Your identity is not my perception

I hear the explanation very often how people want to identify as they wish.  We all know the cultural battleground this has turned into.  But like many inorganic radical leftist arguments I believe this one is a sweetened poison pill.

The entire crux of the assertion is that people should be allowed to identify as whatever they want. Well, the dirty secret there is that was something people could always do and to my knowledge there was never or is there now a restriction on that.  You are free to think of yourself in any you wish.

What people don’t seem to separate from “I want to be what I want to be” is that is not simply at all a matter of self identification.  The lie baked into this is that it really means people want to act as they wish without consequences. Now to some degree this is fair and OK as we all have free will.  If you are a dude and you want to dress like a woman, well you do you.  That should not mean that folks are allowed to abuse you or harm you.  But those things are already illegal.  And fair treatment does not at all mean you get to be treated exactly how you please.  This is not a freedom or right anyone has.

Which brings us to perception.  Ultimately when folks say “I identify as x” what is really meant at this point is I wish to be treated in a particular manner and be perceived in a particular way even if that is contrary to the reality of what I am and even if that is not what the other person wants to do.

So let’s be clear here and I am speaking to the leftist argument being made for this and not speaking to any specific person(s).

“I identify as” , really means, I want you to treat me in a manner of my choosing even if it’s not something you wish, is against your principles or defies reality.