Are you in suburbia or somewhere else with a high concentration of normies? I've noticed that a lot of those towns/cities (including small towns) are just now hitting critical mass with transes and other assorted gender-specials, in a way that those of us in blue/hipster cities have been contending with for years now.
My working theory is that it's akin to the classic gentrification trajectory: first, the neighborhood is colonized by druggies, near-homeless gays, and near-penniless artist types. Then come the actual working artists, musicians, and other assorted scenesters. Then the gays with jobs, artists with some money, galleries, café entrepreneurs, etc. Then the trust fundies. Then the cafés become Bank of Americas, blocks get blown out and rebuilt with mixed-use condos, chain restaurants & shops, etc. The young urban professionals move in while the normies descend on the weekends to feel edgy over drinks at Buca di Beppo or Panera After Dark.
Trans is in the Panera After Dark stage. No longer edgy to the actual edgelords & avant garde, and even many of the partytime gays are getting tired of it. But the broken normies, their sullen teens, and the boomer grandparents are now flocking to it all, having recently discovered it, and finding it vaguely cool and daring. Hence the uptick of trans-identified teens in previously insulated towns & suburbs. It has finally trickled down to the normies — in particular the type of suburban liberal moms who feel deliciously naughty by attending a drag show story hour.
Just a theory!
lady
