Transgender privileges have become a linchpin issue for progressives. Of course, transgender people deserve the same rights as everybody else in a civilized society. But through sleight of hand, left-wing gender activists have changed the terms of the debate over civil rights—quite literally.
This new generation of gender-identity justice advocates wants people to feel obligated to affirm their identity—they want privileges for their difference.
There are now calls to broaden the category of transgenderism and gender dysphoria to include gender-nonconforming individuals: those who reject the biological distinction between “male” and “female,” and feel this rejection is a defining attribute of their identity. “Non-binary” individuals argue that they face social stigma and encounter the same struggles as the rest of the LGBT community. Most American civil rights movements have demanded simply that members of the relevant group not be discriminated against—think Martin Luther King and the struggle against Jim Crow. But gender non-conformism is distinct from other LGBT movements in degree and kind. This new generation of gender-identity justice advocates wants people to feel obligated to affirm their identity—they want privileges for their difference.
And if you hesitate to acknowledge these privileges or participate in the endless performance of “allyship?”
Well, then you’re going to be branded a bigot.
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Non-binary genders.[/caption]
“WELCOME TO THE NEW NORMAL, MY PRONOUNS ARE…”
A recent instructional film produced by the BBC claims that there are “more than 100 gender identities. To accommodate for this perpetually shifting landscape of personal identification and gender branding, advocates for the movement are demanding mandatory “pronoun disclosure” to normalize unconventional pronoun use: “they/them,” “xe/xer,” etc.
Advocates of gender identity extremism expect everyone else to participate in the affirmation of any given person’s particular, even ever-shifting sense of personal identification.
More radical proponents of pronoun disclosure even demand we state our pronouns at the outset of any interaction with another human being, as well as each subsequent exchange to account for people who feel their gender identity is subject to frequent fluctuation.
The language-revisionism doesn’t stop there.
Languages like that feature grammatical gender (Spanish, French, Russian, and German, for instance) are under siege by the (overwhelmingly white) gender revisionists. In American colleges and political spaces replete with progressive influence, they have successfully modified the term “Latino” (the plural descriptor for people of Latin American descent) to the gender-neutral and grammatically abhorrent term “Latinx.”
Advocates of gender identity extremism expect everyone else to participate in the affirmation of any given person’s particular, even ever-shifting sense of personal identification. The movement’s mouthpieces include celebrity Alyssa Milano and Democratic politicians like Beto O’Rourke and Julian Castro—the latter of whom made a point to virtue signal their support for the growing movement on an internationally-televised CNN town hall event.
And while many of these demands are either ignored or whole cloth rejected by the public at large, it’s impossible to deny the creeping wave of progressivism seeping into the public consciousness—and the destruction it leaves in its wake.
THE TRANSPHOBIA OF TRANS-INCLUSIVE PERFORMANCES
You might expect everyone on the left to fall in line with these increasingly absurd demands and police and re-define how everyone is expected to interact. After all—to not do so would risk “cancellation.”
But that’s not the case.
“There’s this paradox where I can go to a sports bar in North Carolina and be miss/ma’am’d all night no question, but in self-consciously trans-inclusive spaces I have to explain my pronouns and watch woke people awkwardly correct themselves every time they say ‘you guys.’”
There is a resistance against the normalization and accommodation of gender nonconformism from an unexpected sphere—transgender people.
Natalie Wynn, better known as Contrapoints, is a self-proclaimed “academic in exile” who produces extensive video content on her YouTube channel. She has been widely hailed as a powerful voice on the Left, receiving accolades from the likes of the New Yorker, which dubbed the “stylish socialist” as someone who could save YouTube from alt-right domination—a “BreadTuber.” The Verge calls Wynn, who’s undeniably elegant, the “Oscar Wilde of YouTube.” Vice likewise praised her for “cutting through today’s culture wars with clarity and logic.”
Sadly, Wynn, a passing trans woman, has now been canceled. (Moment of silence).
Though widely respected for her good-faith debates on a wide array of political topics (including trans issues), even by her conservative YouTube peers, Wynn did the unthinkable and dared to speak out against progressive orthodoxy. She disclosed that it’s more comfortable (for her) to be simply coded as a woman than have cisgender allies go out of their way to parade their pronouns for her benefit.
In a series of tweets, Wynn acknowledged her “passing privilege”—her ability to “pass” as a naturally born female. But she argued that trans-inclusive spaces in which she is flagged as a member of that community are more tedious for her than simply passing as a woman.
Speaking to another transgender journalist, Diana Tourjee—who shared a similar feeling, describing it like being treated like a unicorn—Wynn wrote, “This has happened to be before in hyperwoke spaces. Like it’s me and a bunch of cis women and we all have to go in a circle saying ‘she/her’ because I’m there.”
“There’s this paradox where I can go to a sports bar in North Carolina and be miss/ma’am’d all night no question, but in self-consciously trans-inclusive spaces I have to explain my pronouns and watch woke people awkwardly correct themselves every time they say ‘you guys,’” she continued.
At the core of her complaint is the discomfort at having progressives treat her differently because of her identity. It’s tedious, uneasy, and reeks of virtue signaling. “I guess it’s good for people who use they/them only and want only gender-neutral language. But it comes as the minor expense of semi-passable transes like me and that’s super f***ing hard for us.”
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Contrapoints on Twitter.[/caption]
In lockstep, the social justice mob descended upon her, deciding that Wynn’s feelings of affirmation when people identify her as a woman (a result of her transition that required considerable effort and investment on her part) were, in fact, selfish.
As the comment sections on her YouTube videos rapidly devolved into a heated argument between Wynn’s supporters and detractors, the mob and its justice prevailed. Goaded on by other prominent BreadTubers, who objected to her association with trans pornstar Buck Angel, the mob accused her of actively participating in discrimination against those who do not have a gender identity, whose gender identity is currently unrecognized, or have an unstable or changing gender identity.
In response, Wynn deactivated her Twitter account—a perceived victory for gender-identity extremists.
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Harry "Hbomberguy" Drewis, Leftist YouTuber.[/caption]
THE MILITANT "ALLYSHIP" OF THE LEFT
Wynn is not alone in her exasperation with the left’s pathological need to “accommodate” transgender people by militantly enforcing rituals of allyship. Sophia Narwitz, a transgender cultural commentator and journalist, writes that “transgender activists have become detrimental to my, and others', very existence.”
Not helping matters is the fact that these people are laying bombs within our language in the hope they trigger, so they themselves can become triggered. Saying 'transgendered' instead of 'transgender' can see you labeled as transphobic, as can saying 'transwomen' instead of 'trans (notice the space) women.' This is a linguistic minefield with the sole intent of catching people off guard. And those who are caught in its blast are branded as bigots.
Of course, it comes as no surprise that Narwitz, like Wynn, faced backlash for her remarks from so-called “trans allies” who accused her of promoting transphobia.
Wynn herself has repeatedly voiced her support for non-binary individuals. In one video, she spoke up against the use of the term "transtrenders"—a pejorative levied against individuals who adopt transgenderism as a fad. Her comments weren't rooted in bigotry or hatred; they were a deeply personal insight into her experiences as a (passing) transgender woman.
But the reactionary left, continually demonstrating their unwillingness to tolerate any pluralism or heterodoxy within their space, responded to her vulnerability by declaring a coup against this trans-identified community leader.
In the end, the march for progress ruthlessly devours those left behind. And nothing—not even being a transwoman—can safeguard you from progressivism’s warpath.
