what im about to say is the kind of thing transphobes would take and twist into something evil bc they think being trans is the worst thing you can be. but here is a thing i have been thinking about in relation to the age-old questions of “but what if some trans kids change their mind” or “but what if some cis kids get confused”:
a world where children are taught that trans people exist and, crucially, that it’s okay to be trans, is also going to be a world where some cis children question their genders, experiment with transition, and later realize what they were assigned at birth is correct for them. these children might never have thought twice about gender had they not know about transness.
to me, this is a good thing, and not something to be “afraid” of—because a world where cis children can question their assigned genders, identify as trans for a while, and then change their minds and return to being cis, is also a world where trans children are provided the language and support to access who they truly are. this would be a world where it is okay for children to be different, to question, to learn more about themselves and the the people around them.
this would not be a “negative side effect” of trans liberation and trans visibility - it would be a sign of a healthy society, one that values children’s autonomy over their bodies while giving them the space to learn and grown on their own terms.
