I don't really agree at all though. Someone referenceing a joke isn't going to lead to more transphobia. The type of people who follow Ellis are the type of people who already support trans people and would understand that the joke isn't some attack on trans people.
Also sure it doesn't have to be a one or the other situation I'm more saying there are thousands of other issues in the world we could be focusing on instead of something that won't matter in a week.
You are essentially saying that it has to be one or the other, and that effort spent on this issue is wasted that could go towards these other issues that you put more weight on. You're also assuming a lot about the type of people who read that kind of tweet, and the level of signal boosting that a joke like that can receive. Despite people wanting to hold Contrapoints up as an icon against transmedicalism and for NB people, there are people who watch her videos who are truscum, people who watch her videos who are incels, and people who are on the right who watch them.
The people who watch these videos are not always people on the left, and they aren't people who fully understand the context of these jokes and the impact that they can have. These are people who might have heard attack helicopter jokes in their circle, see someone on the left using one just like it, and never question that something like that could be wrong. There are a TON of issues with someone on the left, especially someone cis, using this kind of joke in this manner as it not only fails to actually mock Ricky Gervais in any way but just perpetuates the transphobic jokes that people use against us on a regular basis.
You're partially right that in a week's time no one will likely be talking about Lindsay Ellis in particular when it comes to this joke, but the concept behind the joke and the way that people mock our identities will still be an issue then and it will be for some time. I don't see these conversations as unproductive or meaningless as the larger context is that these jokes are unacceptable for someone cis to be using while potentially opening some people's eyes to what these jokes are really saying. By pushing back against the idea that our identities are jokes that can be compared to inanimate objects, it will reduce misgendering over time as they have one less barrier to accepting us as valid. I know that she was trying to use this joke ironically, but it didn't work in the way that she intended and I've seen quite a few trans people speak up about how it makes them uncomfortable even in this context.
