The College Fix

The contradiction at the heart of the LGBTQIA+ coalition is that its members like to cluster among themselves – like any so-called affinity group – and yet try to force their narrow interests suddenly on a society that is more slowly evolving toward supporting them.

This is well illustrated by a Daily Texan story about a transgender student at UT-Austin, Audrey Ferguson, whose “preferred name” change hasn’t gone through yet, so everyone in class knew she was biologically male from the first roll call:

“People view being trans as a bad thing or a sad thing, so people behave toward you nicely, in a pity aspect,” Ferguson said. “It sets that up in your classes to be your identity. It also creates that issue, where if someone wants to know something, they go to you because you’re the only trans person they know. A lot of people don’t want to talk about that.”

That’s right – being nice to so-called marginalized people, who have changed their identity precisely to be recognized publicly as who they feel innately, makes them feel more marginalized, according to Ferguson. Because people notice and make accommodations for their self-chosen differences.

The school provides a “case by case” process to accommodate students who are uncomfortable with the lack of “gender-inclusive housing” in UT’s residence halls, but accommodation is apparently a microaggression.

Ferguson herself recognizes the contradiction, saying how glad she was to find a group where she could self-segregate and then demanding a university-wide re-education plan – through orientation or required classes – so she feels less awkward:

“[Change] is not just a UT issue — it’s a social issue,” Ferguson said. “Typically the information that’s provided is for the people who are seeking it out, which is not enough. We need to educate a wider public so it addresses the actual social issues.”

Read the story.

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