- Victor C. Bolles
LG vs. T
In January of this year (2019), a group of radical, feminist lesbians held a panel discussion on their concerns about the proposed Equality Act (H.R. 2282 sponsored by David Cicilline D-RI with 201 cosponsors) and how it would affect women, in general, and lesbians, in particular. The discussion was held at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, because no leftist or liberal group would host the event.
The event was significant because these radical lesbians were opposed to the bill because, as it is currently proposed, the bill would redefine gender identity as gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or characteristics, regardless of the individual's designated sex at birth. According to Andrew Sullivan in New York Magazine (the Nature of Sex, February 1, 2019), “they argued that sex was fundamentally biological, and not socially constructed, and that there is a difference between women and trans women that needs to be respected.” Such pronouncements do not suit the progressive left that wants solidarity within the identity groups that must look to the progressives for political leadership and guidance. This solidarity explains the inability of the lesbian group to find a non-conservative forum that was willing to host their event.
Tennis star Martina Navratilova, who came out as a lesbian in 1981, declared that the possibility of trans-genders playing as women, “It’s insane and it’s cheating” in an op-ed in the Sunday Times.
Progressives believe that group solidarity is the path to political power and they have been largely correct in their thinking. Blacks vote overwhelmingly for Democrats and were signed up for President Obama’s progressive agenda no matter where their personal beliefs lay. Hispanics are also largely reliable Democratic votes (except for the Cubans, some of whom have tasted socialism first hand). The LGBTQ community has also been counted on to be reliably Democratic, which is why they were so opposed to the event at the Heritage Foundation.
The progressive Democratic “big tent” covers all sorts of external differences that separate people (such as gender (however defined), color, ethnicity, or culture) but demands ideological purity and solidarity among these very same people. This is in line with their ideology that maintains that the community is more important than the individual. Any law or policy that benefits the community (identity group) must be supported by all members of that community. Not supporting such law or policy is not a difference of opinion it is betrayal. Betrayal for placing an individual’s opinion ahead of the group’s supposed benefit from the law or policy.
This is why the lesbians were denied a venue. They were betrayers of the LGBTQ community. This is why conservative blacks like Senator Tim Scott or Wall Street Journal editorial writer Jason Riley as so vilified. This is why the left hates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio but fawns over Beto O’Rourke (while he is not Hispanic - even though his name sounds Hispanic - he spouts pure progressive ideology).
The Democratic Party already has 12 contenders running to be the Democratic candidate for president in 2020 even though we have almost two years until the election. So far, most of these politicians enthusiastically endorse the progressive left agenda, including even freshman Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ Green New Deal. It will not take much of a progressive push to drive them further left in order to get through the primary season. In the general election the winning candidate will swerve to the center just President Obama did in 2008. But don’t believe it. If elected, the progressive winner will swerve back to the leftists' agenda (and don’t forget that once a socialist comes into power they are hard to get rid of, just ask a Venezuelan).
And while we’re at it:
There is another, even darker, aspect of group identity politics. The progressive handlers of these identity groups (sometimes called community activists) are not really interested in improving the lives of the people within the group. If things were going well for the group, the individual members of the group might lose their group solidarity. In order to foster group solidarity, the group must remain isolated and alienated from the rest of society. They are victims and must remain victims in order for the progressive left to grab power. It is only their progressive handlers that can interface with government to force government to provide the compensation that the group identity requires. And group solidarity in the voting booth means the progressive handlers not only control the identity groups but also government.
This is why progressives are so opposed to gentrification. Gentrification allows individuals in poor communities a chance to sell out at good prices and move to better neighborhoods but it breaks up the poor community. Progressive don’t want their poor identity group members to move up to the middle class and join mainstream society. They want them to remain in the poor (often crime ridden) communities. They don’t want these people to assimilate American mainstream culture and begin to dream the American Dream. They want to convince members of these communities that the American Dream is beyond their grasp and only the progressive handlers can relieve their misery.
This is why progressives are so intent on pushing the LGBTQ agenda such as endorsing the Equality Act. They want to expand the size and increase the loyalty of this group. Homosexuals and lesbians have been a part of human cultures for millennia, sometimes accepted (as in ancient Greece) and sometimes feared and hated (as in Islamic countries and much of Africa). There probably have been transgender people throughout history but they are less well documented. Often persecuted, many people in the LGBTQ community have remained in the closet so their numbers are under counted. Nevertheless, they represent only a fraction of the total population.
The effort of progressives to expand the rights of transgender individuals has been notable. But so too has been their efforts to expand the transgender population. As the American Psychological Association notes, “transgender persons not uncommonly seek medical services to make their bodies more congruent with their gender identities.” But these days it is not considered ethical to try and make their gender identities more congruent with their bodies.
Human beings are complex organisms. But science and medicine are on the verge of astounding medical breakthroughs in our understanding of how human bodies function. 23 and Me, using a sample of my DNA, can correctly estimate my eye color, hair color, complexion, physical build and many other factors. And not only describe, but also develop therapies and treatments to address any health issues my DNA points to. People do not suffer from gender confusion (dysphoria) because they are evil or because they made a rational decision to suffer from this condition. It is the chemicals and hormones that their bodies produce that create this confusion. As children mature and grow the chemicals their bodies produce begin to change, which causes confusion. If these chemicals caused life threatening maladies or genetically based illnesses, doctors would not hesitate to try and find a cure for such conditions. But when such conditions relate to the reproductive system it is hands off.
Religiously based boot camps that try to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals are more than cruel, they are useless. Prayer and whatever other religious mysteries they employ are unlikely to alter the type or amount of the chemicals produced by their subjects’ bodies. And without alteration of the chemicals produced the impulses and confusion will only continue. But progressives are trying to lock children as young as elementary school into the LGBTQ community and block any attempt to help such children reconnect to their gender at birth. Surely gender reassignment surgeries are much more cruel than attempting therapies to adjust the chemicals that are causing the confusion.
Of course, such treatments may not solve all or any of these medical problems suffered by the LGBTQ community. But that’s not the point. We are on the verge of tremendous medical breakthroughs and these unfortunate people may be able to benefit from such research and live more normal lives if such research is allowed to continue. But the progressive left does not want these people to live more normal lives. They want them to remain victims snugly in the LGBTQ community where they will provide reliable votes for the progressive agenda.
