“Change My Mind” Toxicity

Written by: Emma Florez

 

We all saw you camped outside IDX in your khakis and blue blazer, “There are only two genders. Change my mind,” emblazened across the front of your table.

All I can say is, how dare you? How dare you position yourself in one of the most frequented spots on campus and question the lived experiences of students who passed you? How can you think you are owed an explanation for someone else’s existence? Where do you get that ego?

The whole “change my mind” movement is toxic. Stating a controversial opinion as fact and challenging potentially vulnerable people to prove it wrong is the most egregious display of ego possible. You act like this is a forum for fair discussion while you sit safe and sound behind your table. Pretending that your viewpoint is superior to others actually inhibits real conversation. All it does is hurt people and feed your ego.

How dare you force people to print your banner when it went against their beliefs? And don’t pretend that you wouldn’t whine about “persecution” if they told you they were uncomfortable and wished you’d take your business elsewhere.Champlain is a community of inclusion and welcome. Stating that people who do not identify as male or female are wrong and have to prove their gender to you undermines that. I’m all for seeing different points of view, but your flagrant dismissal of the mission of the college makes me question if this is the right school for you.

Maybe I’m not the right person to be writing about this. I fit comfortably in my gender assigned at birth and didn’t even talk to you.  Maybe those of us whose beliefs align with those of the college ought to engage these people more often. Maybe we have something to learn or something to share. I just hate to see people hurt by egotistical performance art.