Should people really be able to identify as whatever they wish?

I’ve seen some pretty ridiculous commentary from people (piers Morgan 🙄) claiming that the gender debate has gone too far, and it’s getting to the stage that people will attempt to identify as whatever they wish.

A different species, different age, different race, whatever.

Now I understand from most people this is just an attempt to make mockery of the trans community, but I’ve definitely come across some stories of people identifying as something which they are clearly not.

Do you think in the future our society could look like this?

In the most tolerant way, if someone genuinely felt they were a different species or something, I think we could safely assume they were suffering from mental illness.

At one point, gay & transgender people were considered to have a mental illness. Obviously we know this is not the case now days although I’m sure some would like to dispute it. NOT that I’m comparing this to someone with transgender! I’m just stating that’s how it was viewed in the past.

How do we know that this isn’t a genuine thing for people and society / science just hasn’t progressed to that stage yet?

Note- this isn’t a debate on transgender people, this is just what lead me to this topic. I’ve tried to tread very carefully writing this post as to not offend anyone. I am not at all comparing the two scenarios.