That Trans Thread

[Angrboda]

The point is truth and popularity are unrelated, contrary to your prior linking them.

I have never linked truth and popularity. 

"So spineless opportunists like Gladwell have to choose between supporting what's right or supporting what's popular." This clearly implies that right and popular will be at odds. That isn't necessarily true, unless you're speaking solely about trans issues, and even then it's not a given because your perception of what's right may itself be wrong, and what's popular may change. Prior to the decade of Obergefell, homosexual marriage rights were unpopular; that changed. More importantly, a politician can champion certain trans rights but not others without "waffling" as you put it, as trans rights aren't one large undifferentiated bag for which trans participation in sports is the bellwether.

I pointed out that the values you and I believe, about trans people, are not shared by most Americans. I noted that this may make it difficult for politicians who share our values to win elections. 

Since you were addressing someone else, it's a hard stretch to imply that you had anything in mind about what I believe when you made the original statement. So you're making an unwarranted assumption, likely based on stereotyping and prejudice. As to whether it's shared by Americans would make it difficult for a politician to win, I'd point out that it's not set in stone that the politician must change to adapt to the public opinion as public opinions can and do change. Indeed, it's the function of leaders to change public opinion. So it's not a given that the choice you claim is necessary is in fact necessary.

As for the non sequitur, you're the one who brought up slavery. I believe that in the case of slavery, as in the case of working toward equal rights for other minorities, strong moral leadership is necessary. Precisely because what is good is frequently not linked with what is popular.

As noted earlier, that's an opinion, and so your argument here is ipse dixit and need not be accepted. The point I was making with the example still holds.