First up. We should never be apologising for bothering anyone. People can and should take up space in society and argue passionately for what they believe and for their corner - that’s what a pluralistic society is all about. Nobody is small potatoes, everybody is all potatoes.

Having said that, there’s something going functionally wrong with the current discussions across the board. I think it’s likely social media to blame and people failing to calibrate where they think the discussion should be centred.

I have generally found Steve QJ to be a reasonable debater. He doesn’t pull his punches, and that makes him fun to challenge but I’ll confess I’m more familiar with his race stuff than his trans-stuff. He’s had a fairly epic ascent up the Medium ranks - but he does get involved in his comments section still and he will defend his thoughts.

I think society is still working a lot of stuff out. There are complicated questions which need to be asked and answered, but very little of that actually happens because people are too busy having rage. Sometimes that rage seems disproportionate on both sides and so I sit in the centre and read different things and put my thoughts down. I can tell when I’ve got it right because NOBODY is happy with me and I get slammed from both sides. That’s the Penguin way.

In the meantime tho, it was lovely to meet you. Continue to potato your way to greatness and don’t believe every angry article you read by Texans. There’s nuance to be found out in the world.:o)