Identity is not an opinion

This is an example of an opinion I disagree with. I can post this without agreeing with it.
This post is not about opinions I disagree with, though.

Another person's identity is not something you get an "opinion" on. Yesterday I was chatting on facebook with an acquaintance* I've known for about 15 years but have rarely spoken with. He made an extremely trans-hating comment, so I asked for clarification. I mean, there's no way I could have heard it correctly. I mean, we met at a Pagan festival where he sold me a $15 Bid pen and gave me a free bottle of mead with it. He must be open minded, right? Yes, I know, overly positive and hopeful statement. Blah. Anyway, at my request for further elucidation, Magpie* reiterated his transphobia and called it "just his opinion." He repeated that statement several times and with smiley face emoticons said he hoped I wouldn't think badly of him for his “opinion."

Well, guess what. I do think badly of him. I think badly of his belief that he can determine someone else’s sense of self. I think badly of his inability to understand why the hatred he embraced is not an opinion but a lack of belief in basic human rights. I think badly of him, period. Even when I used personal examples as analogies of what defining my identity would mean, he continued to repeat that it is just “his opinion” and *smiley face* he hopes I won’t hate him for it.

I’m not trans. I can’t experience what it means to be trans or be treated as less than human for my gender identity. I don't want to experience it, actually. I don't want to deal with the level of prejudice and discrimination that goes along with being your true self.

Here are some hypothetical examples of someone calling my identity their opinion. Ok... I have actually heard several of these so they aren't all hypothetical. Some of these are ridiculous, and they are meant to be. These are analogies to demonstrate to other asshats like Magpie the absurdity of calling someone's identity an opinion.

• "Hey, you're not bisexual. You're heterosexual. I don't believe in bisexuality. That's just my opinion."
• "You're not white. You're just a person. I don't believe in race. That's just my opinion." 
• "You're not a business writer. You're an administrator. I don't think that your profession exists. That's just my opinion."
• "It's not possible to be single, so stop saying you are. You're married. I don't believe in divorce. That's just my opinion."
• "You aren't a neo-Pagan. You were baptized Episcopalian, and that defines your adult religious self as Christian. That's just my opinion."
• "You ain't a Jersey Girl. You don't have the accent of people on Jersey Shore so you're a Massachusetts chick, now. That's just my opinion."
• "You are not a person worthy of human dignity. You're a thing created specifically for me. I define you, and I don't believe in anything other than myself."

Feel free to add your own ironic joke about my identity here. You can joke about your own identity if you want to, too. Two jokes would allow me to say to, too, and two next to each other.

Don't make ironic jokes on anybody else's identity without their say so. And don't post at all if you mean your hatred spiel.

If you agree with any of the shit I wrote in bullets, don't fucking comment at all. I'm in a pissy mood, and I will delete your asshat comment without discussion.

*This conversation has been brought to you courtesy of Magpie**, a white man who believes it is his opinion and right to define everybody else based on his own prejudices. When he says he can't get a date because he's short, what he means is he can't get a date because he's a pretentious jackass.

**Yes, I named names. I'm a bitch like that.