Laugh at me or whatever, but I miss Harry Potter so I started listening to a Harry Potter podcast called MuggleCast (apparently the oldest HP podcast still running or something like that) as I do some manual job that doesn't require too much thinking and concertation. I have never listened to any podcast about Harry Potter before, so this is new to me. I landed on an episode from June 4, 2024 (so five months ago), and right at the beginning, one of the participants/hosts/whatever in this podcast, who sounds like a regular normal adult man, has some announcement to make for Pride month (I swear I didn't even know the date of the episode when I picked it) - he has been on a journey of self discovery, and is now coming out publicly as non-binary, his pronouns are now they/them, and he is so excited to live as his authentic self. He really said that, "authentic self". "My most authentic self", to be exact. Not only that, he also started taking cross-sex hormones (of course he called that hormone replacement therapy) the same way a trans woman would (he said so himself - "I’m on a similar or identical medical regimen to that used by transgender women"), so his body would be aligned with his mind. The other participants/hosts/whatever then told him how proud they are of him. He then said that it's a bit scary because these are dark times, but the Harry Potter fandom has always been very accepting. Not a single word about Rowling, btw.
Guys. You have no idea the level of cringe I have felt. I just sat there feeling an overwhelming feeling of second-hand embarrassment I cannot even describe. An adult ass man, coming out as "non-binary" like he is a 12 years old girl on tiktok. Guys, this is so so embarrassing. Cringe cringe cringe cringe cringe. Hearing an adult man say it like that is so bizarre. Like you can't be serious, right? You can't seriously believe you are "non-binary". I had to check who this guy is and how old he is. So this guy is Eric Scull, and I found a facebook post that celebrates his 27th birthday on April 23, 2015. Which means this guy is 36. 36 guys. 36. A 36 years old man calls himself non-binary and takes cross-sex hormones. What for, by the way? What does he try to achieve? Smoother skin? Looking like a man with boobs? I mean, if you are not a trans woman, what is your end goal here? To look like an androgynous twink? You are 36, dude, this isn't likely to happen. What are you doing? I suspect that perhaps "non-binary" here is just a step on the way to be a TIM, but I don't know.
Sorry guys. I had to share. It was so pathetic and I feel the second hand embarrassment again as I write this. 36 years old man. Good lord.