Trans Ideology Is In Retreat, But We Must Fight Until It’s Destroyed

The New York Times is very upset that President Trump is not respecting transgender identities. The editorial board disapproves of his executive orders rolling back gender ideology, and a piece by Amy Harmon accused him of “undermining the very idea that transgender identities are legitimate and should be recognized.”

Good.

“Gender identities” that are disconnected from our embodiment as male and female are nonsense. This is demonstrated by Harmon’s own clumsy writing; consider this clunker from a passage on public opinion regarding trans issues: “[N]early 80 percent do not believe transgender female athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.” These “transgender female athletes” are, of course, male, but gender ideology demands the destruction of clear language and thought.

This is why transgender identities must not be given recognition and legitimacy in law and culture. It is tempting for some people to cede ground to transgenderism as a sort of polite fiction. Calling the dude in a dress “she” might seem to be a white lie, sort of like making a child with cancer a captain of his favorite football team. And some people who are horrified at the transitioning of kids are nonetheless inclined to allow it for adults.

But as we have seen, this make-believe is untenable; the white lies have gotten darker, and the envelope keeps getting pushed. It was inevitable that, instead of being content with polite fictions, trans activists would force everyone to pretend the lies are 100 percent true. It is as if the make-a-wish kid started to act as if he really were the star quarterback and expected everyone else to keep going along with it. Eventually the lie, however kindly it may have been meant, becomes unsustainable and has to be broken before it breaks everything else.

Lies about essential matters are never white. This isn’t like pretending to enjoy what your aunt or sister-in-law brought to Thanksgiving dinner; it is about the basic realities of human existence. The differences between males and females are literally responsible for all of us coming into existence. Yet The New York Times apparently regards the differences between men and women as unproven, with Harmon describing supporters of the president’s actions as being motivated by “what they believe are fundamental biological differences between men and women.” 

But biology is not a matter of opinion. Politics and culture must be built on truth, which is why affirming transgender identities is always corrupting. For instance, these lies always degraded and distorted the practice of medicine. Instead of healers, so-called gender-affirming care turns doctors into cosmetic technicians who inflict physical harm on their patients to reshape clients’ bodies to resemble fantasies. This corrupted medicine allows, even encourages, people to destroy themselves. There is never any medical need to transition. Instead of compassionate care to resolve the psychological issues that have alienated patients from their natural, healthy bodies, “gender doctors” offer a lifetime of futile and harmful medicalization.

And these evils are not confined to those who receive these procedures. There are the family members who must witness the destruction — including wives whose husbands no longer want to be men, children whose fathers no longer want to be fathers, and parents whose daughters no longer wish to be daughters — and are commanded to affirm and praise it. 

This dynamic of forced affirmation eventually extends to everyone. Polite fictions become mandatory dogmas — “Trans women are women!” — and the truth is banished as offensive. And then the entire range of evils championed by the transgender movement is released on society, from putting male murderers and rapists in women’s prisons to sterilizing and mutilating children. 

These poisoned fruits of the transgender tree have consistently been implemented as the transgender movement gains power in different nations, demonstrating that they are intrinsic to it. So it would be folly to be content with only curbing the worst instances of transgender ideology rather than uprooting it. We have seen that any sort of “white lie” legitimation of transgender identities is unsustainable. 

Thus we must not weary of the battle before it is won. Our recent victories are akin to D-Day or the Battle of Midway — a turning point, but it’s still a long way to Berlin or Tokyo. Though the other side is in retreat, they are still fighting, filing lawsuits, trying to shore up their blue-state strongholds, and scheming of ways to circumvent bans on transitioning children. See, for example, this recent New England Journal of Medicine article suggesting “implementing telehealth services and out-of-state referral pathways.” 

Those who have staked their livelihoods and reputations on transgender ideology are not going to give up quietly and go away. Many who have dedicated their lives to the lie that it is possible to transition to the opposite sex will also persist in this falsehood to the bitter end. This is tragic, but it is not a kindness to affirm these lies, for doing so only perpetuates them and creates new victims.

Nathanael Blake is a senior contributor to The Federalist and a fellow in the Life and Family Initiative at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.