Oh boy, a GC said that trans rights is a cult.

Let's analyze this using the BITE model, which I learned about from @gm_skeptic

B - behavior control
I - information control
T - thought control
E - emotional control

Transmedicalists and GCs are a cult, trans advocacy is not. https://twitter.com/athornehere/status/1255112793696714752

Let's start with B, behavioral control

GCs do this in one primary way - thou shalt not medically transition.

Transmedicalists, on the other hand, assert that you *must* medically transition or you don't get to sit with the cool kids.

Inclusive Trans Advocacy, as I'll be calling it from here out, embraces that nobody should be pressured in any way to do or not do anything with their bodies. They should get to make the decision that's right for them and not feel the need to "prove" their gender.

Information control,

Not really applicable to any of these groups, TBH, it's all taking place online where - what are they gonna do, take away your phone?

An alternative use of I is identity control, though, that's a bit more useful here...

Cults require you to adopt and internalize an identity of being part of that group, "a member of the family", etc, and assert that they can and should dictate who you are and how you are allowed to identify,

So, let's see:

Transmedicalists are interesting because their model is conditional.

Either you get or pursue medical transition, in which case you "get to" be trans, or you don't and you don't "get to" be trans.

Next, we have GCs,

Who insist that you must identify with your birth sex, end of story.

That is, in fact, identity control, no matter how much they dress it up as "biological fact" or "living in reality"

Gender isn't just your body, it's how you relate to your body, how you relate to cultural ideas about sex and gender,

And asserting that one cannot experience gender is the next two letters combined, Thought control and Emotional control.

Meanwhile, Inclusive Trans Advocacy says that your gender identity is valid as long as it comes from an authentic place. You're free to self reflect and decide for yourself what gender means to you, how to describe it, and how to express it.

To see an example of this, do a Twitter search for "Don't owe you Masculinity", and the same for femininity and Androgyny.

The OPPOSITE of control.

T, thought control,

Transmedicalist and GCs both assert that they're all about "biological reality" while asserting unfalsifiable claims, most iconically, "you can't change your sex"

I've get to see a definition of sex that is fundamentally immutable.

This is used ad nauseum to assert that being trans is just a delusion, a pipedream,

While also asserting that it's what every trans person wants and what every trans person must do in order for their identity to be valid.

It's not.

"You can't change your chromosomes"

Yeah and nobody gives a shit about chromosomes except GCs and transmedicalists. All else held constant, the chromosomes themselves don't impact your life. Their meaningful effects are all downstream, and if that stream is redirected...

Then the chromosomes are basically irrelevant.

The closest argument that can be made on thought control of ITA is that "trans women are women" is thought control.

Which, 1) it's not so much a thought control as a boundary, asserting that identity is to be respected,

And 2, see "trans women are men" from GCs.

Next to, emotional control.

The entire point of ITA is emotional freedom. The "you are valid" line that gets repeated, ad nauseum if you don't understand why it's so prevalent, is to undo internalized emotional control.

"You are valid" is to remind people that they're not obligated to feel any specific way, not based on your biology, not based on what labels you currently use or have used.

Meanwhile, GCs are happy to insist that disphoria is an illusion...

And if you have a gender identity and a sense of self that conflicts with what it "ought" to be, then you are required to label it in certain ways and address it in certain "correct" ways.

Pretty clear emotional control, IMO.

And how could I forget,

Any movement that continually resorts to set definitions of cultural words like "man", "woman", "marriage", is attempting to use thought control over words and their use.

Gay rights advocates were told that they were "trying to change the definition of marriage", which relies on the premise that there is a single set definition of what those words mean to people.

marriage can mean different things to different people, that's healthy and valid.

So, by the BITE model, GCs are much closer to a cult than ITAs, and transmedicalists imo aren't far behind.

I don't think any of these are anywhere near actual Jonestown cult status, that would be absurd, but the model is still useful for identifying toxic group behaviors.

And if you got through all of that, here's some pictures of my cats.

Kitty says Trans Rights!