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Haven't seen a thread yet on the gay bar shooting last weekend so I figured I would start it.
Sticking to facts in this post, opinion will go in reply.
The shooter killed 5 and injured 25
The shooter is a 22 year old, Anderson Lee Aldrich
The shooter previously was charged after he threatened his mother with homemade explosives and kidnapped her, but the charges were dropped
The shooter is the grandson of a prominent local Republican
The shooter was stopped by a drag queen combat veteran, who used his high heels to stomp him
Are adult men using a gay party drug with a 12 year old boy grooming him? You've written a long post very carefully not saying anything specific and insinuating that any opposition to these specific things is just enforcing victorian morality.
Why is this? If there is nothing wrong with the specific behavior of these activists, why avoid mentioning it?
I think the problem is when the pink haired lady gets a job as high school counsellor and assures students that if they want, the school will adopt their new pronouns and new name and keep it all secret from their parents, and when communicating with their parents will use their deadname, but don't worry, we know who you really are.
The argument is that this is necessary to protect vulnerable young people from abusive parents who would harm them if they found out their kid was trans. The trouble is, that "this is a special secret just between us and your parents will never know" is also the kind of behaviour that, yes, groomers engage in. 'I am the sympathetic adult who really understands you, and this topic of sexuality is a secret between us, and sure your parents would be very angry with you if they found out, so it will be a secret between you and me'.
It's definitely a valid concern. But opponents of such programs/behavior also refuse to offer any other solutions for the child who expresses concerns of abuse from their parents. This has to go both ways. Any reasonable adult would want to protect a child from abuse and would take reasonable steps to do so. "Pink haired ladies" came up with one solution and it's not perfect. But I have yet to hear any reasonable alternative solution for other side of this coin either.
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