12 Jun 2022
I recently experienced someone who apologised profusely when they accidentally deadnamed me as I had mentioned my deadname because it was in my Nintendo Network username.
They seemed to think that I would instigate some sort of social repercussion for their mistake, but I simply forgave them as it was an honest mistake.
I feel like the stigma around accidentally misgendering or deadnaming someone is one of the reasons that prevents the forward motion of trans rights and we are a part of the problem too.
Many trans people see even the slightest mistake on their name or gender as the person being an absolute asshole when most of the time it isn't like that. If they've made an honest mistake, we should forgive them.
If everyone learns to play nice, we could potentially move towards a more unilateral tolerance policy in society, not only for trans people but for everyone in general. I would like that.