i mean, isn't that like, the only way that it goes. You either lock in, be a dick, and die a dick. Or you fucking change your mind, because you aren't close minded.

Sure it would be optimal if they were there from the beginning, but like, it seems a little too harsh to not retroactively give them a pardon in this case.

but it is a very low bar to set for being “nice people”.

idk, i feel like it should be the normally accepted bar, otherwise there is literally no such thing as dissenting opinions. But that might just be me.

They were perfectly willing to support and spread the hate right up until it personally affected them.

Hate to break it to you. But that's not a republican trait. That's a human trait.

It's why you'll sooner donate to support the hospital stay of a person in your hometown than you would to a earthquake in zimbabwe. It's the reason we don't sit in a corner catatonic with grief at every little thing that happens in the world. Proximity bias is necessary. While it's not meant to replace empathy, pretending that these people are somehow shittier than every other human in nature just perpetuates a hate cycle that keeps us where we're at.

They didn't believe in Trans people. Than their grandkid came out and they changed their mind. But it's disingenuous to say 'Oh...now that it affects them.'

What's more likely is, being actually personally exposed to something forces you to re-contextualize your beliefs. That's not a bad thing and it's not to be derided.

I feel like so much of it comes from really not doing the work to understand. It doesn't help that With trans issues people get flat out lied to and because there's nobody on hand to say reality check stuff like : "What the fuck do you mean 'The uptick of trans men is causing a wave of hysterectomies in a mass sterilization plot' ... one of the largest reason for temporary detransition is for pregnancies. Also STOP TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE BREEDING STOCK. " You get a rolling problem where the disinformation is layers deep and they only trust the sources who are financially rewarded for saying the bullshit- because they believe so hard that everything is a conspiracy and have this backwards perception that if only a tiny handful of people in a field are saying something that contradicts a varitable mountain of concensus then that thing is automatically somehow more believable...

I feel like having someone in your family who opens your eyes to the realities because of the immediate demonstratable contradictions of observed reality makes sense. These people caught in transphobialand have by and large been duped. They were ignorant and a bunch of people took advantage of that for financial and political gain. While I can see how not being immediately empathetic isn't great I dunno if I am as mad when observing from the angle of these people just being kind of dumb enough to be played.

I get it, I just get so pissed people only doing the right thing after if affects THEM. The GQP has been bashing gay and queer folks for decades! But, it’s only after their child is targeted that they see the light.

it's the most trivial way to change peoples opinion though, so it should make sense. How do you stop racism? You get white people to talk to black people. How do you stop homophobia? Get gay people talking to straight people. This is like 90% of social cohesion.

I think you're focusing a little too much on the sour taste no longer in your mouth, and not the sweet one that is currently there. I would venture to bet that if you talked to these people personally, and got to know them, you would probably really enjoy that interaction and have very little malice towards them after the fact.