Geoffrey:I do, however, think that how we speak can inlfuence how we think. When I was younger, I would defend transfolk and recite the rhetoric regarding respecting them, even though in my head I thought they were freaks. I wouldn't say it out loud though, because I felt like that would be bad and disrespectful. After a couple years, I went to college and we talked about transgender issues in Allied in Price (our LGBTQ group on campus), and I found out that some of the kids I knew there were trans. Knowing intellectually that hating someone for being gender non-conforming was a jerk thing to do made it easier to get over the surprise and stay friends with them (and gain more trans friends as the years go by). Now you'll find me helping the local Trans Coalition with their grassroots campaigns.