I am far from a Starmer superfan, but I find this reassuring on the whole. While I would absolutely love a more left leaning Labour, we’ve got so much Tory bullshit to undo, not least moving the public away from endless culture wars.
If he brings this energy to his leadership, genuinely trying to find common ground rather than playing off on polarising differences, we’ll be much better off.
You know what, I agree. I actually liked that response. He's still a bit too black and white on the biology for my liking and I still don't like that it's a debate at all (just let them be for fuck's sake) but at least he's sympathetic and respectful and it does put my mind at ease that he's not too likely to go down the Rowling "sneer at and bully all the trans people" route.
And the comments of bringing people together warm my heart. I'm sick of the fighting too, I'm sick of (more a Twitter thing) "so-and-so is an irredeemable piece of shit who's life should be made miserable because they have a bad opinion on this one issue". Admittedly often the vocal ones ARE horrible in other ways and cosy up to the far right but... maybe not always?
I've also got caught up in it. For most of my life people commented that I'm very diplomatic and have good skills in at least understanding both perspectives of an issue. Picard was my hero growing up as he did this all the time instead of just shooting everything. Calm things down, talk them out, respect the "enemy" and that they probably have feelings and traumas that got them to that point, find some common ground. I've always had heroes like that, Naruto, much of MLP, the Doctor (can't get enough of one of the Capaldi Doctor speeches on that), even some of the rules of parliament itself. I find the Christmas Truce probably the most beautiful moment in history (at least for a moment. It's also one of the saddest as they have to get back to killing each other afterwards)
Years of hanging out on forums that are very polarised on one side and on Twitter etc and being told things like "you must be a horrible fence sitting centrist who just wants to please people and doesn't believe in anything" and that I'm part of the problem for not stepping fully over to their side and flinging the grenades over, repeatedly derided for it, did eventually wear me down to the point of "alright I'll get entrenched on the side I lean towards then". I've been one of those slagging people off on Twitter and calling them cunts for being on the wrong side of something and what does it achieve?
Now, don't get me wrong I do also understand the argument I've been given - particularly by the BLM movement. They've been fighting for equality for the best part of a century, probably longer if you look at cycles of racism. Told by centrists and diplomats to calm down, let us talk with you and find middle ground and work this out... and then when they've nicely shut up about it nothing changes. So they've understandably snapped and said "fuck this, the only way to get anything to change is to riot". I think they have a point with that too. Protest needs to at least be disruptive otherwise it's just people standing around politely with placards and being ignored. We do need people who argue strongly for their side. But in positions of power and *by and large, on the whole* we need to still be respecting each other as human beings, trying to find common ground, even seeing some kind of good in the enemy, and working from there.
It's easy to look at someone like Starmer and assume the worst, that he just changes his views to whatever will get him into power. But maybe he's just one of those who tries to put himself in others' shoes, which can easily come across like that when it's not meant to.
I do think we need this actually. I know that "calm polite and diplomatic" doesn't tend to start any revolutions but look at the mess that polarisation and being at each others' throats has made.
At the risk of being lynched: maybe he's right?