"Why Is It Always Children And Not Elderly Or Homeless?"
Why is it that every time we see someone doing meaningful community outreach, like trans people reading books to kids, the knee-jerk reaction of some folks is to clutch their pearls and conjure up the most grotesque, baseless insinuations about "sexual deviancy"? You want to know why people arenât lining up to read books to nursing home residents or the homeless? Simple: nursing home residents and homeless adults donât need to be introduced to basic human decency and inclusivity lessonsâtheyâve already lived their lives with all the prejudices, biases, and social mores theyâre going to carry to the grave. Children, on the other hand, are still forming their worldview, and maybe, just maybe, they could benefit from seeing that gender-diverse people exist in the world and can be mentors, caregivers, and guides just as easily as anyone else. This isnât about some dark, deviant agenda; itâs about building a kinder, more understanding generation that, ideally, wonât grow up to perpetuate the same hateful rhetoric youâre so fond of spouting.
Then there's the redirection tactic of "But why donât they go help the homeless instead?"âas if the people griping about drag queen story hours are suddenly overcome with a burning passion for solving systemic poverty. Please. Most of the time, these very same people wouldn't lift a finger to help marginalized adults unless they thought it could score them points in some twisted moral competition. This brand of armchair outrage doesnât come from genuine concern for the homeless; it comes from a narrow, knee-jerk discomfort with seeing trans and queer folks visible in society. Itâs the classic âIâm totally okay with the existence of marginalized peopleâas long as they stay out of sight and donât interact with my kids.â The irony is rich: the people complaining the loudest about moral decay and deviancy are the ones obsessed with what others are doing with their bodies, projecting their own insecurities and narrow definitions of "normalcy" onto everyone else, while offering no meaningful solutions to the actual problems they claim to care about.
And letâs address the thinly veiled accusation that reading books to kids in an educational setting is somehow a predatory act. This is nothing more than projection, plain and simple. Those spewing these accusations are often the same ones who have internalized a culture that sexualizes and polices everything they donât understand, reducing every act of goodwill to some perverse ulterior motive. Itâs a classic smear tactic: if you canât actually criticize what someone is doing on the merits, then conjure up the specter of âprotecting the childrenâ to justify your own discomfort and ignorance. Never mind that the vast majority of crimes against children statistically come from close family members or trusted adults in traditional community roles (particularly those traditionally most sanctimonious about gender and sex preferences)âletâs conveniently ignore that and demonize the people promoting inclusivity instead, because thatâs easier and fits the narrative youâve been fed.
The reality is, people in marginalized communities engaging in public service, especially around kids, is about as far from âvirtue signalingâ as it gets. Itâs not performative; itâs an act of resilience and generosity that exposes kids to perspectives beyond the narrow, exclusionary views they might otherwise inherit. If youâre so concerned about the moral guidance of children, maybe consider what theyâre learning from you: fear of the unknown, contempt for differences, and a complete inability to approach the world with empathy. Maybe, instead of wasting your time policing the identities of people volunteering to make a difference, you should be figuring out how to channel your energies into something actually constructiveâlike addressing the societal issues driving homelessness or pushing for better elder care. That would be âvirtueâ worth signaling. But, of course, that wouldnât give you the satisfaction of othering people who are different from you, now, would it?
