Well, that post wasn't just an unpopular opinion. It was a transphobic troll spewing their hatred all over Lemmy. Sure, discussions are good. But not when they're started in bad faith to foster animosity.

It took me 5 minutes to search around for the post that was deleted and then check the user's posting history and there is a clear difference between posting an unpopular opinion and mean spirited 4chan transphobic trolling. This user was laughably the latter.

Also i see a lot of people talking about "Serious discussions about gender" the concept, but these serious discussions never happen. Just the parroting of tired transphobic talking points straight out of twitter and 4chan.

I agree with you in general, but that person was not trying to have a discussion. Had you seen their post history? It was the same thing over and over again spammed to various different communities. The only comments on their profile were name-calling and slurs at the people who criticised their posts. I don’t think we should allow that.

Not defending the poster. Just defending the discussion.

And for those who aren't transgender. Learning to talk is different from just waiting for the other people to finish

I'm always open to them (well, unless I'm tired), but it's a very sensitive issue for those truly concerned. I'm a married straight man, I have no horse in this race, my mind being changed about the uhh reality of being a "woman born as a man", for instance, won't do much for me except fit better with current Western doctrines. On the other hand, if the conversation changes your mind, your entire self image and identity construction might fall apart, regrets might start appearing, suicidal ideation might come around too, etc etc. And since I'm not in the business of hurting people's feelings unnecessarily, and because it's at most an ideological disagreement stemming from wrong premises and messy thinking and not moral issue (at least on the trans end, there can be a lot of hatred on the other one), I avoid the topic. And, if someone as argumentative avoids it for prosocial reasons, I'm sure many others will do the same.

So: I agree, we should be able to talk about it respectfully, but it's a sensitive issue that can quickly veer into hurt feelings and/or true hatred.

like... you saw a post get I'm assuming deleted because trans people were being discussed? where did this happen?

Downvoted because I agree with you.

Discussing what exactly? The “discussions” that I’ve seen are cishet people stating that they don’t understand us, said in ways that show a clear disrespect for what the they don’t understand. Even in this post there is a dickhead saying the “man in a dress” bullshit.

It’s important to look at things from a pragmatic point of view. If we were not having our rights and dignity taken away, just for existing, these sorts of “discussions” would feel more authentic. Instead it’s “I don’t get trans” posts that inform us what rights the poster thinks we should be allowed, as well as what we should be banned from doing. Engaging with such intolerance is not productive. Prune the inflammatory post, and move on (also known as moderation).

If people want to learn more about the trans experience, Google is their friend. Our stories and struggles are out there. Eloquently written articles and studies are readily available. Coming into a trans space, saying essentially “you are all men, help me understand trans”, is lazy and disrespectful.

knock yourself out. if you like it or think its good excersise then do it.

So what's your take on JK Rowling?

aS a TrAnS pErSoN...