this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2025
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No Stupid Questions

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Edit for context:

My view is transracial isn’t valid and this person is trying to dogwhistle. I’ve already blocked this person, and now they’re going after my friend saying my friend is transphobic because they disagreed with them about transracial being a thing (they're purposefully leaving the context out so my friend looks transphobic when what my friend really said was transgender is valid but transracial isn't)

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[–] actionjbone@sh.itjust.works 58 points 1 day ago

Block them.

[–] toomanypancakes@lemmy.world 45 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The best way to respond is to disregard them, block and move on. Transracial is an actual thing, but it refers to people of one race adopted by another. Transracial ala Dolezal is just a troll to attack trans people, no different from attack helicopters.

[–] Lyra_Lycan@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's not even a race, it's usually a community with a different culture, so the entire term is invalid. And humans are one species with no races, despite this we keep the divisions that the less educated from history created.

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[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 43 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (7 children)

No race, no gender. No problems.

Gender anarchism and race anarchism. People be just people. Social constructs shall not be a dividing reason, let everyone behave however the hell they want as long as they don't hurt others and be happy.

Also US race concepts are kind of weird in general. I suppose the history of slavery and segregation did a number on people's perception of race.

[–] Zenith@lemm.ee 19 points 1 day ago

Literally the only rational answer. Stop giving a fuck about what people look like unless you’re explicitly looking for someone to fuck

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[–] Jobe@feddit.org 24 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

They don't appear to understand the difference between cultural and gender identity. I'd try this:
"If a white person of european descent were raised from birth by a Sentinel Island tribe, would they be culturally european?"
The answer is obviously no, illustrating that the cultural identity of a person depends on the culture the person was raised in. I don't know how gender identity works, but clearly how someone is raised has little to do with it.
Edit: Disclaimer that I have absolutely no idea what I am talking about.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 16 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Problem is that "race" isn't just cultural. How you will be treated definitely depends on how other people perceive your "race" and subsequently it will shape your life reality.

That person you gave as an example? In the US, Canada or most European countries he will be treated better than an actual Citizen born and raised in the respective country who is perceived as "black" or "brown".

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[–] amino@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

culture and ethnicity have nothing to do with race. race is based on perceived phenotype

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[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (15 children)

Sounds like someone just looking to pick a fight. Disengage.

That said, I reckon as long as they're not hurting anyone, people can be whatever they like. Mind your own business. It's a slippery slope to start considering whether a fellow human is 'valid' or not.

[–] BassTurd@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Their argument indirectly hurts transgender people. It's akin to when BLM (the movement, not the corrupt organization) was big and to counter it, conservatives parroted All Lives Matter. I'd say using the term transracial is arguably worse, because it's all bullshit, while technically All Lives Matter is true, but it's bad faith argument. I personally feel it's the duty of rational people to fight against that sort of speak.

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[–] frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.world 16 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

"You are wrong. Gender and race are two different things. Transgender people have been around since time began, transracial was invented few years ago to appropriate and diminish transgender people's experiences. it's not transphobic to be against something that was recently invented to invalidate transgender people. ciao"

but tbf it seems like that person's tryna start shit so I'd just block and report em

[–] UrPartnerInCrime@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

As someone who isnt qualified to answer any trans related question: just let them be as long as they're not being a jerk

There are bigger fish to fry. There probably are people out there who fully think they're a different race. Who's to say their feelings are invalid while others feelings are.

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[–] peteyestee@feddit.org 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Just don't have conversation about this stuff at all. You can rarely change a person's mind.

I used to try talking about politics and things in my rural town but it's pointless. In America it's more like a drug people use, they like the rush they get from the drama. And most the time no one is saying anything original, it's like they just spout off market sound bites. The conversation will always go nowhere.

It might sound counter productive to not fight for something like that. But just live your life, and understand life and humanity is chaos, to try to change people is like trying turn the sun into an icecube. You can't fuck with the universe.

Dont waste time on that stuff, and instead be the best person you can be and be a good role model to your immediate circle. Thats worth more to the community and will spread naturally without trying.

[–] throwawayacc0430@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Transgender is more comparable to Naturalization.

You can become an American, British, Canadian, German, Japanese, or Chinese, in terms of Citizenship/Nationality, but you can't just magically change from White to Black or to Asian, or vice versa.

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[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

This person is not arguing in good faith and is just looking to make trouble. Engaging with people like that is as frustrating as it is futile.

[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 10 points 1 day ago

"No it's not, and you know it"

Feel free to throw in some "dickhead"s as well, if they're gonna come in bad faith you don't have to be polite. Talk garbage, expect pain

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 day ago (19 children)

Transracial doesn't exist because "Race" in the context that they want to use it doesn't exist.

Genetically there's only one "race"; that's the human race. If they want to identify as a different culture, it's purely a cosmetic cultural thing, not biological or genetic. Whereas as being Transgender is biological. Therefore, you can safely tell people like Rachel Dolezal to fuck off and go back to fifth period science class.

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[–] nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (11 children)

Race is an extremely unscientific way to catagorize human beings, and it's no wonder these people claim to be trans racial instead of trans ethnic. The more scientific, cultural, and hereditary definition of ethnicity means they'd have no real arguement to claim an ethnicity they weren't raised in and have no heritage from but the loose political definition of race gives them lots of wiggle room.

Tldr: tell them race isnt real and ethnicity is based on the culture you were raised in and the heritage of your ancestors. You can't force your ancestors to be a different ethnicity and you can transition a childhood upbringing, just an identity.

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[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Is there something like "trans smart"?

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Depends if I have time and I want entertainment at that moment, I know they are trolling and don't care and usually people just want to get me angry at them so I calmly responded to everything they say as it's a real legitimate question, treat every question as if there truly caring about it. Most people will just back off after a bit because they can't get me all angry and pissed off. It's quite entertaining watching them get angry and wound up because I was trying to answer them honestly and nice way. Doesn't always work but it's just something I do I learned really pisses off those kinda people

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Walk away.

People want to troll. Don't feed trolls.

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[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 6 points 23 hours ago

I genuinely don't know enough about what people who claim to be trans racial are even saying and why they're saying it to form an opinion on it. My gut feeling is that it isn't valid and they're bad actors, but my gut has been wrong before.

So if someone told me "trans racial is just as valid as trans gender" I'd either not respond or just say "I don't know about that." and leave it at that.

Gentle reminder that if you believe someone is a bad actor and using dog whistles there isn't a point in responding to things like this because you aren't going to change their mind.

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

someone said that in a thread on lemmy early, i cringed. it seems the only people that think transracial is a thing is primarly done by white people. i wonder if thats the same person were talking about.

and yes i was thinking about rachel dolzal. or white people claiming they are native american, because they have less than 1-5% of thier dna, your still a white asf guy. and a white guy pretending that he is filipino, because he drives a tuk tuk.

[–] devolution@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I’d respond, “Rachel Dolezal was never shot by the police” and “Michael Jackson did not become an honorary white person just because he tried to be one.”

[–] amino@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 1 day ago (5 children)

ironically the assumption that Michael was trying to become white is both racist and ableist. he was suffering from vitiligo which led him to use skin-lightening prescription creams to cover up the uneven blotches of color caused by the disability.

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[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I'm no expert on either topic. But I believe humans basically start off as female in the womb, and either become male or don't. And there are many intersex conditions. The body responds to hormones typically associated with either sex. So gender is fluid in a biological sense. If someone transitions to male, female or nonbinary, they already kind of contained that potential.

However, race is a social construct, usually based on heritage as well as biological appearance. So it's hard to say how much biology is really involved. Does the human body contain the ability to be any race? Or to cultivate an appearance that prompts other humans to socially categorize you as one race or the other?

Maybe for people who are mixed race, there is a sort of spectrum available to them. They likely know how to present themselves in a way that gets them categorized as one race or the other.

But otherwise, not really. If you're White, and you say, "I identify as Black," the question might be: do you have Black heritage? If you don't, you can't really create it out of thin air. There wasn't a situation while you were in the womb where various hormones could have influenced you to appear more Black than you do. If your parents are both White, they were going to have a White baby, no matter what. Race is a social construct, but it's based on appearance and heritage. It's about belonging to a group, not about being an individual, the way gender is.

If you're assigned female at birth, and you say, "I identify as male," then cool! Your body already has the capability to become hormonally male. You can socially identify as male. Any human, of any race, has this potential. Any two parents could have a baby that is any sex or gender, depending on various factors.

[–] SaltSong@startrek.website 10 points 1 day ago (8 children)

So, as a white person, I cannot pass as black, so I can never expect people to treat me like I'm black?

Don't get me wrong, I think the idea is silly, but all the arguments I've seen in this thread are a word-swap away from being a bad argument against transgender people.

What's the essential difference?

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[–] Windex007@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I'm uncomfortable with the idea that the only reason that being trans is valid is because of biological factors.

If we could construct a human that came into existence without being Female at some gestational point, you gonna tell them they can't be trans? If someone has a thyroid problem such that they their body CAN'T handle a sex hormone, you gonna tell them they can't be trans?

I feel like we're looking for a 9-D chess play when a 1-D play is sufficient: you say you're trans, you're trans. I'm not the fucking cops

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[–] njm1314@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (3 children)

It's nonsense because race is a social construct.

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[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm confused. Wouldn't transracial just be "mixed"? Like one parent is white, one parent is black.

Mixed baby.

Never heard someone refer to it as "transracial".

[–] Tiffany1994@lemmy.cafe 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Transracial in this context is people identifying as different races, like Rachel Dolezal

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[–] Fleur_@aussie.zone 5 points 1 day ago

Does it really matter if someone is either

[–] WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The differences between the sexes is much less than people like to pretend. Every cell in your body has different modes it can operate in. Many, perhaps most, cells have estrogen-dominated and testosterone-dominated modes. If you change the dominant hormones in the body, every cell in the body switches between these modes. Trans people who medically transition are simply taking advantage of the body's existing mechanism of secondary sex characteristics.

Ultimately, any person could have a male- or female- typical phenotype. If you put the right hormone injections into a fetus at the right time of pregnancy, an XY fetus would be born with a vagina and a uterus. And the opposite is true as well. These conditions sometimes happen naturally with intersex conditions. Every human body has the potential to develop along a male- or female-typical path. It's just a matter of what hormones are passing through the body at what stage of development.

But race? There's no comparison. Cells don't have different expression modes that correspond to different racial phenotypes. There are no "black hormones" that a white person could take to gain many of the characteristics of black bodies. There is simply no equivalent to the medical transition process many trans people undergo. There is simply no equivalent to the fundamental rewiring of the body that occurs on a cellular level with trans medical treatments.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Are you saying hormone injections or other medical measures are necessary for you to consider someone transgender? I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't agree with that. Correspondingly why would that be required to be transracial? You're right that hormone differences aren't involved in race, but how does that invalidate the whole concept? TBH it sounds the same as the anti-trans argument, "it just doesn't make sense." I mean I can see people reacting like, "If we allow this then it would be easy to abuse." Well maybe, but that seems like another issue. I'm just now dipping into this and trying to understand it.

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