I pretty much agree with everything you said. I prefer this community because of the diversity of viewpoints and opinions. I’m not a radfem. I’m not anti-radfem though. I think they do a lot of good issue-spotting, and they opened up my eyes to the rot that is liberal (not) feminism. I’m gender critical-aligned, but not pure gender critical. In general, I don’t adhere to any particular ideology but I like to expose myself to different schools of thought.

Politically, I’m liberal. A real one. Not a woke drone or mob member. Unfortunately the genderism thing has made me realize how many self-styled liberals in the west are not who I thought they were. Suddenly, conservative criticisms of liberals started to make more sense. But no, I’m not conservative because I still have liberal values. I’m just not into identity politics, authoritarianism, language manipulation, devolving everything into isms and phobias, or the bastardized intersectionality cult. I do believe that things like sexism, homophobia, and racism are real and complex issues. I don’t believe in focusing on petty micro shit. I used to get sucked into these purity spirals but no more, and the gender/trans issue really did help me break out of it.

I frame my thinking under the idea that “we still need to live in a society.” I don’t expect everything to be exactly fair, but I do think governments should look out for gross injustices and do real analysis about why that is and work on plans for moving forward.

On phobias, I don’t believe at this point that transphobia exists as its own separate issue from sexism and homophobia. I also don’t think somebody and especially a child radically changing their body is a positive thing or neutral outcome. It should be seen as a last resort and not an option for children at all. With adults, they can do what they want, but I shouldn’t be expected to pretend that what they’re doing is healthy and normal. It’s extreme. That is why I do appreciate Blaire White’s and Buck Angel’s perspectives. There is very valid criticism of them, but they don’t pretend like transition is something people should casually do. They are concerned about medical risks. Those voices are needed IMO if we want to build momentum.

On being gay in this climate, this sub keeps me sane. I feel like an island IRL. I have to hide how I feel about so many things around gay people. It sucks because I’m not unattractive, I have a good job, good income, and am highly educated, but I feel like there’s no dating pool for me. I’m into some but not a lot of “gay culture.” I’m liberal but not woke. I believe in a lot of feminist principles, but I’m not radfem and fucking hate liberal feminism. I’m gender critical aligned, but personally I do exhibit a lot of stereotypical femininity. I wear makeup, I do my hair, I like getting dressed up. Not every day but I do find this stuff fun. And I don’t feel like ascribing any meaning to it and defining myself over it on the one hand, or being shamed for it on the other hand.

Where are the homosexual and bisexual normies???