Taking a look at phobia indoctrination in the trans community

^This is called phobia indoctrination. Phobia indoctrination instills irrational fears in members of a controlling community and uses those fears to manipulate members, discouraging or preventing them from questioning the group's beliefs or leaving the group.

Here's what phobia indoctrination looks like in the trans community:

- Telling community members that anyone who questions gender identity or transition (even if from a place of genuine care and concern) hates them, 'denies their existence,' or even wants them dead. This pushes community members, especially vulnerable kids just learning how to navigate the world, to cut themselves off from friends and loved ones who may question or contradict the trans community, or may simply fail to follow elaborate and often bizarre protocols trans communities lead young members to expect.

- Creating the false impression of a trans murder epidemic, which binds members to the trans community and increases their fear of the outside world out of all proportion to actual risk.

- Inflating suicide risk and presenting transition as the only alternative to suicide when it comes to dealing with gender dysphoria. This increases desperation to transition and suppresses any questions or doubts a person may have about the decision.

- Vilifying and attacking detransitioners as traitors and existential threats to the community, thus demonstrating to current members of the trans community exactly what will happen to them if they step out of line.

- Teaching community members to bury their own questions and doubts by labeling any uncertainty about gender identity, transition, or community dynamics as manifestations of "internalized transphobia."

The result? Community members gripped by irrational fears (including the fear of freely following their own thoughts); alienated from the outside world by bizarre protocols and unreasonable expectations; constantly self-policing to avoid running afoul of doctrine.

No healthy, open, supportive community seeks to terrify and control its members like this. These are the marks of a manipulative group exercising destructive influence over its most vulnerable members.

A healthy, open, supportive trans community would not look or sound like the trans community we've got. It would be honest about the risks trans people face, rather than wildly inflating those risks to instill fear.

It would foster resilience and self-sufficiency in trans-identifying youth, rather than telling kids that anyone who disagrees with their worldview hates them or that exposure to "misgendering" or “dead-naming” can lead to suicide.

It would accept that transition doesn't work for everybody and that there are legitimate reasons to detransition and exit the community.

It wouldn't seek to drive a wedge between trans-identifying youth and their family members or friends who sincerely want the best for them but wonder whether transition is the right answer.

It would invite ethical research into transition outcomes and alternatives—rather than trying to shut down inquiry—because trans-identifying people deserve the best care available, not just the most ideologically-compliant 'care.'

And it would encourage young people to explore their questions and doubts openly—recognizing transition as a serious undertaking—without fear of censure or expulsion from the group.