Countering Cotter: A Knockout Summary of the Inconvenient Truth About His Flawed Case Against Transgender Identities

Thomas Cotter's "What is Gender?" blog series is a dumpster fire of fallacious reasoning, blatant misrepresentations, and harmful rhetoric. Under the thin veneer of "logical analysis," Cotter launches a series of bad-faith attacks on transgender identities, using poorly made arguments while simultaneously ignoring the mountain of scientific evidence and lived experiences that contradict his narrow-minded views.

Cotter fancies himself a bold truth-teller, bravely questioning the "incoherent ideology" of transgender activism. But in reality, he's just a pale shadow of Matt Walsh. Cotter's attempts to ape Walsh's reductive "what is a woman?" shtick fails to land as the offering on the altars of Walsh and Shapiro as he tries to emulate, and only serves to highlight the glaring flaws in both of their arguments. It's like watching someone trying to knit a copy of their favorite scarf, only to watch as pulling the thread unravels the both garments.

Throughout his series, Cotter employs a smorgasbord of logical fallacies, each more dishonest than the last. He demands simplistic definitions for complex concepts, then declares victory when his opponents can't reduce decades of research and lived experience into a neat soundbite. He gleefully misrepresents the arguments for transgender rights, painting them as nothing more than "feelings" and "delusions" while conveniently ignoring the vast body of evidence that says otherwise.

Cotter's approach to evidence is a farce. He cherry-picks fringe studies and anecdotes that support his preconceived notions, while dismissing the overwhelming scientific consensus that transgender identities are real, valid, and worthy of respect. His relentless misgendering and dehumanizing rhetoric isn't just intellectually lazy - it's downright dangerous for some of society's most vulnerable members.

Ultimately, Cotter's series tells us nothing about the "incoherence" of transgender ideology, but it speaks volumes about the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of his own position. This isn't a good-faith attempt to grapple with a complex issue - it's a calculated effort to sow confusion, bigotry, misinformation, and hate.

And let's be clear: this kind of rhetoric has real, devastating consequences. It contributes to the discrimination, harassment, and violence that transgender people face every day. It misleads well-meaning parents, undermines access to life-saving medical care, and further marginalizes an already vulnerable population. Cotter may think he's just asking questions, or that he has the magic philosophical answer to trans folk and “gender”, but his words have the power to cause real harm.

We have a moral obligation to call out this kind of cynical, fallacious, harmful argumentation wherever we see it. Not just for the sake of intellectual integrity, but for the safety and dignity of trans and cis people alike - everywhere. We must demand better from our fellow human beings - more empathy, more respect for evidence, and more commitment to arguing in good faith.

If you want to see a point-by-point refutation of every logical fallacy, factual error, and rhetorical cheap shot in Cotter's series, check out the full takedown due out the following day here. But the core message is clear: Thomas Cotter's "What is Gender?" series is an intellectual failure and a moral travesty. And we all have a duty to call it out as such.

Is there someone you believe needs to be held accountable for their harmful rhetoric or actions? Someone who kicks down on the vulnerable and marginalized? Let me know in the comments below who you think deserves to have their arguments and ideas critically examined, or send me an email at PITTpeople@substack.com. Together, we can train our minds, sharpen our arguments, and go toe-to-toe with bigotry and bad-faith argumentation. In this fight for intellectual integrity and moral courage, we'll always strive to keep our gloves up, and our standards high.