Trans & Cancel Culture: JK Rowling, Joe Rogan, ContraPoints, JBP... | TE Report Trans S3 E8

Hi everyone, welcome again to the special LGBT season of the TaraElla Report. This is where we talk about the diversity of views in the community, to show that diverse views do exist, and to promote mutual understanding, which is always good for humanity. Subscribe if you are interested. This show is brought to you by my new book, Postmodernism, Skeptics & Transmedicalists, which is all about the battle between postmodern and Marcusean ideology vs skeptics opposing these ideas, and how trans people got entangled in this battle and got misunderstood by the world. Link is in the description.

Cancel culture is bad. It denies free speech and takes away opportunities for education, debate and mutual understanding. Yet, the trans and broader LGBT community seems to be frequently involved in cancellation drama. This has not only given our community a bad name; it has also prevented more mutual understanding between trans people and other sectors of society. Today, I want to take a collective look at some of the cancel culture-type drama surrounding the LGBT community in the recent past, and see if we can find a way to break through all this and move forward.

Reviewing the past few months, I've been able to identify at least three big cancellation dramas. Firstly, there was the pronoun round drama surrounding ContraPoints, where she was essentially canceled for something she clearly wasn't guitly of. Secondly, there was the attempt to label JK Rowling a TERF, even though there wasn't adequate evidence of that. Finally, there was the outrage over Bernie Sanders's decision to accept Joe Rogan's endorsement, partly because Rogan said some insensitive things about trans people in the past. There were also numerous smaller dramas, from calling Hillary Clinton transphobic just for acknowledging some concerns in the community, to calling Tulsi Gabbard homophobic for her opposition to gay marriage 15 years ago, something which she has since apologized for. If we go back further, there's also the attempt to cancel Jordan Peterson, which the LGBT community was a big part of, and which pit the LGBT community against many Peterson fans, in a not-so-good way.

You see, I've just listed at least five or six incidents where there was perhaps some misunderstanding between the LGBT community and other parts of society, where some conversation could have fixed things and promoted mutual understanding. But in each case, except the ContraPoints case perhaps, LGBT activists seem to have chosen to be defensive, to quickly label the other party an enemy, and were generally not interested in conversation at all.

I guess they probably felt hurt by the comments made by those people. The hurt is understandable. But then, it's probably a matter of expectations. Personally, I never feel too hurt about comments like those made by Rowling or Rogan, because I've come to expect them. Maybe it comes from being on this planet for over 30 years, maybe it comes from a life of many disappointments, or maybe it comes from having struggled with trans issues in the much less understanding world of pre-2010 or so. I don't feel upset because I have realistic expectations about people. That perhaps the majority of people out there simply don't understand trans people yet. They don't understand our needs, and some of them even fear we may trample on their rights. I'm hopeful that, with more conversation and mutual understanding, things will change in the future. However, for the sake of our own happiness, and for the sake of productive conversation, I guess we should accept and work with present conditions as they are. Furthermore, a certain peace comes with the acceptance of conditions as they are. That's why I don't get too upset over mildly transphobic comments. I get a little uneasy but I don't get too upset, having gotten used to it since a long time ago.

Seeing things from a level-headed perspective, I don't see enemies everywhere. I don't think any of the aforementioned people are trying to hurt anybody. For example, I see Joe Rogan and people like him as passionate voices who are blunt in their words but generally well-meaning in their intentions. They may be wrong on some topics, they may hurt people without realizing it, but there's really no malice in it. I think it's good for everyone, and especially good for our own wellbeing, to recognize this fact. People may misunderstand us and hurt us as a result, but they don't actually mean to harm us. We don't actually have that many enemies out there.

Change can come, but it comes with understanding, and it comes with time. You can't force people to change; they have to be truly convinced on their own terms, in their own free will. That's why I think we should discuss the experience of dysphoria, and try to work with society on ways that trans needs can be compassionately accomodated, while taking into account others' concerns. This education and negotiation process can take some time, and we just need to be patient. Meanwhile, I think it's important to stay positive throughout this process. We need to remember that mainstream society doesn't generally want to oppress or harm trans people; the hurt only comes from misunderstanding that can be resolved one day. Only by remembering this will we stop pushing people away. Also, only by remembering this can we work constructively going forward.