During a visit to lobby legislators on transgender issues, Senator Carden Summers ® knelt down and told a child he would protect her. When he learned she was trans, he backed away.


On Feb. 6, a group of families met to lobby senators on issues affecting the local transgender community in Georgia. One mother, Lena Kotler, decided to take her two children with her to give the topic a human face. While waiting to meet with Democratic Sen. Kim Jackson, who they had heard was a big supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, another senator passed by — Republican Sen. Carden Summers, the primary sponsor of the state’s bathroom ban bill. Little did he know that one of the children he would be interacting with, Aleix, 8 years old, was a transgender child.

According to Kotler and other families who were present, the senator stopped to say hello. That’s when Kotler spoke to Senator Summers about how she was there with her kids to “talk to legislators about keeping her kids safe.” Although she did not mention that one of her children was trans, they were present with LGBTQ+ signage - something the Senator apparently missed when he knelt down in front of Aleix and said, according to Kotler, “Well you know, we’re working on that and I’m going to protect kids like you.”

Kotler then replied, “Yeah - Alex is trans, and she wants to be safe at school, she wants to go to the bathroom and be safe.”

That is when, according to multiple witnesses, Sen. Summers stood up and fumbled his words, repeating, “I mean, yeah, I’m going to make sure she’s safe by going to the right bathroom,” continuing to use the correct pronouns for Aleix. When asked if he would make her go to a boy’s bathroom, he then allegedly backed away, saying, “You’re attacking me,” turned around, and walked off quickly.

read more: https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/georgia-senator-vows-to-protect-girl?publication_id=994764&post_id=141716994

  • @RamblingPanda@lemmynsfw.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    2104 months ago

    he then allegedly backed away, saying, “You’re attacking me,” turned around, and walked off quickly.

    Oh no, better run to the bathroom to cry. Attacked by an eight year old, that poor soul.

      • @JonEFive@midwest.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        384 months ago

        Exactly. “My opinion is different from your life experience, and by showing me that fact first hand, you have made me uncomfortable.”

        And as we all know, being uncomfortable because of another person is an attack. Irony of ironies, imagine how uncomfortable people must make that kid all the time, including this specific interaction.

    • FuglyDuck
      link
      fedilink
      English
      114 months ago

      And this is why we need a national safe storage laws.

      You really shouldn’t be storing guns in the bathroom!

      (/s. What a fucking coward.)

    • @Mac@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      10
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      He wasnt claiming to be attacked by the child but by the mother.

      Edit: It is an important distinction because it exemplifies that it is not the trans-nature of the child that he is claiming to be attacked by but by the mother pressing him to abide by his own claims of protecting children.

      • @CeruleanRuin@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        174 months ago

        Who gives a shit what he meant, he’s a fucking coward and hypocrite. He made it clear that he never for a moment cared about “protecting children”.

            • @Mac@mander.xyz
              link
              fedilink
              English
              1
              edit-2
              4 months ago

              I’m not understanding what’s making you so upset here.

              It is an important distinction because it exemplifies that it is not the trans-nature of the child that he is claiming to be attacked by but by the mother pressing him to abide by his own claims of protecting children.

  • @otp@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1994 months ago

    When asked if he would make her go to a boy’s bathroom, he then allegedly backed away, saying, “You’re attacking me,” turned around, and walked off quickly.

    LMAO

    Is he a moron, or is that a strategy? Lol

    • @CeruleanRuin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      83
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      He’s a coward, just like everyone else in his party. Afraid of a fucking child. His ancestors would be ashamed of him, and his descendants will disown him.

    • Flying Squid
      link
      fedilink
      English
      154 months ago

      “Will your bill do what it says?”

      “HOW DARE YOU!”

      And this is a legislator.

  • ThePowerOfGeek
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1764 months ago

    Brave Ser Summers ran away, Bravely ran away, away. When a child with questions to him was led, He bravely turned his tail and fled.

  • @givesomefucks@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1334 months ago

    When asked if he would make her go to a boy’s bathroom, he then allegedly backed away, saying, “You’re attacking me,” turned around, and walked off quickly.

    I mean, maybe we should just yell that at conservatives?

    Maybe it takes something so blunt for them to get it as hearing “you’re attacking me”.

    And if it doesn’t, I’m pretty sure that’s all you need to say to use stand your ground laws in red states.

  • Jo Miran
    cake
    link
    fedilink
    English
    121
    edit-2
    4 months ago

    “yOu’Re AaTtAcKiNg mEeee!!!”

    What a dipshit.

    • Echo Dot
      link
      fedilink
      English
      224 months ago

      It’s very easy to attack people like that, usually been within about 50 miles of them is enough. Everything you do is offensive to them including breathing. People that sensitive need to be in therapy.

    • @WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      154 months ago

      In response to an 8 year old existing.

      Given his fragility, cowardice, lack of self-assurance and failure to defend himself - all feminine traits (to these ghouls anyway) are we sure the good senator isn’t trans himself? He’s certainly not the picture of brave, confident masculinity.

      DeSantis wears high heels - I’m pretty sure Trump does too (though smaller) - projection indeed.

  • Poggervania
    link
    fedilink
    984 months ago

    Kid: “I’m trans.”

    Senator Carden Summers: “What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I’m the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the United States Marine Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little “clever” comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, kiddo.”

  • @Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    934 months ago

    What a fucking snowflake.

    Literally a word causes him to throw away his cause. Going to bet this dude would absolutely abandon his own children. Party of family values my ass.

  • The Snark Urge
    link
    fedilink
    English
    864 months ago

    You’re attacking me, my ass. See how easily they project? It’s not even a thought they have, they just exhale bullshit

    • @grue@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      88
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      It’s a gender thing, not a sex thing. You don’t have to hit puberty to know.

      What about you – did you know you were cis* by the time you were 8? Are you sure?

      If you could be that sure, why would a trans person be any different?

      (* making a statistically-likely assumption)

      • @jj4211@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        144 months ago

        I am not personally on board with the the “pick a gender to define your identity”, but there are several traits I embraced that would have been “trans”-y when I came into my own self. When I was 8 I rolled with others perception and assumed everyone around me was right and I should like aspire to be a man and reject anything not manly. This has reinforced cisgender identity in most people, but there’s one kid of a couple I knew who, as soon as they wanted to explore the question of gender identity, the parents went into full “I support my trans kid” and pushed their kid hard trans. They meant well, but kids are kids and shouldn’t be held too hard to their stated choices. Putting the kid on parade in a very visible political display limits their ability to “back out” if they choose.

        In short, I don’t think people should be told they “know” their gender status before they grow into themselves a bit more.

        • @elrik@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          24 months ago

          Putting the kid on parade in a very visible political display limits their ability to “back out” if they choose.

          This sounds very much like your own perception and has nothing to do with the kid. It’s the adults in the room politicizing things that should be complete non-issues: how the kid identifies, how certain they are, and whether either aspect changes over time.

    • @Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      664 months ago

      Did you not know your gender in 3rd grade? Some trans kids do too, especially now that there’s more awareness.

      8 years old is also an extremely low stakes age to be trans, because it’s literally just clothes, name/pronouns, and haircut differences at that age.

      • @Facebones@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        414 months ago

        My ex’s kid came out as trans to usat 11 or so, and like… Yeah. This is exactly the time to play with your sense of self when it doesn’t fuckin matter. We’ve been doing for generations, but all of a sudden feeling and wanting to present more masculine just gives everybody a fucking aneurysm.

        Never mind the people who have nothing better to do than go to war with children grew up with David Bowie and Eurythmics and shit. 🙄

        • @CeruleanRuin@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          174 months ago

          It’s so funny to me this new posturing of denial that kids can know their gender at a young age, when derogatory terms for this exact thing like “tomboy” and “sissy” have been around for generations. We have always known that some kids don’t act like their gender assigned at birth.

          The only thing that’s changed is that we now know that this is actually normal and healthy, not some pathological problem that can be “solved” through abuse and shaming.

          • @jj4211@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            104 months ago

            I understand, but I also thinnk things swing differently bad. If you imply a “tomboy” must be a man, because they like traditionally manly stuff, and a “sissy” should be a girl because they aren’t violent, well, that seems rough too.

            Also, people evolve. Fluidity should be the emphasis at that age.

            Heck, I’m not particularly on board that you should pick one and align your whole identity with your choice, whether that’s being cisgender as aggressively squishing down unfitting choices, or going trans and feeling compelled to leave all the traits of your physiological gender behind.

            • @Landsharkgun@midwest.social
              link
              fedilink
              English
              44 months ago

              Wow, what a concept! People could have a gender identity that doesn’t match traditional conceptions of ‘man’ or ‘women’! We could call it something like…‘non-binary’.

              /s

              Your concern trolling completely ignores points the LGBTQ+ community have already thought of and explictly accepted. Nothing you have to say points to any meaningful problem whatsoever. You’ve been posting this drivel all over the thread. Go elsewhere.

              • @Syrc@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                24 months ago

                You can also be cisgender and like things the other gender likes, you know. It’s not like every man who does ballet is trans or nonbinary.

            • @CeruleanRuin@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              14 months ago

              I don’t think it can be rigidly defined for everyone, nor should it be. Some people are fluid in that sense, some people aren’t.

      • @samus12345@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        8
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        especially now that there’s more awareness.

        I often think how wild it is that there was not a single (out) gay or trans kid in all my years in primary and secondary school (graduated in '94). I wonder now how many were and either didn’t understand it enough to know it or were (justifiably) afraid to be who they were.

        • @GroundedGator@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          34 months ago

          You’ve got a few years on me but this is very close to my thoughts whenever I hear someone decry the increase in youth who identify as LGBT+. Could it simply be more teens are more comfortable identifying because there is more acceptance?

          There is still a long way to go, but it is better than it was.

          I still know people my age who are hiding who they are sexually, in unhealthy or unsatisfying relationships, and that’s just those I know about.

          • @samus12345@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            34 months ago

            whenever I hear someone decry the increase in youth who identify as LGBT+

            First thing I think of is the sharp increase in left-handedness that happened once it was no longer stigmatized by society.

    • @radicalautonomy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      56
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      My youngest knew they weren’t a girl at age seven. They are 15 now and been very happy for the last four years using they/them pronouns and a chosen name.

      It was always possible that one day they’d have changed their mind…hell, their cousin is non-binary as well and used he/they pronouns and a male name for six years before reverting back to the name and gender she was assigned at birth (she’s 16 now).

      The important thing is to listen to your kids (and anyone who is trans, really) and trust that they know themselves infinitely better than you ever could. Let people tell you who they are, and believe them. They may refine their understanding of who they are at a later time, and you should believe them then, too. When someone decides to change their major, you don’t tell them “C’mon now…you’re a psychology major…you’ve always been a psychology major.” It’s not entirely dissimilar.

    • Lumelore (She/her)
      link
      fedilink
      English
      454 months ago

      I’m a trans woman and I started to express my self femininely when I was just a toddler. I grew up in a rural area where I was always told that I am a boy and that I will grow up into a man who will have a wife and many children. I genuinely had never heard of queer people until I was tween, when my peers started using gay as an insult. If I had been taught about queer people when I was a kid, I definitely would have realized that I am trans then, and I wish I had been because being raised as a boy when you are a girl is extremely traumatic.

      People can be born with all sorts of strange and terrible conditions, but somehow there are people who think babies can’t be born with a brain that is a different sex than their body. Either that or they think the body should take precedence over the brain which is insane considering only one of those is sapient.

      • @Plopp@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        174 months ago

        Just out of curiosity, how does a toddler express either femininely or masculinely?

        • @CeruleanRuin@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          11
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          Toddlers model behavior of the adults in their life. It can be as simple as whether they echo the behavioral quirks of the women more than the men, or vise versa.

          • @wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            5
            edit-2
            4 months ago

            Please be careful with this line of thinking, and don’t push children into one direction or the other.

            I spent more time in my early years with my mother due to my father traveling for work, so I naturally echoed her behavioral quirks more than his. I also showed a ton of interest in traditionally feminine toys and playsets. I had a baby doll and I’d play pretend parenting. I outright demanded a little play kitchen, back when all of them were clearly decorated/colored/coded “for girls”. I wanted and they got me a barbie doll, and I played a shit ton of dress up. Never was one for rough and tumble play, sports, climbing trees, etc. More in touch with my emotions than my peers and not afraid to show them.

            All that said, I’ve never had any issues with my own gender identity as a cis male. One of my earliest “writings” was “I’m going to be a dad” with a very scribbly drawing of a family.

            There’s another comment on this post about a mtf telling their parents that they were a butterfly and going to be a girl, at an early enough age that the commenter didn’t remember saying it.

            So kids can absolutely know, but we should be careful to never assume. If gender is a social construct, then we should also be working ourselves away from the idea that certain behaviors are masc or fem, not doubling down by saying they have any indication of a person’s gender/potential to be trans.

            • @CeruleanRuin@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              14 months ago

              Masculine and feminine are useful concepts with long roots in every culture on earth. The problem is when people impose a positive or negative connotation to them. It should be considered normal and healthy for someone who identifies on the male side of the spectrum to exhibit feminine traits, and so on.

              It’s just a conceptual framework that simplifies understanding. Our problems arise when we oversimplify, and forget that it is just an artificial construct we made up to explain our world.

        • Lumelore (She/her)
          link
          fedilink
          English
          84 months ago

          I have a few memories from when I was somewhere between 2 and 4. One is of my sister getting some makeup (I think it was eyeshadow) for Christmas and I remember being very interested in it and trying to put it on.

          Another is that I always loved hanging out in my sister’s room and I remember liking to watch her put on nail polish and I would always ask her a million questions about it while she was doing it. I also liked playing with my sisters old toys more than some of my own. My parents got me toy cars, dinosaurs, and that type of stuff, which I did play with occasionally, but my most played with toys were my sister’s old dolls.

          • @jj4211@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            84 months ago

            Growing up with an older sister, I did much of the same stuff. I don’t think those activities are limited to those that grow up to identify as “female”. I think it’s perfectly fine if an adult carries that over without having to declare themselves trans. Why shouldn’t a “guy” get to like makeup and a bit more interesting clothes and like tallking to girls about stuff that “guys” don’t talk about? If they think life is easier to go wholly into transgender once they tally up the totality of their existence, cool. But early life should be about flexibility and choices being open and not having to “pick a side”.

            • Lumelore (She/her)
              link
              fedilink
              English
              84 months ago

              I mean, be who you want. You can totally be AMAB and feminine and not be trans. I’m not telling people to “pick a side” or anything, just because we share similar experiences and I’m trans and you’re not (I assume), that doesn’t invalidate your existence or anyone else’s.

    • @Leviathan@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      44
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      I knew I was a boy and that I liked girls when I was 8 years old. I just project that same sense of identity I felt onto others and it becomes very easy to understand why others just know who and what they are and who and what they like. The world really needs a touch more empathy.

    • @RagingRobot@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      384 months ago

      Idk I think if someone kept telling me one thing and my experience was different I think I could tell something is up.

    • Mossy Feathers (They/Them)
      link
      fedilink
      English
      35
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      Some people just know at a young age. It’s a spectrum, so some people don’t experience dysphoria until puberty, some know when they’re very young, some don’t experience dysphoria and instead solely experience gender euphoria (in this context, euphoria from presenting as a gender other than their assigned gender at birth (AGAB)). It’s complicated and not well understood.

      • @Drivebyhaiku@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        64 months ago

        The puberty situation was my general experience… But I also didn’t really know trans people existed when I was young and my parents really didn’t enforce any kind of gender stereotype upon me at all. I also just didn’t care about clothes because my options were just hand me downs from my cousins. Aside from just feeling like my friends were somehow operating from a different playbook I had no clue.

        Then puberty hit. It registered as a mild body horror because I basically still passed but I couldn’t do the hand me downs anymore and I did some pretty unhealthy things like develop something of an eating disorder to avoid developing… I also started getting anxiety symptoms including heartburn so bad I thought I was literally dying. Life was generally so shit I didn’t where to try improving so I just clung on with my fingernails because I knew my death would destroy my family.

        I am glad that being trans is on the parental radar these days. It took me til I was 21 to figure out what was happening basically in a near complete vacuum of information pmuch less to figure out what to do. I often wonder where my experiences would have differed if I actually knew transness was a thing and at what age that realization would have happened.

    • @kttnpunk@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      26
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      8 is old enough to know a lot of things about yourself. Personally I knew I hated the idea of “being a man” at that age, i just wish i had realized sooner that growing into something else was a option. My mental health would certainly be about 1000x better if I had been able to transition then instead of as a overwhelmed, forsaken and misunderstood 19 year old…

    • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      214 months ago

      Most people know their gender about 2.5 years old. It is pretty impressive when you are parent and see that lightbulb click. One day they have no opinions at all about clothing or toys and the next day they do.

      • @jj4211@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        94 months ago

        Well, in some sense they know what they are supposed to be correlated with their physiology, but “gender identity” is a bit much, and it would be a mistake for someone to close the door on that question so early in life. Now I understand “but we use gendeered pronouns on 5 year olds, so obviously it’s not open ended”, and it’s not ideal that there is a default, but ultimately, that kid is way too young to commit to that position. There’s a whole lot of mental and physical development coming their way and they should be encouraged to keep an open mind, either way.

        • @Landsharkgun@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          44 months ago

          Once again, I will point out that people only have these concerns when somebody is trans, not when they’re cis.

          Also, do you think that a parent who is accepting of their kid being trans is going to be intolerant if the kid changes their mind? Of course not. No one is locking this kid into their gender identity; that’s the entire frickin’ point of the trans movement.

          Your ‘concerns’ are either extremely misguided or a shield for transphobia, so you should probably knock it off.

          • @jj4211@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            3
            edit-2
            4 months ago

            But aren’t some people concerned about folks oppressively pushing cisgender on their kids? Rightfully so, too.

            I don’t think the parents would be intolerant, I’m saying an eight year old may not have the maturity to recoginze, particularly if the parents made a huge production it of backing their coming out. For the same reason an 8 year old might be uncomfortable admitting they are trans, they may be uncomfortable after declaring trans to walk that back. Hell, I knew people who only felt comfortable admitting that wasn’t their life after all choice until college, because they were afraid of losing the social dynamic they constructed by walking back such a huge thing. I also knew people who clinged hard to “normal” until later, so it cuts both ways. My goal as a parent has been to make it clear that I will be supportive, but either choice should be “boring” and subject to change. Saying that to a currently cisgender child can change their mind and declare trans is likely considered progressive, but to make it clear that a trans person can change their mind would be transphobic.

            There’s no easy answer, I think so much of the world is pointlessly gendered (interests and activities that are arbitrarily divided by apparent happenstance of genitals). I wish it wasn’t the core of identity, that something as stupidly fundamental as pronouns didn’t have to be decided based on acceptance or rejection of your default physiology.

        • @Drivebyhaiku@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          1
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          Now… I am trans so this is my supposition and based on my discussions to cis people about the cis experience but I think there’s somethings that we actually assume about cis people.

          While some cis people seem to have a very solid gender identity that is in line with the tran experience of gender euphoria that seems actually kind of rare. I think a majority of cisness is actually defined by a lack of strong feelings about their body and their experience of gender. Their assumption of gender is simply the path of least resistance. Their experimentation when they have it is out of curiosity but it doesn’t really resonate.

          Do you think you would be upset at a foundational level if you woke up tomorrow in the body of the opposite sex and everyone had always known you as that way? Aside from maybe an uncomfortable adjustment of role and some interest in experiencing something different would you think that you would be terribly bothered? These sentiments can sometimes be construed as being a non-binary sort of thing - but the more I discuss the topic intimately with cis people to try and understand their experience the more that feels like the difference and particular advantage being cis represents. If you do not experience the pull and certainty of euphoria or dysphoria informing your cultural and biological needs that could be because what defines the majority of cis people is a fluidity and adaptability because of a near complete lack of preference rather than a preference that specifically matches a sex phenotype. Meanwhile transness can almost be defined as a surplus and rigidity of preference so we find ourselves trying to explain something like why we can’t easily force ourselves to choke down food we detest to someone who maybe doesn’t even experience taste.

          A trans gender identity isn’t exactly always subtly experienced. A correct gendering when you don’t expect it might literally make your week. Disgust at your own body can make you run past the bathroom mirror so you don’t have to look. It’s not so much an “keep an open mind” kind of deal. You get a pack of stimuli like something entirely independent has a shock and reward system hardwired into your brain and you don’t really control how you feel about it. When you talk about worrying about fluidity I think you are kind of concerned from the cis standpoint where being nebulous in gender is quite natural. From a trans community perspective we know we are on a journey where we are essentially learning the nature of the internal reward system. Our genders are reflections of that and we generally want to ditch whatever isn’t working and update our coping mechanisms to account for changes or if we realize we didn’t actually fully understand the exact nature of the trigger that was setting us off and can change our tactics accordingly to maximize functionality and happiness.

          To further the parable a kid might after years of hating olives so much they spit them out whenever they eat them decide to try them again to see if their tastes have changed… but it’s not on parents to keep putting olives on the kids plate for them to “keep options open” when the kid can basically decide at any point to just reach across a the table and get their own olives if they want them. Maybe the kid knows they don’t like olives because whenever they accidentally eat one it still tastes bad.

          If someone keeps trying to hand you something you know you don’t like and you keep having to passively or actively reject it… it can be really annoying and you generally stop wanting to be around that person.

      • @dandu3@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        44 months ago

        I mean, when I was a kid some girls toys looked fun. Like easy bake ovens, who wouldn’t want to eat food‽

    • @samus12345@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      17
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      Society drills gender roles into your head from birth. The more yours don’t match, the easier it is to tell at an early age.

    • @shea@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      174 months ago

      idk i didn’t find out until i was a grown ass adult who was sexually mature so i don’t understand how a kid could possibly know these things for sure

      • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        34 months ago

        I imagine it is a contrast issue is why you don’t understand. Which is fine.

        No one ever told me I am a fire squid wearing a human suit. Not once. If someone had decided to tell me at say 8 years old I am pretty confident I wouldn’t have been convinced. If you also asked 8 year old me if I was human I am pretty confident he would have said yes. If the world is telling you what agrees with your understanding of the world then you don’t even note it. It is a grass is green type statement. If however the world is telling you what you know to be false you will remember how strange this experience was.

        Makes sense now?

    • @ReiRose@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      164 months ago

      Gender identity is very dependent on external influence, such as society and language, but is usually well established by age five. I wish I had sources for you, but there was a study done on how gender use in native language influences awareness of gender. The more gendered words are present, such as in romance languages, the earlier gender identity is established.

      Eight year olds don’t need to know the definition of trans to know if they’re a girl or a boy (gender).

    • @CeruleanRuin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      134 months ago

      I understand that it is difficult to grasp when you have been indoctrinated to believe one thing that has turned out to not be true. Most people go through life never truly knowing the interior life of another person. But parents know their children.

      • @MojoMcJojo@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        324 months ago

        I agree with you that they are not interchangeable. A large swath of Christians are appalled by fascism.

        But, they have historically used each other for their own means, and that can be difficult to ignore. I think once again people are seeing the two get back together, and we all know how that relationship turns out.

      • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        244 months ago

        For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

        The Bible is very clear. Christianity is fundamentally anti-LGBT. Stop following it if you want to be a good person.

        • @CobblerScholar@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          204 months ago

          I’m not going to argue the point that homosexuality and at least the modern interpretation of the Christian faith are adversarial at best but the Bible is anything but clear on anything let alone LGBTQ. You quoted one of dozens of different English translations let alone any other language. Hell in one of the most popular translations, the King James Bible, the man had the word “tyrant” removed from it so the peasants wouldn’t get ideas

          • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            11
            edit-2
            4 months ago

            Completely disagree. The Bible is clear on almost nothing except the LGBT. All the games of translations won’t change the repeated commandments of the OT against the LGBT, the endorsement of the rules of Moses by Jesus, the repeated and clear statements by Paul, the +20 centuries of understanding of the meaning of those OT passages, or how Christianity has traditionally understood them.

            Yeah I quoted KJV. So what? Here is as many translations as you want

            https://biblehub.com/romans/1-26.htm

            Stop apologizing for the text, you know what it says. You know why Sodom was destroyed, you know why Jonathan’s “friend” was described as such, you know what Elijiah said about the destruction of Sodom, you know what Leviticus says twice about consensual LGBT relationships, you know what Deuteronomy says about the trans and what Leviticus says, you know what Paul said twice, you know what famous commentary writers like Philo said, and you know that Jesus consistently supported the sexual norms of his culture and argued they didn’t go far enough.

            I did the same thing you did when I was finding my way out of religion. “It wasn’t really slavery”, “it wasn’t really genocide”, “it wasn’t really anti-gay”,… I didn’t want to believe what was right on the page. The Abrahamic religions have been clear and are still clear to this day about what their texts say. They are irredeemably hateful.

            • @CobblerScholar@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              34 months ago

              You misunderstand. I think the Bible in any form we can understand it in today is utterly meaningless and is impossible to apply practically to any situation regardless of context. It can’t be used by bigots to justify their hatred of any given minority and it can’t be used to globally define the Christian ethos.

              • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                74 months ago

                But it is used. This is not on me. They are the ones dragging this book into our time. All I am doing is pointing out what the book actually says.

                Sure you can make the argument that the Bible is a product of Christianity and not a blueprint for it. Hence the text does not have to be followed and you can still be a Christian. Now who is making that argument? I certainly have never heard anyone who identified as a Christian make it. The very closest are the Catholics who at least are willing to admit the text isn’t perfect which is really not in the same ballpark.

                Live by the sword die by the sword right? Ok well they have made their religion about their book. I didn’t tell them to do that, they choose that. So turns out the book is shit. What does that make their religion?

          • @cheese_greater@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            64 months ago

            What is the field or area of inquiry that focuses on in inconsistencies like that? What is him removing the word tyrant reprrsentative of in terms of a field that exists to root out that kinda bullshit?

            Like biblical scholasticism or like what focuses on examining the original language primary text and comparing the authenticity/integrity of the translated comparison target?

            • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              54 months ago

              Textual analysis is the blanket term. There isn’t really primary text, there are a bunch of slightly different ones that get combined together. What’s more the process seems to have started way in the beginning. The first gospel shows signs of being multiple texts/traditions that were combined.

            • @David_Eight@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              44 months ago

              I don’t think the Bible was even written down or at least there aren’t any surviving copies from that time. This seems to be the oldest copy of the Bible, it’s in Greek and from the fourth century. So it’s already been translated and it’s from at least 300 years after Jesus died. So we’ll never really know what “the original Bible” said.

          • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            74 months ago

            Given that he never existed I am positive of that. At most he could only “know” me in the sense the Easter Bunny could. You know, not at all.

            Now instead of talking about me why don’t you address what I said? Might be more fruitful

            • @tehlaughing1@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              24 months ago

              I think I responded to the wrong poster. I meant to say that to the person saying (falsely) that the Bible condemns queerness.

              Have they never heard of David and Johnathan? Does Jesus taking twelve men and washing their feet mean nothing? Was John not the Beloved disciple?

              I am a queer Catholic, and it deeply angers me when people believe that the two are mutually exclusive. The current wave of LGBT hatred (in the USA, at least) started with the Evangelical church in the 1940’s. It is not some ancient and infallible dogma.

              Forgive me for causing you anger, I spoke only to gently admonish and correct the sinner.

              • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                34 months ago

                The Bible does condemn being LGBT.

                Have they never heard of David and Johnathan?

                Sure and why doesn’t the Bible say explicitly what their relationship was?

                Does Jesus taking twelve men and washing their feet mean nothing?

                Means nothing. Clearly a call back to the references in the OT of the same act.

                Was John not the Beloved disciple?

                And?

                The current wave of LGBT hatred (in the USA, at least) started with the Evangelical church in the 1940’s. It is not some ancient and infallible dogma.

                The Catholic Church had literal torture devices specifically for male homosexuals.

                I think if you scroll up you will see a decent breakdown of all the references to homosexuality in the Bible, but if you want you can just look at what Paul said twice.

                Forgive me for causing you anger, I spoke only to gently admonish and correct the sinner.

                No worries. Save you some time I have been an open atheist since 2018.

                • @tehlaughing1@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  14 months ago

                  Hatred begets hatred.

                  I spoke to inform both the believer and the non-believer.

                  There are Christians in this world who have taken Christ’s words to heart and strive to live in His image daily. This way of living inevitably leads to compassion.

                  There is the Church of Peter, and the Church of John.

                  The Church of Peter is the Earthly institution that instructs the faithful and leads to a life filled with Love.

                  The Church of John is the Church of the Beloved disciple who put his head on Christ’s chest and listened to the heartbeat of the One who Created Love.

                  These two Churches are present in all people, at all times, throughout history. They shall never fail, as long as there is suffering in the world. This is why the faithful call them eternal.

                  When these two Churches are in harmony in the soul of the individual, and in the soul of the World, there is harmony. When they are in disharmony in the soul of the individual and the soul of the world, there is chaos.

                  Christ has Illuminated the soul of this individual, and there is only harmony.

                  This harmony is available to all, whether Jew or Greek, male or female, believer or non-believer.

                  Forgive me for being unclear in my communication, and I pray your soul knows this peace.

          • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            74 months ago

            Well I don’t see that but it really doesn’t matter. “and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

            Paul wasn’t a top thinker. Even when it seems to occur to him that if God is the architect of all things no one can be punished for doing the wrong thing he just invokes the devilish forces (that God allows to operate) to step in. His conception of free will and judgement are not complicated they just aren’t thought out very well.

  • moosetwin
    link
    fedilink
    English
    664 months ago

    Imagine having to be that kid, someone saying they’ll protect you and then accusing you of attacking them for part of yourself that you have no control over

      • @Schmoo@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        24
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        They were there waiting to meet a Democratic supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, and did not seem to be seeking confrontation. Even the way the mother spoke to the Republican senator was about as non-confrontational as you could get, so I don’t see any evidence the mother is putting the kid in any situation she can’t handle. I’m sure the kid is glad to show up in support of her rights, and very much doubt she will regret doing so later.

        Save your cynicism for when it’s appropriate.

        • @dlpkl@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          34 months ago

          The article states that they went to the legislative building to lobby politicians. While they were waiting to meet a democratic senator, this interaction took place. It doesn’t say anywhere in the article that they went with the express intent to only interact with said democrat. But whether you’re meeting allies or opponents, it’s the same shit. You’re using children as tools.

          • @stoned_ape@lemmy.world
            cake
            link
            fedilink
            English
            24 months ago

            If those children are representative of the oppressed group, shouldn’t they also have a voice and a face?

            Emmet Till’s mother was just using his death as a tool by your logic.

      • @Godwins_Law@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        64 months ago

        Fair criticism, but ultimately this needs to be fought. The simple hypocrisy that was shown just by the child’s presence needs to be highlighted.

        • @DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe
          link
          fedilink
          English
          10
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          It isn’t, and everyone that read the beginning of the article knows they were there to meet someone else.

          The goose-stepping goon made a completely unforced error to try and turn them into props.

          • VaultBoyNewVegas
            link
            fedilink
            English
            64 months ago

            Then fucking comes back with more bs. I wish these twats would actually just say the quiet part out loud instead of pussyfooting around trying and failing to be clever with their agenda pushing.

  • @Zirconium@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    644 months ago

    Sounds like two neurons in his brain actually met for once and he felt empathy for someone he knew he was too young to understand why she’s getting fucked over by her government.

    • Deceptichum
      link
      fedilink
      47
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      It doesn’t sound like that at all, at any point in the story?

      Sounds like he he thought he could score a quick lil’ political win with the group of families, before realising she was the target his hate, and expressing his bigotry to the child before fucking off.

      • @Zirconium@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        24 months ago

        Well I meant to say but forgot. That the empathy he felt turned into confusion and then anger and then he rubber banded back to his bigotry where he feels safe

    • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      464 months ago

      I disagree. He saw the danger of him standing there when someone could take a pic. That is why he bravely screamed out at the 8 year old girl to stop attacking him.

    • @jj4211@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      154 months ago

      Nah, it wasn’t empathy, it was a photo-op. He could be seen “caring” about the plight of kids who feel unsafe in school (his assumption was almost certainly school shooting). So he was there to vaguely promise to make schools safer, presumably by having fewer doors, since that is what causes school shootings evidently.

  • @Sanctus@lemmy.world
    cake
    link
    fedilink
    English
    47
    edit-2
    4 months ago

    Thats the thing about these people. I have a trans coworker and they wont dare use the wrong pronoun for her while it can reach HR’s ears. Go ahead, say what you want to say don’t hide it now. They hide behind legislation and screens.