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Trans people are less than 0.5% of the US and somehow a certain group of people have been convinced that they are taking over the country. > Our results call f

Trans people are less than 0.5% of the US and somehow a certain group of people have been convinced that they are taking over the country. > Our results call for researchers, journalists, and pundits alike to reconsider how to interpret misperceptions about the demographic structure of society. They are missing that this mischaracterization is very deliberate and meant to fearmonger.

s1artibartfast 2y ago
I think it is true across political lines and sides of the issues. IMO, a big part of it is also driven by attempts to be inclusive in media and educational representation. You get your TV and movies with the obligatory black, gay, and trans characters. If media reflected real life demographics, most of these wouldnt exist. Blacks are 12% of the US population, gays are ~5%, and trans people are ~1% depending on the survey. When surveyed, people think they are closer to 40%, 25%, and 20% of the population because they are so often overrepresented.
- dehugger 2y ago
  I would be absolutely ecstatic if 1% of all movie, TV video game, and book characters were openly trans. It would be a gigantic increase over the actual number.
  - piperswe 2y ago
    Same, I think I can name one canonically trans character from a piece of media I've watched recently? And as a trans person myself, I'm probably more likely than most to pay attention when a trans character is introduced.
- haliskerbas 2y ago
  The way you dropped “blacks” gives me a really big hint into how you see the world :)
  - s1artibartfast 2y ago
    Likewise, consider your virtue signaled ;)
t-writescode 2y ago
Even worse, when *those same people* finally figure out that there aren't many trans people in the first place, rather than thinking "oh should be easy to accommodate, then", they instead say "exactly, so we shouldn't have to care about them. They should just go away / be quiet / stop asking 'the whole world' to change for them." At the end of the day, everything is just an excuse for people like that to either: - hate - not do any internal searching that will reveal they're the ones that need to change - continue to hide in their self-hating shame (see: gay porn viewing rates in places with wildly lower, admitted-LGBTQ+ people)
akimbostrawman 2y ago
Maybe it does not make any sense because it's a strawman ;) Something doesn't need to be a large part of something to be forced upon a larger whole. If anything being a small part but being blown up disproportionately can explain exactly such reactions especially if it targets the most vulnerable groups.
- 9283409232 2y ago
  It's a cycle. You pick on a vulnerable group and generally good people will push back and stand up for them and now the group seems bigger than it actually is so even more people will push back and it just goes back and forth.
  - akimbostrawman 2y ago
    There is a difference between defending something and trying to push it agressively and overt towards vulnerable groups such are children and mentally ill.
    - 9283409232 2y ago
      There is a disagreement on who the vulnerable groups are in this situation. I know many people who would say trans people as a whole are mentally ill.
      - akimbostrawman 2y ago
        Indeed. In a sane world someone thinking they are a dragon is either a child who at some point grows out of it or mentally ill who needs treatment. In current year both are thrown together where sane(?) grown adults enable both of them because acceptance and subversion at any cost is the only way to fully end the "hate".
        9283409232 2y ago
        You misunderstood my position so let me put it this way. Putting aside the "save the children" argument, I don't care what a grown adult does and how they feel about themselves. The amount of resources put towards demonizing trans people is if nothing else, an incredible waste of time and money. And adults who live life acting like dragons exist, they are also not bothering anyone so I just leave them alone.

s1artibartfast 2y ago

I think it is true across political lines and sides of the issues. IMO, a big part of it is also driven by attempts to be inclusive in media and educational representation. You get your TV and movies with the obligatory black, gay, and trans characters. If media reflected real life demographics, most of these wouldnt exist. Blacks are 12% of the US population, gays are ~5%, and trans people are ~1% depending on the survey. When surveyed, people think they are closer to 40%, 25%, and 20% of the population because they are so often overrepresented.

dehugger 2y ago
I would be absolutely ecstatic if 1% of all movie, TV video game, and book characters were openly trans. It would be a gigantic increase over the actual number.
- piperswe 2y ago
  Same, I think I can name one canonically trans character from a piece of media I've watched recently? And as a trans person myself, I'm probably more likely than most to pay attention when a trans character is introduced.
haliskerbas 2y ago
The way you dropped “blacks” gives me a really big hint into how you see the world :)
- s1artibartfast 2y ago
  Likewise, consider your virtue signaled ;)

t-writescode 2y ago

Even worse, when *those same people* finally figure out that there aren't many trans people in the first place, rather than thinking "oh should be easy to accommodate, then", they instead say "exactly, so we shouldn't have to care about them. They should just go away / be quiet / stop asking 'the whole world' to change for them." At the end of the day, everything is just an excuse for people like that to either: - hate - not do any internal searching that will reveal they're the ones that need to change - continue to hide in their self-hating shame (see: gay porn viewing rates in places with wildly lower, admitted-LGBTQ+ people)

akimbostrawman 2y ago

Maybe it does not make any sense because it's a strawman ;) Something doesn't need to be a large part of something to be forced upon a larger whole. If anything being a small part but being blown up disproportionately can explain exactly such reactions especially if it targets the most vulnerable groups.

9283409232 2y ago
It's a cycle. You pick on a vulnerable group and generally good people will push back and stand up for them and now the group seems bigger than it actually is so even more people will push back and it just goes back and forth.
- akimbostrawman 2y ago
  There is a difference between defending something and trying to push it agressively and overt towards vulnerable groups such are children and mentally ill.
  - 9283409232 2y ago
    There is a disagreement on who the vulnerable groups are in this situation. I know many people who would say trans people as a whole are mentally ill.
    - akimbostrawman 2y ago
      Indeed. In a sane world someone thinking they are a dragon is either a child who at some point grows out of it or mentally ill who needs treatment. In current year both are thrown together where sane(?) grown adults enable both of them because acceptance and subversion at any cost is the only way to fully end the "hate".
      - 9283409232 2y ago
        You misunderstood my position so let me put it this way. Putting aside the "save the children" argument, I don't care what a grown adult does and how they feel about themselves. The amount of resources put towards demonizing trans people is if nothing else, an incredible waste of time and money. And adults who live life acting like dragons exist, they are also not bothering anyone so I just leave them alone.