LogFAQs > #890120745

COVxy posted...

Last i checked on this board, people were going on about how transgendered person was offensive as well. Come off it and stop distracting from the actual conversation.

@COVxy Change begins with kindness, and with humanization.

It's not about distracting from the conversation, or bludgeoning you over the head for being offensive... It's just a helpful piece of advice for people like you who are already advocating for their cause.

It's important to humanize people. Calling transgender people "people" has been show to have a subtle psychological effect on people's attitudes, causing them to be less tribal in their thinking... Words are powerful like that, they can affect what's going on inside people's brains in ways that aren't obvious. Something as minor as saying "transgender people" can make anti-trans people slightly more receptive, more accepting, more persuadable. Conversely, calling them "transgendered" reinforces the fact that they're different, which has an alienating effect.

Moreover, it's a simple human kindness... Why not make a minor change if it doesn't effect you, and can help make other people feel less alienated? It's a simple thing we can do to increase the happiness quotient of the world.