Today's Low Bar for Bravery

The Telegraph - This is the moment a brave 20-year-old student...

"This is the moment a brave 20-year-old student revealed to President Barack Obama and the world they identify as non-binary."


Comments (from elsewhere):

"This is the sad mediocrity that has befallen queer activism and identity politics. We used to honour the men and women of Stonewall, the Harvey Milks, Matthew shepherds and Brandon Teenas of the world. People who actually shed blood for LGBT rights.

Now we're told to applaud some person who said something once at a forum? That's BRAVE? Give me a fucking break. This is hysterical hyperbole at its paramount."


Comments (on the FB post):

"I have the same problem, I identify neither as a man or woman but as a loaf of bread.
I've had so much trouble with people mislabelling me as gluten when I'm non gluten and have trouble finding toilets designed for me. Once I was thrown out of a hospital as I refused to let a doctor operate on me with a scalpel and requested a bread knife instead. Other breads don't talk to me as I'm brown bread and there is a huge racism issue in the bread community but of course there crumbs are swept under the bread bin as race is not an important issue and is secondary in the bread community so we get pushed to the side for discussions about loaves of bread that identify as non bakery and some who actually think they're croissants. One day people will understand though."

""Brave" is not how you spell attention whore."

"This is the moment when a student identified herself as having a mental illness to a world leader.
I'm fairly sure Obama has visited mental health institutions in the past."

"There is a lot of cynicism in most of the comments. I get why. However, this person does not hurt anyone and has zero impact on your lives. Just live and let live."

"If that was the case why do I need to a) know about her b) Know about what she identifies as and c) should care or honor her personal beliefs about herself?
It doesn't hurt anybody if I continue to refer to her as a girl (which she is) and treat her in a manner that meets those expectations (which I will?).
That's the logical fallacy in these arguments... it predisposes that she's somehow unique and/or special and You nor I are.. and that we MUST accept this because SHE says we must."

"People like this lady need compassion and help with their problem, but they are not helped by being told that they're normal and being indulged with nonsensical legislation as has been argued over in Nth. Carolina recently.
She needs to get help in consultation with a doctor, not indulgence on TV with the president."

Mohammed Al-Muhanna: "I have the se issue. I see myself as William Shakespeare. But no one calls me the best writer ever.. People are jerks I see myself as a writer but I never hold a pen. Its a tragedy. They call me Mohamad I want to be called William i do not look like Willam but i feel like I'm a great writer deep inside."

"The people cannot even differentiate the difference between mental illness and bravery any more. Indeed The world became a big psychiatric hospital."

Benjamin Rodkin: "I'm a 500lb African-American woman. No one else sees me as that though. Rather they "view" me as a 158lb white man. F'ckin racist transgenderphobes."

"Who gives a s*it? What ever she is, it's not news....
Telegraph, please stop with this agenda driven bulls*it & try reporting some REAL news.... Also, you may want to look up the definition of Brave, because announcing your preferences to the world isn't brave, it's just conversation!"

"You can't invent a word to describe yourself as being (which defies your own biological nature) and then claim that the rest of the world is discriminative and bigoted for not recognizing you as being that word you invented to describe yourself, perhaps I'm just being an anti non - binarist cyber bully and if so I apologize"

"would like to be a ruminant, eating grass and straw. An unexpensive way of live, healthy and convenient. But no, I can't I only have one stomach."

"So brave, what an inspiration. What do sovereignty, trade, freedom or democracy mean next to epic struggle of this British hero!"

"most of us are sick and tired of reading this incessant agenda driven drivel..... It's not brave to choose or have a particular preference it's just life.... I don't need reassurance for all the things I do or choices I make and I'm tired of being told how brave these people are for talking.... They're just talking, that's it... Move on...."

"I identify as an attack helicopter."

"Lucky for you I'm a surgeon and can perform an operation to attach rotary blades and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles onto your body"

"'Naive' is the word, not brave."

"Of all the questions, she could have asked !!!! what a waste."

"If I think I am a Klingon?"

"Caitlin /Bruce Jenner has a lot to answer for with this lot ."

"So is she hexadecimal?"