@Purp Drag (2/2) "inb4 "b-b-but trans people get bullied...""

"I made a strawman, mocked how people can feel sympathy, AND mocked people who stutter! I hate people being able to freely exist!" ~the strawman I made of you. Stop making strawmans if you want anyone who doesn't wish "if only I had a brain" to take you seriously.

"...despite their social status increasing during HRT and post-op in levels as low as high school and employers/socail workers treat them exceptionally well, as well as the public backing them up whenever possible..."

This is outright false in most cases.

Here is an abstract and reference list for the general transgender experience in the workplace: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-29623-4_2

Here is a full on research article pertaining to the same subject: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311886.2016.1236511

Here is an abstract on transgender discrimination in a college setting: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10538720.2014.891091 Unfortunately, the full article is behind a paywall. Fortunately, the literature cited is not.

Here is another free research article on transgender discrimination in healthcare settings: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-017-1028-z

Here is an abstract pertaining to transgender discrimination even in organizations that call themselves "inclusive": https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8551.12043 Again, unfortunately, the full article is behind a paywall. Again, fortunately, the literature cited is not.

"...even being pandered to by corporations."

That's funny you mentioned that, as while transgender people are marketed to by corporations, they don't do anything actually meaningful as a whole to aid transgender people. Here is a research article discussing the issue in detail: https://scholar.colorado.edu/downloads/0c483k298 While it is a bit amateurish (it is a senior's thesis after all), its arguments are well-formulated, and it provides many quality citations to help address its main point. Also, while the quality of the article that I reference would probably bother me more than you, you probably wouldn't mind given your source.

"Ayden Paladin made a great video on this very subject. I suggest giving it a watch if you're interested enough in giving me college lectures about why it's completely normal to lob off your genitals. It shouldn't be too hard, then."

I'm actually already familiar with Ayden's content - while I was not familiar with this video previously, it definitely follows with her brand. I have listened to this video while working on some minor chores I needed to take care of, and I can say that it sports many of the flaws your argument sports, with the exception that she cited sources. I am glad she cited her sources so I could review some of them, and the relevant sources she cited were misrepresented. While I won't review the entire video because I'd be getting as redundant as she does, I will touch on some of the flaws in her data analysis as it pains me as a data analyst myself. Albeit, it is difficult to do this as she doesn't mention during the video the exact source being referenced for many, if not all of her given arguments, so I will be touching on the data, then her poor attempts at interpreting it so it conforms to her worldview. Also, side note - she put the references sheet in her Google Drive's trash bin, so it's not going to be there past a certain date. This is not a good practice for literally anyone who uses references to make a point.

At multiple points through the video, she tries to make it out that transgender individuals are apparently supported, cherished, and even encouraged to be trans by all. One such article she referenced contradicts this in its entirety (https://www.familleslgbt.org/1463149763/Haas%202014.pdf, another downloadable pdf). It states that 57% of transgender individuals who had attempted to commit suicide had experienced a family that would either no longer speak to or be in the their presence. 50-54% has experienced harassment and/or bullying in school. 50-59% had experienced workplace discrimination. 60% had experienced a refusal from their doctor or health care provider to treat them (going against the Hippocratic Oath). 64-65% experienced physical or sexual violence at their workplace. 63-78% experienced sexual or physical violence at their school. 57-61% experienced harassment and/or disrespect from law enforcement officials. 60-70% suffered physical or sexual violence from law enforcement officials. Additionally, she mentions that the suicide rate for transgender individuals increases with transitioning. While the aforementioned article touches on this, there's two big "but"s at play. The first "but" would be that the number of suicide attempts actually decreases when moving from those who want to transition to those who have transitioned (meaning that the actual act of transitioning decreases the suicide attempt rate). The second "but" is that being transgender is not simply an on/off, but individuals can experience aspects of it on a large variety of levels. Some individuals feel a greater need to have sex traits that match their identity than others do, and this coincides with feeling the want to go through transitioning procedures. Unfortunately, the sheer emotional turmoil that many who cannot undergo these procedures, either due to refusal from practitioners, barring from parents/guardians, or fear of social repercussions leads some who want to transition but can't or won't to attempt suicide. This is noted by the source.

Overall, it is generally a bad idea to base what you think solely off of which YouTuber confirms your worldview. Admittedly, I do have a problem with the fact that some people in this comment section are calling me "based" or something and leaving it at that. While I am glad they agree with me that transgender people should be accepted, it leaves me unsure as to whether they understand the content of what I am saying. The pen is mightier than the sword after all, but it means nothing if everyone is talking out of their respective asses. As I believe I mentioned before in another comment, part of the reason I am engaging in argument here is to help convince people to both think rationally and think with care. Additionally, I like the challenge of needing to provide counterarguments, not because I enjoy this (I admittedly enjoy it a little bit, but not enough for me to like doing this instead of doing something else) but because it's a good thought exercise, and provides an easy way for me to reevaluate my own opinions on whatever the subject matter may be (almost like how someone may exercise their body, not because they like doing push-ups, but because they want to improve their physical health). I hope that my comments here have helped provoke thought on the subject matter as well as promoting critical thinking in general.