This #TransAwarenessWeek let's talk about dehumanisation and how it works. It starts with what might seem like a mild proposal. That a certain group of people are different and should be excluded. Not hurt, just excluded.
The difference then needs to be justified. An easy way to do this is to point to some aspect of that person's physical body. That's just nature right? No judgement involved just a natural category. But they're definitely different.
Some people protest at this, why should we exclude people because of a characteristic they can't change? So a second justification is brought into play, that these people are a threat. They point to members of the group who have done bad things.
But some protest - those are just individuals. The rest of the group isn't responsible. So then a third reason comes into play. That the group have a powerful controlling cabal, who have a plan to take control. Finally the waverers are convinced. It's clear the group is a threat
The group of people are now other, and any treatment of them is justified. We must eliminate them from society for everybody's protection. They threaten everybody, especially children.
You probably recognise this process that has played out numerous times over human history. But we seemingly never learn from it. We should, and we should stop repeating it.
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