Hi. Somehow I missed the notification for this. I know you said you were bowing out, but I just want to address this so there's no misunderstanding. And given that I'm not expecting a response, I hope you won't mind if this runs a little long.

Let's start with this; I absolutely believe that being trans (or let me say gender dysphoria for reasons that will become obvious in a minute) is something that can't be turned on and off. I don't think it's a choice. Any more than being gay or being female or being black. It is, indeed, a fact. But there are a few points I'd make alongside that.

First, gender dysphoria is widely known to resolve itself in the majority of people once they've gone through puberty. This isn't to say they didn't really have gender dysphoria or they weren't "really trans." But to say that gender dysphoria isn't always (or even usually) permanent. Especially if it isn't medicalised. Being black doesn't ever "resolve" itself after puberty. That doesn't make being trans a choice, but it makes it different to being black.

Second, some number of people who claim they're trans today clearly don't have gender dysphoria. In fact, some people in the trans community today take offence at the idea that gender dysphoria is even necessary to be trans. Literally the only thing that makes somebody trans. For those people, being trans is, I believe, just a cool, edgy identity to put on (and which they'll almost certainly take off again when they're older). Again, this is completely different to being black.

Third, the question isn't even whether or not somebody being trans is a fact. If somebody tells me they're trans, why would I argue or disbelieve them? The question is whether or not being a trans woman, say, makes you identical to a woman in law and in life. I highlighted "identical" because in the vast majority of cases this question doesn't matter.

But my position is that there are a few instances where it does matter. Especially when people try to argue that any male who says "I'm a woman" is legally a woman. I don't believe it's transphobic or hateful or bigoted to acknowledge these instances. Indeed, claiming they don't exist seems to be denying the reality of transition itself.

And lastly, you've made numerous false equivalences here. Because, as you showed with your “little natural experiment” you don't understand racism at all. This ridiculous language of "dismissing your existence" is a perfect example of the problem.

Even if you said racism didn't exist, you wouldn't be "dismissing my existence." You'd be making a claim that I could disprove with evidence. I've had that debate many times. But trans women are male. I'm genuinely sorry you find this offensive, but it's a fact. It's not bias. It's not like claiming black people aren't human or that racism doesn’t exist, it's literally the only prerequisite for being a trans woman. Otherwise, you wouldn't need to transition. Male, I remind you, is a biological term used to describe every animal species, not a gender based one. If reality itself becomes transphobic, there's no hope of us ever understanding each other.

The closest analogy here is claiming that black people aren’t white. No! We’re not! And no black person in their right mind ever claimed to be.

I wouldn't call a trans woman a "man." Because it's also a prerequisite of being a trans women that you reject that label. No problem. But it's insane to argue that because I'm aware that trans women are male, I'd attack you if "things go wrong." Is this really how you see human interaction? You're assuming that because I'm a man, you're in physical danger if we have a discussion and end up disagreeing?

Well, funnily enough, you're making exactly the same argument that "TERF"s make. Only they have far better reason to make it. You're afraid that I might attack you if we disagree, even though I'm betting you can't find many examples of that happening in real life. Fine. Women are afraid males might attack them because they're female, and that happens thousands of times every single day. ~99% of sexual assault is carried out by males.

You feel as if you're in danger around men, even one you have no reason to believe is violent and who has spoken to you respectfully throughout? Okay, fair enough. Women feel as if they're in danger around males. And many of them have direct experience of a male behaving aggressively or violently when a conversation didn’t go as they hoped (this most definitely includes trans women if you look online). It's wild to me that you can see one problem but not the other.

I'm not debating your humanity. I never have. There's no question in my mind that you deserve the same human rights as everybody else. The problem is, no male has the right to access female spaces. That includes me. I am not oppressed because of this. This isn't a basic human right, it's a new right, that other males don't have, that you're demanding based on a feeling that can't be verified. You're trying to argue that anybody who wants a better way to differentiate between people like you and people like me and people like Karen White, is a bigot who is "dismissing your existence."

If you want this to fly with "no debate" you're going to turn the vast majority of people against you. Because it reveals that you value your affirmation over women's rights and safety.