It is quite rare to get into a meaningful discussion with a trans activist; if you are finding it frustrating it is probably because they are not really engaging in debate. Most of the attacks on Twitter consist of twisting language – using one definition of trans at one point, and another in a different place, or using the word “woman” to mean something other than adult human female – some will even use “female” to mean “having adopted a feminine presentation”. Just keep plugging away at the illogicality.
A very common technique to avoid debate is to use a “thought-terminating cliche“. This is a brief, reductive label you can stick on something, and which end thought on the subject at hand. For example, “transwomen are women”. In the case of many of the trans activists’ responses, this will be accompanied by a hashtag – #nodebate or #TransRightsAreHumanRights, for example. Others will repeat every cliche several times – five seems to be the magic number but while we have 280 characters, why not do more?
The thought-terminating cliche was (as the linked article above suggests) a common technique among totalitarians. Makes you wonder where they got their playbook.
Of course, the aim is to get you to either give up, or to say something that they can get you banned for saying (which is almost anything). Make sure you protect your Twitter account.
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