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Comment by dj_rappist | Hacker News Reader

[flagged]

“John may desire to be called John, but he can’t realistically expect people won’t call him Bob just because he says it’s not his name.”

Sorry, this is nonsense. That you think John should be called Bob has nothing to do with your view on personal identity - it’s just you being an asshole because you think your politics are the most important thing in the world.

"John may desire to be referred to as if he's 6'6" in height, despite being only 5'1", but he can't realistically expect everyone else to comply with this if he requests it."

For the understanding of most people, being a woman or a man isn't an identity, but is a fact of material biological reality. The belief system around 'gender identity' has fairly niche acceptance on a global scale, even in countries where it is being heavily evangelized.

I’m just unclear why you care. John wants to be called John. He also would prefer you refer to him as a “him”. Neither takes any effort whatsoever, and both are entirely polite. Neither requires anything from you that you wouldn’t otherwise be doing.

Refusal literally reads as an obstinate and intentional desire to be an asshole solely for the sake of being an asshole.

Sorry, I don't understand this discussion about gender. If someone on the internet desires to be referred to as "he" and "him", or "she" and "her", then you do it, no? How is gender identity relevant?

This is what I love about the internet: to anything you can write you can get the most enlightened or insane response. I hope that years later, your response will end up on the right side of these two. (Provided this lands on some kind of internet archive)

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