Unsure if this is the best heading to post this under, but here goes.
So, up here in Canada our government, in all its wisdom, enacted Bill C-16 which amends the human rights act to include gender identity and expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination. I've been having many (lively) conversations and debates about the matter, mostly precipitated by Jordan Peterson's opposition to it, as it compels speech for nothing more than an ideology, a first in Canadian history.
Now, the act doesn't explicitly state that speech can be compelled, but the effect is just that: if you don't refer to someone by their preferred pronoun (and there's tons of them), you can be accused of discrimination. An LGBT activist is quoted as saying that NOT referring to them with their prefered pronoun is an act of violent abuse.
Am I wrong in thinking we're losing our collective minds? This bowing to a vocal minority for the sake of political correctness once again has the tail wagging the dog.
A closely related issue is gender fluidity and the tossing out of basic science, biology, and pharmacology, which all adhere to the truths of binary sex identification. The new social justice warriors in this subject state that sexual difference between male and female are nothing more than a social construct; that we're all the same, and can "identify" with whatever sex we want.
It's all so filled with logical fallacies and outright denial of science. There are over 1,600 genetic differences between males and females, many of which are leveraged by pharmaceutical treatments of some diseases such as lupus.
Open for discussion.
What a shit show. I put this here to discuss, not get trampled on. Wow.
So to those who deny science and will not acknowledge our sexual binary nature, watch this video by Debra Soh, who has a PHD in sex studies.
@PalacinkyPDX Very interesting, thanks for sharing (yes, I read them all). The author is biased, but does bring up valid points if the data backs her up. By that I mean, there seems to be contradictory research, so - it would be appropriate for Dr. Soh to publish a rebuttal in order to compare apples to apples (regarding said research findings). It's over my head, and I won't pretend to judge what data is invalid and what is. It's noteworthy that she (Soh) does mention some research that is poor and flawed in this area.
So, is Zinnia Jones a sex researcher with a PHD? No. Is she aware of all the research out there? Who knows. I think Dr. Soh may pretty well have a leg up on a blogger in this realm, but if she is totally out to lunch, then let's see all her research, and the hoards of research she quotes be dismissed.
It's okay - I have time to wait...
You are wrong. Incorrectly gendering someone after being informed of the correct pronoun is rude and abusive. I am not even trans and I will tell you that when I have to exert authority over men, they often call me "Sir" as an insult. It is unnaceptable behaviour and is it REALLY that goddamn hard to use a correct pronoun? Like you're just gonnnaaaaa diiiieeee because you have to not call someone something they find offensive? Old fart broflakes man, you people fucking kill me.
I doubt if you make an honest error and accept being informed anything will happen, however if you are the kind of nasty fathead who continues to refer to someone as a (pejorative word) after being correctted, you need to do jail time Plus a hefty fine, too bad so sad.
And why does your post about this strike me as truculent?