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Elliot Page just gave a joyous interview with Time—so why are transphobes framing it as a tragedy?

TERFs are having a field day pushing harmful narratives.

Photo of Siobhan Ball

Siobhan Ball

Elliot Page

Elliot Page just gave a heartfelt, joyous interview with Time magazine about his lifelong journey toward coming out and living as his authentic self and expressing support for trans children to receive the affirmation and care they need. Naturally, trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) are furious, tearing him down while raging about the “mutilation” of young girls caught up in the “trans cult.”

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Page also received a lot of support, with people enthusiastically celebrating his newfound happiness and the opportunities for trans youth created by his coming out. However, despite the growing public support for trans people and their right to live authentically, the Time magazine Twitter thread quickly filled up with people angry about all of these things, attacking Time, trans-affirming medical care, and Page himself for “Inspiring more young people to doubt their biology and turn to surgery and hormones to fix their problems.”

Inspiring more young people to doubt their biology and turn to surgery and hormones to fix their problems
@hous3ofthis/Twitter
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I didn't say people choose this. But it is a misapprehension for a woman to believe that she is *actually* a man. She is an androgynous woman -- which is fine. It's also fine if someone prefers to be perceived as the opposite sex. But reality is unchanged.
@bropedio/Twitter
I cannot believe you have put this person on the cover of Time. Luckily, not many young girls read you.Shame on you
@bropedio/Twitter

The opposition to trans masc healthcare has had a particular emphasis on detransitioners lately. The counterpart to the transphobic claim that trans women are perverts attempting to enter women’s spaces, trans men are patronized with the insistence that they’re confused and traumatized girls trying to escape misogyny through becoming the enemy. Detransitioners are extremely useful for backing up this claim.

'Perhaps one day @TIME would also take the time to feature the heart-wrenching stories of brave men and women who are walking the painful path of detransitioning. Theirs is a story of physical pain, irreparable loss and sometimes emotional trauma.' Embedded tweet: '#DetransAwarenessDay Self portrait with bottle and formula I had to use to feed my son, because 'chest feeding' doesn't exist. No breasts, no milk. I learned this the hard way. A mastectomy isn't a hair cut. I want to spare future mothers and babies what we went through if I can.' Image of a torso with a nipple less mastectomy, a baby bottle and a box of formula
@obianu & @FlohrFritz/Twitter
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Good luck to Elliot. March 12 was #DetransAwarenessDay #detrans Transition may work for some people but for a growing number there are many who now have deep regrets about the irreversible changes they made to their body. Please read their stories.
@Mamatomo17/Twitter
There's no rule that says women have to fit one mold. Why can't Page simply be an unconventional woman... why does she feel she has to change her gender in order to justify what she likes?
@Mamatomo17/Twitter

While some people who undergo transition do end up detransitioning it’s much rarer than the people using it to attack trans rights make out. Only 1% of people who transition end up making that choice, and the vast majority of them do so due to either safety concerns or familial, social, or financial pressure, often retransitioning again when their circumstances change. Though people who genuinely regret transitioning exist, and they need to be treated with respect as well as provided with appropriate healthcare, they are rare and in no way an argument for preventing other trans people from transitioning in case they regret it later.

Would be great if you clarified between adult transitioning and the medicalization of growing gender-questioning kids. Highly recommend you read transman @ScottNewgent article +all links on the subject: https://tinyurl.com/3f8t5djy He's also kind + open + willing to share his story.
@tiredof88977376/Twitter
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We have lost a generation to this stupidity. I am fine with people making decisions that they are comfortable with but we need to stop glorifying this as a new normal. Nobody should be endorsing this to their children
@GinnySacrimoni/Twitter
There are innumerable hardships and choices to be made that come with navigating the journey from boyhood to manhood that Elliot did not have to endure.
@GinnySacrimoni/Twitter
Wooooow that's the pinnacle of today's generation: to decide if they want to be boy or girl.
@lahhel2238/Twitter

Elliot moving forward and living his life, and the obvious happiness and success expressed via his interview undermine an attempt to paint trans men as confused victims of patriarchy and an evil trans-medical conspiracy. A recurring comment on the interview and suite of photographs taken to accompany it is that he looks miserable now in an attempt to apply to confused and miserable trans trope to him.

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If Elliot Page is so fully herself, then why does everything about her body language on the cover of Time scream 'I'm miserable' #ElliotPage
@rikoruss31/Twitter
Why does she always look like she's about to cry?
@rikoruss31/Twitter
She looks absolutely miserable.
@rikoruss31/Twitter

Even though his poses and expressions conform to the standard aesthetics applied to male celebrities when it comes to photoshoots. As a general rule, women are expected to smile and men are expected to brood or smolder.

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Some people are saying he looks upset... Have y'all never seen men in magazine photoshoots before? The 'I'm pissed off but it's sexy' look is about as old as magazine photoshoots themselves... lol
@OneAudDuck/Twitter
Not people using the fact that young men are typically profiled by glossy magazines as looking serious and unconcerned, while young women are instead profiled as smiling or looking sultry, to suggest that Elliot Page is 'unhappy now as a man, combined with before'.
@OneAudDuck/Twitter

Page’s continued visibility and willingness to directly address the arguments meant to keep trans people down, especially trans children in the closet, make him a powerful force for countering these attacks on trans rights. Something as appreciated by the trans community and their allies as it is threatening to those who want to erase them.

““We know who we are,” Page says. “People cling to these firm ideas [about gender] because it makes people feel safe. But if we could just celebrate all the wonderful complexities of people, the world would be such a better place.””

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'Trans kids are under attack nationwide, but with outspoken advocates like Elliot Page, we can ensure no child faces discrimination for who they are. Thanks for sharing your story and fighting alongside us, @TheElliotPage .' Image of Elliot posed with one leg up, in a white shirt with blue jeans
@HRC/Twitter

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