Full disclosure: I am transgender.

There is a disconnect that virtually no one in this war appreciates, on either side. Gender dysphoria, and its treatment protocol, are facts, while "being transgender" is a belief.

I don't know Dylan Mulvaney personally; but, assuming she is like most trans people, her presentation as female need not be viewed as some kind of existential statement that she actually is female. The therapeutic protocol for people with gender dysphoria is to transition: to change their presentation to match the way they see themselves. This isn't some kind of affirmation that they are "really women"; it's simply a way to decrease the negative effects of gender dysphoria and increase their quality of life. The justification for this protocol is that nothing else works. Right-wing influencers are fond of advising "therapy," by which they mean "talking therapy," totally ignorant of the fact that it not only doesn't work, it actually makes things worse.

Society is under no obligation to kowtow to trans activism. It is not necessary, at this juncture (i.e. while gender divergence is still a belief, rather than a fact), to pass laws to support the meme that "trans women are women." Access to women's sports and women's safe spaces are not required. But what must be understood is that living as women is, for biological males afflicted with gender dysphoria, not a matter of choice.

This really should be a non-issue. If Anheuser-Busch wants to promote Dylan Mulvaney, Mr. Rogers or Bozo the Clown, it's strictly their business; but people need to understand that accepting people like Dylan Mulvaney presenting as women is not intrinsically acceptance that they really are women. We identify and present as women because we must. It's how we survive.

Do I believe I'm a woman? I do. But I don't demand that you believe it. I just ask that you let me live.