Sorry Trans Activists, Optics Actually Matter

In the lost years of 2015-2020, far-left activists kept brainwashing us with the message that caring about optics is 'respectability politics' and 'tone policing', which, apparently, are supposed to be very bad things. As a result, many social movements, trans rights included, simply embraced not only the most 'maximalist' program of demands no matter whether they sounded reasonable to the general public, but also didn't mind putting all sorts of behavior that made us look bad on display.

Meanwhile, right-aligned culture warriors, or indeed just YouTubers looking for clicks and a paycheck, dutifully made compilations of these episodes of bad behavior, and regularly uploaded them, often receiving hundreds of thousands or even millions of views. The incentives for them to do so are clear: many such episodes of bad behavior are actually funny to many people, particularly when some mocking commentary is added. The far-left, keen to uphold their flawed theories, refused to deal with this objective reality. Instead, they simply complained about how posting 'cringe' is morally bad. Any excuse to not deal with the real issue here, it seems.

Meanwhile, multiple polls show that public support for trans rights, LGBT rights in general, and other 'progressive' causes have declined year-on-year. If we don't reverse course in terms of public opinion, we won't be changing the political climate anytime soon. This, I believe, creates a moral duty for us to change course. If the theory left keeps insisting on letting their flawed theories get in the way of this much needed change, then they are honestly part of the problem, and shouldn't ever be considered real allies again.

Finally, a word on 'respectability politics'. No such thing exists, in objective reality. Everything they call 'respectability politics' is just plainly normal politics. 'Respectability politics' is just a phrase invented by critical anarchists and their fellow travelers to smear members of minority communities who would like to assimilate into mainstream society.