Stop. You're Hurting Me.

I hate that I have to say this, but apparently I do:

• Every time you point at a transwoman and say "That's a man!", you do it to me. 
• Every time you mock a transperson for not being attractive enough, you mock me. 
• Every time you body-shame a transperson who is trying to find peace inside their own skin, you body-shame me. 

We can have all sorts of productive and necessary discussions on such subjects as How young is too young to start hormone replacement therapy? or How do we solve the dilemma of biological males dominating girls' sports?, and I welcome those discussions. 

But if your first impulse is to quote Austin Powers, STOP. You are hurting people. You are hurting me.

Now I realize some of you are wondering Why do you care what other people think? or They want to hurt you, why are you letting them know they're succeeding? and I need to tell you that I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this because I have people who are (or at least claim to be) my friends who are nevertheless making cruel anti-trans comments on social media. My judgement is that if I say "You shouldn't do this, it's not right" then they aren't likely to listen to me, because no one likes to be lectured on morality. 

However, if I say "You say you are my friend. Every time you do this, you hurt me. Please stop hurting me," then hopefully, they will see the consequences of their actions as it affects someone they know and will stop doing it. If they still won't stop, then they've just proven they aren't really my friends anyway, and I can remove them from my life with the fist of an angry god. 

In conclusion, because most of the hardest-core anti-transgender people are Christian, I leave you with the words of Jesus Christ Himself:

Matthew 25:31-46: The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”