Introducing the new TaraElla Project
Why We Need a Space to Freely Discuss the Most Controversial Trans Issues
A few years ago, I started talking and writing about trans issues again, after pretty much not speaking publicly about trans issues for nearly a decade. Having 'observed' several 'generations' of trans writers, bloggers and vloggers come and go, to fade away from the trans discussion over time seems like an inevitable development. For some people, there is a desire to just move on with life after some point in their transition. For many others, trans issues just don't seem so relevant to their lives anymore, and they naturally fade away from the discussion over time. I guess the truth is, once trans people have left the 'active transition' phase behind, it really takes an effort to keep engaging with trans news and trans issues all the time. I guess that's why the trans discourse is mostly filled with the voices of people who came out relatively recently.
The reason I re-entered the debate, around 2018, was because I had become really concerned about where the discussion around trans issues was heading. From what I saw, the trans discourse had become very polarized. People on both sides were developing a rather 'black and white' view on various issues, and echo chambers on both sides were reinforcing these views all the time. In many cases, people were talking, or rather, shouting past each other. People were also losing sight of the common reality they shared, as pseudo-science and questionable philosophy alike replaced actual science in arguments wherever someone felt it suited them. In other words, the whole discussion over trans issues was beginning to look like a real trainwreck, and as a trans person, I became very concerned about what our future would look like.
I believe that participating in the marketplace of ideas is the only effective way of making a change in the discourse. Over the past three to four years, I offered my point of view on various trans issues, and trans-related developments that were prominent in the news. I also engaged with the philosophy behind the flawed arguments that have come to have a prominent place in the trans discourse. I tried to bring people together to find common ground, to inject the science and empiricism back into the debate, and to come up with new insights to resolve the stalemate between the two sides. I love engaging in conversation with people over these things, and going forward I will certainly be doing more of what I have been doing.
However, I still think that something is missing. Let's face it: one main reason why the trans discussion has gotten so heated is because there are certain controversial issues that don't seem to be resolvable. The reason why they are 'unresolvable' is because there is no room for the necessary discussion to take place. To resolve difficult issues requires serious discussion, where people are allowed to freely 'brainstorm' and test ideas, make honest mistakes again and again, and so on. The problem with the current trans discourse is that it is mostly confined to two echo chambers, where this kind of free thinking is not really possible.
The first echo chamber is the 'pro-trans' echo chamber, where the slightest hint of offense towards trans people is often cause for cancellation. This means that anyone trying to come up with a compromise in good faith could be seen as 'transphobic' in some way. Logically, not many people would be willing to do this. This dynamic leads to a situation where all we see in so-called 'pro-trans' circles is repeated virtue signalling, that ultimately does nothing to resolve the stalemate or actually help trans people in any way. In other words, this echo chamber is 'pro-trans' in theory but not in practice.
The second echo chamber is essentially an 'anti-trans' echo chamber, made up of publications and media outlets that are often theoretically pro-free speech, but practically feature mostly voices that are skeptical of trans identity and trans rights in some way. I'm not saying that these views should be censored, I truly don't believe in censorship. But a 'free speech' platform that is so tilted to one side of the debate, that audiences practically expect to hear that side's arguments over and over again (and even react in a hostile way to pro-trans arguments) is essentially nothing but an anti-trans echo chamber. Even more concerning is the fact that widely debunked theories like the 'Blanchard typology' is often treated like established fact in these places, with essentially no counter argument represented. Again, there is no scope for testing possible compromises in these places, because the common expectation is almost like 'just say no to trans rights'. (I also believe this example shows us why a truly pro-free speech platform also needs to provide a balance of perspectives from all sides, but that's a topic for another day.)
I believe that, without at least seriously attempting to resolve the practical issues at the heart of the conflict, there is no way we can truly calm the conflict down, or end the stalemate that is preventing reform that would benefit trans people. Bringing empirical and scientific arguments are good, as is debating the philosophy behind various viewpoints, and these things do help people find common ground to a certain extent. But there is really no getting around what has gotten people worked up in the first place. Therefore, going forward, The TaraElla Project will be a forum where the practical issues at the heart of the conflict can be openly discussed, with a particular emphasis on the need to come up with solutions to break the stalemate. I intend to experiment with various formats in the coming weeks and months, to see which format is best for getting the conversation going.