When I Almost Became Skeptical of My Own Stance on Trans Issues (But Not Quite)

What does it take to change one's mind?

So there was this interesting podcast recently called The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling that interviewed Rowling and explored all the controversies around her — mainly some people condemning her for asserting biological sex is meaningful.

Now, a big theme of it was “What if you’re wrong?” seemingly aimed at Rowling but also at her often hateful critics. The podcast host was Megan Phelps-Roper, who grew up in the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, intensely believed in its doctrine, but later left that church. And it is quite a question of what it would take to convince you away from something you intensely believe.

Anyway, if I were to characterize a bias in the podcast, I do think it leaned more to Rowling’s side as most of her critics came off as angry and irrational. It did, though, spend one whole episode — episode 6 — interviewing two trans people critical of Rowling. Neither came off as hateful but instead as two individuals a bit hurt by Rowling’s stance but trying earnestly to understand.

The first one, Natalie, a transwoman, didn’t say anything I hadn’t heard before, but the second, Noah, a transman, actually brought me to a moment where I was like, “I might have to rethink my stance.”