I agree to a point. If it's just a fringe with limited to no effect and one that is mostly not taken seriously then there is no reason to bring them attention. But when you have things like states making laws that are actively against positive social change, you can't just ignore it and expect it to go away.
Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech: https://youtu.be/H0yP4aLyq1g
Would you honestly say that positive social change would have occurred just as quickly without things like this?
(Note: I find the part from 1:30 to 3:10 particularly relevant to my point here.)
Also, I'd like to point out that in another current thread you are advocating for disabilities to be better represented in furry art. Well, why not just ignore the problem and it'll go away on it's own? Yeah, clearly you don't believe that.
Ok, i think your missing my point.
Firstly, my Disability thread comments that there is little arts, stories, etc, of furries with mental or physical disability. I bring this up because as the furry fandom is meant to be a community known for it's welcoming and acceptance I find this information to be counter intuitive. I understand that part of the furry fandom is about escapism, but if the majority is about escapism then you begin to erode the ideals of diverse acceptance, simply because you are denying who you are. I am a firm believer that nothing should stop a person from achieving what they want to achieve if they have the will, want and the determination to see it through. but when there is no art to communicate this, then you are not fully giving a diverse acceptance.
There is a theatre company in Scotland called Solar Bear, and they work with accessibility theatre for those who are hard of hearing, or are completely deaf. They do amazing work and have discovered so much about communication with people who are deaf, and because of this they can now make art and theatre about this, but what they also know from doing this, is that they are able to inspire people who are deaf to join the performing arts, and that is the major point there. What they say is, if there is no one to inspire someone that someone of their status, to prove that it can be done, e.g. be a deaf actor in scotland, or a black scientist in oman, etc. Then it's unlikely they will pursue it.
My point on yours is this, yourself, Shim and other members have repeatedly pointed out that no one notices when someone of transgender quality uses a bathroom, Kobuk and others have also pointed out that it is almost impossible to enforce this act without impeding on everyone personal space. So collectively the point is that they cannot enforce this change because it is not possible to enforce this change whether be it a bill or not. So I argue on that score there isn't anything to complain about, and in doing so you are giving more and more attention to something that at sounds unachievable. The woman talking about having twelve children and how the stores are meant to protect them is stupid, I should know I am a retail service person, never will I jump infront of a customer with a sword and shield and protect the customers against whatever, it's a service, prodominantly under capitalist thinking, which is, to make a profit. These things shouldn't stop people, and as it's suggested that they cannot, then continue your normal lives and let them complain, because firstly, there isn't much they can do, and America (and the UK) have laws that still exist that are never used because they die out from never being used, and secondly by just going through your lives you make a better argument of being better 'citizens' than the people kicking and screaming. The point is you don't actually have a problem by the sounds of it, someone is trying to make a problem, you don't need to take the bait
Connecting this with the Disability, firstly it was an observation, which I argue to a be a problem, but may not be. I would however argue with the amount of furries and people that I have spoken to that depression and thoughts of suicide is pretty high, as well as feelings of isolation. I would argue based on my point above, that part of this is because we are feeding too much into escapism that we are not truly that diverse. I mean when you think about it, furries are diverse in LGBT, gender-fluidity, fetishism, race, community, etc. Not much on people with disability though either mental, social or physical, and as such there isn't that much support for these people. Perhaps that is why on this board there is talk of isolation, because there isn't art or a true communication that shows you can be who ever you want to be and still do the things you want to you. If escapism is the key point then that is a problem because in constantly escaping you are severing yourself from your IRL person, and therefore you are becoming more isolated in feeling not the same person. This is a problem I argue that does need addressing because people are impacted by this constantly, and perhaps this further attributes to why furrys is more about sex than anything else, and yes I have seem many art forms but the sexual art form seems to be the main concept of being a furry. In your issue, people don't need to be effected, it's a bathroom which are isolated areas, so no one is going to suspect anything unless you give them reason to. Do you think standing declaring you are transgender and have the right to use the bathroom you choose will allow you better access? Not really, it's probably going to make you a target, because you put attention on yourself.
In regards to the martin Luther King speech i'm sorry I don't see the connection, I found that to be a little naive. African American citizens were oppressed without the same rights as a white heterosexual man (point extends to women, LGBT, Disability, etc). But yeah, they were oppressed, few to no one was standing for people who just had different skin colour. This is not a conscious decision for having different skin colour, yet the religion and politics given dictates blacks to be the spawn of Satan. Disabled people were considered weak and left to die, etc. From the moment of birth they were condemned. Point is, transgender people were not. Firstly, at some point a conscious decision has to be made to forcefully change your body to fit with your spirit inside. But here is the other thing, you can do that. Scientists and Doctors have put allot of time, resources and effort to enable people to change genders completely. I'm sorry but black people didn't have that form of dedication, you do. So I would argue you are not that unsupported if there are systems in place to enable transgender to be achievable. I find this to be naive because it sounds like you are forcing ALL identity problems in life to be exactly the same, and therefore you are attempting to undermine me with the conversation about disability. It's not like you were supporting my view point on the matter of disability, arguably you were suggesting that escapism is the reason so thats that. Understandably different passions and ideals but them don't throw them all into this conversation of trying to 'win' by throwing other conversations that are not connected into this mix.