“Queer is trendy”???
truthorfiction.com/the-history-of-left-handedness/
I am getting this a lot. People wonder why we have so many more LGBTQ people today, and want to dismiss it as a dangerous fad.
My response: It is safer to be who you are. We have a long way to go still, but it’s safer to be queer than it was a generation or more ago. Saying that there were fewer LGBTQ folks in the past may have to do with how unsafe it was to be yourself in the past.
A related example is left-handedness. “They used to punish children for being left-handed and force them to write with their right hand. Guess what happened after that stopped?” Check out the graph. I don’t hear anyone saying left-handedness suddenly became “trendy.”
Once society stops saying a characteristic is bad, more people admit they have that characteristic. "Research shows that our so-called choices are constrained by the available options. When more options are available, people can and do make different choices" (Women in IT: The Facts Infographic [2016 Update]).
Another example of a spike is autism. “Autism rates in the United States increased from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 54 in 2016, and the rate now stands at 1 in 44 children” according to the CDC. I don’t hear anyone claiming that autism is “trendy.”
(Side note: Not all gender diverse people also experience autism, but "As many as 40% to 80% of autistics are non-heterosexual, and children who are ADHD or autistic are more likely to experience gender identity differently," according to https://neuroclastic.com/double-rainbows-sexual-orientation-gender-identity-and-neurodiversity/ With an increase in autism awareness comes an increase in gender variation awareness.)
In addition to these facts, here’s an opinion: So what if God saved the most interesting people for the last days, when it would be safer for them? Even Pres. Dallin H. Oaks said, "What is changing—and what needs to change—is helping Church members respond sensitively and thoughtfully when they encounter same-sex attraction in their own families, among other Church members, or elsewhere” (see Gospel Topics: Same Sex Attraction: Church leaders). I think the same goes for our transgender siblings.
Love, just love.
-Marci