Mostly either religious, or TERF stuff. By which I mean _real_ trans-exclusionary radical feminism stuff (TERF has come to have a much broader colloquial meaning). And it was _niche_. A number of European countries and US states passed gender recognition laws based on self-id, with minimal fuss. Even as late as 2015, Ireland passed such a law with no-one except the religious loons caring, while the marriage referendum around the same time attracted far more fearmongering.
This kind of moral panic around kids is new (though, as I mentioned, it very much echoes the homophobic movement a few decades ago), as is the bathrooms thing.
I’m convinced that its emergence at least in this part of the world was almost entirely due to the British right needing a new wedge issue after Brexit; you see it being suddenly pushed very hard out of nowhere there post-2016, and especially post-2021. From Britain, it leaked out, with European transphobia having a strong British flavour.
This kind of moral panic around kids is new (though, as I mentioned, it very much echoes the homophobic movement a few decades ago), as is the bathrooms thing.
I’m convinced that its emergence at least in this part of the world was almost entirely due to the British right needing a new wedge issue after Brexit; you see it being suddenly pushed very hard out of nowhere there post-2016, and especially post-2021. From Britain, it leaked out, with European transphobia having a strong British flavour.