# What do we do to fight fake news? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 21, 2016, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-to-fight-fake-news/772634 "2016-11-21T11:10:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-to-fight-fake-news/772634/121 "2016-12-12T03:27:56Z")
> [@Calico\_Jack](#): > > Plus in some cases, the people in question didn’t even have to provide medial proof they’d been diagnosed as transgender, meaning that anyone could just claim they were and gain access to the bathrooms. In some cases rapists and perverts used this as a way to get access to women and girls. Any evidence of this happening? I’m dubious because toilets are a _public place_. Yes, it’s true you’re unlikely to find any rock concerts staged there, but people can walk in freely unannounced at any time, making them a pretty poor choice of place to commit a crime. And of course to reiterate the other main point: why no concern about letting a 14 year old boy, say, use a mens room, if supposedly it’s the place where pervs go to prey on the weak? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-to-fight-fake-news/772634/122 "2016-12-12T05:26:20Z")
> [@Calico\_Jack](#): > > That’s just the gender schema theory: > > [Gender schema theory - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_schema_theory) > > But sex hormones in the body such as testosterone play an influence on brain development, so no you can’t treat the sex of the physical body and the physical brain as completely unrelated, as they’re interlinked. Ultimately the brain is just another organ in the body. My description was mildly simplified, but I don’t really see how this negates my point. I’m not sure that gender schema theory is what I described at all, as that seems to be dealing with something else entirely. There’s clearly a link between brain development and hormones, but that doesn’t change the fact that transgender people have different brain structures and seem to clearly _think_ differently than cisgender people. > [@](#): > > Apples to oranges, because being a ‘true transgender’, or being born with the brain structure not matching the body isn’t the same as just being a transvestite. And nobody is advocating giving transvestites access to the women’s restroom, as GIGOBuster pointed out. > [@](#): > > Plus in some cases, the people in question didn’t even have to provide medial proof they’d been diagnosed as transgender, meaning that anyone could just claim they were and gain access to the bathrooms. In some cases rapists and perverts used this as a way to get access to women and girls. I honestly haven’t heard of a single case of this happening. There’s [no evidence](http://time.com/4314896/transgender-bathroom-bill-male-predators-argument/) that these laws increase sexual assault, and indeed [it’s hard to find a _single_ case where this has happened](https://mic.com/articles/114066/statistics-show-exactly-how-many-times-trans-people-have-attacked-you-in-bathrooms#.Irup5qVAy). > [@](#): > > There’s no evidence that pedophilic thoughts are ‘genetic’, or that the development of pedophilic urges is equatable to the way that homosexuality is said to develop. Like any other sexual orientation, the main evidence we have to go on is the say-so of those who hold it. Genetic or not, it does not appear _chosen_. Indeed, I can’t really imagine anyone who would _choose_ to be attracted to children. Can you? Can you imagine _choosing_ to want to belong to the single most hated group in society given an alternative? > [@](#): > > Plus, the author that Salon hosted was outed as a member of a genuine pedophile message board which advocated actual sex acts with children, not just a ‘no contact pedohile’ like he claimed. I consider this largely irrelevant; the fact is that so-called “gold star” pedophiles exist, and many of them struggle daily with their sexual orientation. > [@](#): > > Actually there have been ‘campaigns’ with actually medically obese people using slogans like ‘fuck your body standards’, so how’s that any different than smokers coming out and chanting ‘fuck your health standards’? Not sure what this has to do with science. Yeah, many fat people are sick of being treated like dirt because they’re fat, of feeling like they cannot be beautiful or respected because they’re overweight - whether that means “400 pounds” or “not a size zero”, because believe me, there are plenty of folks who have gotten shit for being a healthy weight. Of course, trying to get people to treat you like a human being despite your weight, or being _attractive_ despite your weight, is not the same thing as rejecting the idea that being overweight is unhealthy. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-to-fight-fake-news/772634/123 "2016-12-12T07:45:13Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Then what are you doing here? I’d like to apologize for this. **Calico Jack** , while we clearly disagree on a lot of things, you’re apparently able and (more importantly) willing to make your case with reasoned arguments, which is a lot more than I can say for many new members in the great debates section. This was unfair on my part, and I’m sorry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-to-fight-fake-news/772634.md?page=6)