EC, do you not see the vast hypocrisy here? A good part of your argument in these trans and drag threads have been that men should not speak for an experience that they have never been through and can never be through even when we are relaying the experiences and thoughts that women have conveyed to us.
Now, here, you are arguing to know what is better for the trans people in your life than the people who are actually living their own experiences, simply because you are witnessing it. You aren’t even trying to relay their views or positions, as others and myself were trying to do, but only your own opinion of it.
You can’t have it both ways. You can’t shut down discussion because I am trying to relay the perspectives of women, trans, feminists, etc. that I know and have had these discussions with, because I happen to be a straight cis-man, and then pronounce judgment on people whose life experiences you will never know and, from the sounds of it, haven’t bothered to take the time to listen to.
Now, as I have been saying, I do know trans people. I interact with them on a regular basis for around 2 decades. When a former coworker announced that she was transitioning, I was able to connect her with the correct local resources to start the evaluations the right way. For all the fear mongering over doctors rubber stamping people, there are legitimate paths and evaluations to help facilitate the transition.
Yes, there does appear to be this rather glaring contradiction in EC's position. And it's unfortunately a contradiction that seems to be rife among the so-called "gender critical" commentators.
Fortunately, the people whom we entrust to weigh up the many and varied considerations on this issue - chiefly those in mainstream medical theory & practice, our legislatures, and our judiciaries and regulatory bodies - are taking a great deal of time and effort (not to mention their huge wells of combined experience, expertise and education) to navigate their way towards a position which is optimal for all of society.
And - outside of certain hard-right legislatures (the legislatures which, incidentally, typically also reject evolution in favour of creationism, and who reject the right of women to have safe abortions) - they are clearly and unequivocally coming down in favour of recognising and protecting the rights & safety of transgender people.
All of them are of course very well aware of the need to protect the rights & safety of other groups (notably, in this case, cis women), and as such they are including proportionate adjustments to meet that end. And they are also well aware that there will be a clear need to monitor the implementation of new legislation and to take remedial action should there be adverse unintended consequences.
Personally, I place far, far more trust in mainstream medicine science and practice, and those governmental bodies which have examined the matter in great detail and taken extensive consultations from all interested parties... than I place in the views of random inexpert extremist commentators on internet forums or social media. And I'm absolutely comfortable in taking that position.
Furthermore, it's obviously noticeable that as transgender rights legislation and other protections have been introduced in various progressive jurisdictions around the world, not only has the sky not fallen in: there has in fact been little or no adverse impact on other groups in society, nor any lingering unintended consequences. Yes, of course there have been individual examples of failures in procedure or misinterpretations of laws/regulations/medical pathways - but all of these have been able to be quickly addressed and fixed.
I feel highly confident that within 5-7 years maximum, almost all liberal democracies will be in a position where a) transgender people are recognised and protected in accordance with their trans gender, b) the optimal amount of proportionate adjustment will have been determined and enacted (after some degree of "trial and error" period, which is virtually unavoidable), and c) society as a whole will be better off as a result. And I feel equally confident that within, say, 20-30 years from now, people (other than any remaining small pockets of reactionary bigots) will look back and wonder how there was ever even an argument against giving transgender people the rights and protections they deserve.
