wrong in condescension.

In what culture are people with a penis capable and giving birth?

Figuringstuffout wrote:

oh letsrun.. wrote:

you really think this is a serious issue because of...email signatures? That's worse than the sanctity of marriage argument from years ago.

Y'all who are claiming that there is now discrimination and the world as they know it is changing because people are throwing their pronouns up on bios and email signatures, are... extremely fragile. No one is being forced to put their pronouns anywhere. Don't do it if you don't like it.

I'm not fragile at all. I certainly don't care if they do it, but I don't think that people should necessarily need to keep track of it. And they WILL be expected to do so in many settings. And you have NOT explained why the rest of society NEEDS to know someone's (non-biological) gender identity? Really, why?

Perhaps you should ask yourself why YOU feel so strongly about not wanting to know about a person's gender identity. If someone wants to share that part of themselves, why not? People share their race, ethnicity, religion. We "keep track" of people's names, their birthdays etc. She's not asking you to "keep track", but you sound fearful all the same. Why?

"giving birth" is not always associated with womanhood and femininity.