hey y'all today i wanna talk about a couple fakers I've met throughout my life (bear with me)
for context (bear with me), I've been physically disabled and a mobility aid user for a few years, and I've been out as transmasc for even longer than that
my senior year of high school, there was this kid a year below me called Brendon. he was transmasc, went by he/him. his parents supported him all the way through, and talked to the school to change his name on the role, even though he hadn't changed his legal name. the only person who didn't respect it was the gym teacher, and Brendon's friends would give her hell for that. he had a classic baby trans haircut and would wear a rainbow binder. he would dress so masc I didn't even know he was trans until he started coming to GSA meetings, and we got to talking. Brendon was a happy, safe, trans kid.
Last year, I went back for a school function, and found out Brendon had gone back to using her birth name and pronouns. she grew out her hair, though she still dresses like she used to. her friends still love her very much, and she still looks very much happy. I didn't talk to her that much, but she looked great, even sang with the music club. she is a happy, safe, non-trans kid.
my first semester at college, I met Jack (this one is a fake name). Jack had recently started using a cane for chronic pain, and he confided in me (as disabled people tend to gossip during elevator rides) that it had been a hard adjustment, socially and physically speaking, but that he really saw an improvement in his quality of life. a month or so into the semester, he stopped coming to class with his cane, started walking back with his roomate and not taking the elevator. I don't know if he found out a cane wasn't a good solution for him, he found a better treatment plan, or he couldn't deal with the social and physical consequences of a mobility aid. but he stopped using his cane.
you know how my life was affected by these "fakers"? in absolutely no fucking way. the people who were weird to me about being transmasc were also weird to Brendon, and were even weirder to her when she detransitioned. the guy who used to ride the elevator with me and be super invasive about my disability was also super icky to Jack, and made quite a few unkind remarks about him that he though I, "as a real disabled person", would agree with (I did not.)
"fakers" are most times better described as people who are questioning. and they'll never be as harmful to communities as people who feel the need to gatekeep and question every single detail of another person's life.