Being transgender is a fetish
Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull said:
“I'd rather you keep your fetish at home, but as long as you're not, as long as it's not in my face, it's not, you know, it's none of my business.”
Some people conflate gender identity with sexual behaviour, and the word "fetish" borrows from a real clinical term, which can make the claim sound like it has a medical basis.
Gender identity is not a fetish. The World Health Organisation and the American Psychiatric Association are unambiguous on this: the ICD-11 and the DSM-5 both distinguish gender incongruence clearly from sexual disorders, and no credible medical or psychiatric body classifies being trans as a paraphilia or sexual behaviour. The word 'fetish' borrows from real clinical language, which is exactly why it does the damage it does, because it sounds like it might mean something. When trans people are publicly characterised as having a sexual disorder rather than a recognised aspect of human identity, the consequences are concrete: deepened stigma, rejection, and the kind of social exclusion that the research links directly to worse mental health outcomes, particularly for young people still working out who they are.
Trans people of all ages, who are publicly characterised as having a sexual disorder rather than a recognised aspect of human identity, reinforcing stigma that is directly linked to poorer mental health outcomes.
I have answered this one in full: When I say this hurts trans people, what do I actually mean?