The child abuse and fear mongering are things that they're proud of and believe are justified. Trying to address it just makes them feel more powerful.
Calling them "weird" works because their whole ideology is based on them being the normal ones. If you take that away, you also take away their entire (false) claim to authority.
I spent 30 years thinking I was cishet (and suffering for it). When I finally realized that I'm trans, it was like a dam bursting; suddenly everything about my identity was in question. I've gone from "Maybe I'm a girl" to "I'm a trans demi ND plural therian" in three years and I don't think I'm done discovering things about myself yet.