Electoral reform is the biggest issue we need to tackle. Without proportional representation, Canada will continue its rightward march to polarizing American style politics.
We need to keep fighting to make the Liberals and NDP choose Canada over party.
Only if they've asked you to, are knighted, or are your superior officer
True, but I don't think this post is likely to push anyone over the edge, and that really has more to do with the lethality of their situation than the use of self-deprecating humour to reach people.
As someone who's been there, this whole line of reasoning just feels like pearl-clutching.
The post isn't really advocating suicide, though. It is pointing out an alternative.
Yeah, the phenomenon isn't unique to trans people if viewed through the lens of expectations for their child. It just takes on a much more extreme reaction/framing when transphobia is involved.
I don't begrudge my mom for feeling sad about realizing I'm not who she wanted me to be, but those aren't feelings you should voice to your child who is already struggling.
The joke is that they already think that about themselves. The suicide rate for trans people, especially those who can't transition, is extremely high.
When I realized I was trans I knew I had no choice but to do it, damn the consequences, because I could see the other option would only lead to my death in a pit of despair and self-hatred.
It's an emotional reaction rooted in transphobia, not a logical one.
But to my point of a loss of expectations, that part is like when kids don't turn out how their parents had hoped. To use another cliche, when their kid who was going to be a doctor runs off to do art instead.
Those parents that love unconditionally will let go of those expectations, learn to love their kid for who they actually are, and in time appreciate their transition as a period of growth rather than loss.
When trans people transition, some people, especially parents, experience a period of grief for the person they knew. Especially transphobic ones describe that as "my son died".
And they're right. He killed himself so that I might live.
They're grieving the loss of who they expected their kid to be
I reckon it's way too generic to sue over
First past the post tends to produce adversarial politics, whereas proportional representation trends to produce collaborative politics.
Canada used to be better about that because we had more minority governments, but things have been moving closer to American style two party.
I completely agree that the divisiveness at a community level is also a problem, but electoral reform is a concrete thing we can advocate for that will improve this.
The majority of Canadians support proportional representation, so the barrier is getting politicians to put down short sighted self interest.