like saying that trans people look really weird and ugly and they shouldn't have transitioned. or calling any tough-looking woman they see - mockingly - "a trans", exactly like it's a derogatory term.
You could always just not talk to the person. If it's offensive I just wouldn't talk to them and ignore them. Or at least not about the issue if it's someone close to you outside of the issue.
That's usually my go-to option if it's a friend or a collegue, but when it's a close family member, it's pretty hard to do. Still, thanks for the reply, Glis :)
On the "pearls before swine" principle, I don't usually bother. There was one exception when I lost my temper with a guy who said something disparaging about one of my family members. He backed down very quickly when confronted by anger but I was under no illusion about what his comments would have been when I could no longer hear him.
Such people aren't worth wasting words on. Their minds are closed.
I have had stuff like that happen with racist comments. No matter if I am close to them or not, I speak up and tell them in no uncertain terms that it's not funny or to just stop it because I don't agree and never will. I ended a close friendship due to that kind of behavior. I did make an attempt to explain that it made me very uncomfortable and they were using words that I found highly offensive. No matter what I said, that person's prejudice was too ingrained for them to adjust their habit. So, end of friendship for me.
Change the topic, people are allowed to have their opinions, if we are not careful there will be no freedom of speech because too many people will be walking around feeling offended. What an angry bunch of people we will become. Change the topic to the biggest scam in history the "federal reserve system," etc, topics that change views on matters that are important to everyone and do not place views on personal differences. Many people who say hateful personal things, are simply angry, best direct that anger towards something that actually tells them why that might be.
I agree people are entitled to their opinions and, if it is a client or someone you can't avoid, like a family member, a change of topic is a very good idea. But when it comes to friendships, intolerance to the point of belittling along with abusive language, is a deal breaker for me.
I knew PC would come up somehow, but this isn't really about being offended of the little things, this is expecting people to be decent and of they're just a bunch of a**holes, then calling them out on it rather than just be part of a toxic conversation.
This post was edited by nobodylair.37 at April 3, 2017 6:41 PM MDT