Back when I came out as queer more than thirty years ago, I was told then that I was “doing it for attention” and “everybody’s pretending to be [specific flavor of LGBQ] now”. The right-wing never come up with anything new, so they’re still trotting out the same old accusations against trans folks now. And yeah, denigrating someone’s existence by casting it as a bid for attention is still just as transphobic now as it was homophobic back when it was leveled against me decades ago.

I remember pointing out to people way back then that the “attention” it got me was homophobia, antipathy from my family, daily verbal abuse from other students and faculty, and regular physical attacks from other students. What about that was desirable? If I was just doing it “for attention”, wouldn’t I have pretended it was all a big joke the first time I got attacked, and moved on to a different source of attention that didn’t carry the risk of corrective rape and murder?

But the logic of that never clicked, because for them “it’s for attention!” was just always a defense for their bigotry, not a reasoned position. Nothing will make them think otherwise, because to think otherwise involves accepting that LGBTQ people exist and can’t be changed into being cis-het.