71% of British people would support a family member if they came out as trans or non-binary. But I'd forgive you if you thought I mixed the 7 and 1 up.
Every Sunday our community is bombarded with a flurry of ‘opinions’ on our lives. On our rights and our genitals.
This flurry of misrepresentation fuels a rising disdain for trans people. One which has left the UK internationally known as TERF Island.
So we should lean into our nature to correct inaccuracies we see in these headlines each week - right? Wrong.
When we amplify what I will generously call inaccurate reporting (lies) – we help spread the myths.
Spreading their cocktail of lies far and wide, even in attempts to correct them, is a ploy right out of a fascist playbook.4
‘Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth’, is a quote attributed to a famous Nazi propaganda leader, who I have no desire to name. It highlights the 'illusion of truth'.
You could be helping to spread the misinformation.
People are more likely to believe something to be true if they have seen or heard it before, even if they have been told it is false.
But what if you only post the archive link to this website or screenshot it? Then explain how and why it is abhorrent. Surely that is a good thing?
You could be helping to spread the misinformation.
Telling people that a claim is false can make them misremember it as the truth – particularly with older adults. - Journal of Consumer Research.
These claims then become so entrenched in their minds, they become “fact.” It’s really hard to argue with what people understand to be facts.
So before we go and blame the boomers for everything (and there is a lot to blame them for), let’s think about what we can do to reframe the way our lives are discussed in the mainstream.
When it comes to LGBTQIA+ people, we need to refocus our energy from reacting to this propaganda.
Instead, let's redirect people - particularly from outside of our community - to hear our voices, views and experiences. We owe it to ourselves and each other.
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