Isn't that the same mentality that is what is offensive about those groups though? "We know some people of that group are harmful, therefor all people of that group are harmful"
Because transgendered people are somehow harmful relative to cisgendered people, and women are harmful relative to men, and people of color are harmful relative to white people, and queer folks are harmful relative to straight ones... ?
Might not be getting your point, but.
Well, yes. If somebody hates transgendered people, it's because they feel they have valid reasons to. You can argue that your reasons for hating people who hate transgendered people are better than theirs, but that's not the same as being any different on a conceptual level.
Isn't that the same mentality that is what is offensive about those groups though? "We know some people of that group are harmful, therefor all people of that group are harmful"
Hn... not quite, I'd say. The problem is more or less the reverse -- some people in the group aren't harmful, but the group as a whole is (in this case, particularly to specific other minorities, some of which are well represented around here). And so even someone overall non-threatening may catch some of the vitriol, specifically because while they, themselves, are not proponents of harm, their political ideology supports and empowers people that are. And not, like, incidentally or as a side-effect. Directly.
Like this. If I acknowledge that
some transgendered people don't erode the fabric of society, but that it's understandable that they catch flak for it anyway because as a whole they're just awful, ruinous people... well, we
might conclude that I'm wrong after a long series of discussions about it, but it's still less tolerant and civil a viewpoint than might be ideal.