Agreed.
Moreover, talking about children and consent: "nature vs nurture."
-There is an "nature" component to this. There is, in fact, some people who are born intersex. It's a very, very, very small portion of births. Estimates to be between 0.5% and 1.0% of births. These are the people that I really feel for. It must be very difficult to deal with this situation. Like someone born with extra fingers/toes, excessive body hair, skin spots, down syndrome, etc. This is a genetic abnormality which really affects someone's life.
-Then there is "nurture." A parent can sit down with their 5 yr old child and get them to change their favorite color or animal multiple times within a 10 minute span. In the same mold, a child is not born racist but certainly can learn to be racist from their parents/friends/community, etc. etc. A child can be raised to believe that unicorns and leprechauns are real. They can be raised to accept or deny societal norms. They can be raised to accept or deny science. Etc, etc. This is where the more most of the "trans" movement is arising from. The amount of people identifying with being trans has increased substantially over the last decade......despite intersex births remaining about the same prevalence. It's odd. We went from a society where someone might be a "biological male with feminine characteristics" to "you are a female just because you think you're one."
This is an immensely complicated issue and I'm note sure there's a pure answer.
-All people are deserving of happiness, love, and respect. Every person is flawed.
-Unfortunately right now, in cases like the OP mentioned there are women who are getting trampled over
-As a general rule, we are dropping the ball as a society on treating mental illness......no matter which illness it is.
