Good summary, and the GLBT point was quite relevant. Gays asked for the freedom to exist without punishment, the freedom to have sexual relationships with whom they wish, and the freedom to marry whom they love, which never denied freedoms to anyone else. I suspect when the zeitgeist reframes this as an issue of women having the freedom to compete in sports fairly (a hard-won freedom which includes title-IX issues), then the sadness of biological men preventing women athletes from competing will be stopped. I’m waiting for the first Title-IX challenge, which may redefine the “playing field” so to speak. “Freedom to compete unfairly” won’t work very well as a rallying cry.
Good article! I think it's great that women's groups are able to leverage your knowledge for these more significant events or protests such as this NCAA swim competition. You can help them stand ground against claims made against them.
I think it was also really important that you engaged the opposition, listened to what they have to say, and then offered alternative with data. Given that you sensed the passion I would assume this also means emotionally driven thought. It's very hard to persuade people when in this emotional reasoning vs logical reasoning but it sounds like you were able to make at least one member think more deeply about what they were standing for and begin to ask questions. This is the first step! And they'll likely go look up the studies after talking to you. In this same way that ideas can spread exponentially I think they can also decrease. As you educate gender activists and they are viewed as defecting it might cause observers to also start questioning.
Always tough to stay patient and calm during these but sounds like you did it well! Keep up the good work. This article gives an optimistic outlook on this area and is good to hear in these troubling times.
Thank you for this article. As a GC female I am continuously frustrated at the lack of discourse on all topics dealing with trans issues. I can talk rational, calmly and produce all sorts of facts and statistics and the response is usually, "You're transphobic", "You're a terf", or worse. I'm now convinced that's the strategy, keep them dumb and loud.
Schools have utterly failed in their mission to properly educate, but have succeeded swimmingly in indoctrination. That a college student didn't know what a literature review is tells me that whomever is paying for that "education" should ask for a refund.
I've enjoyed reading your perspective, Colin, and decided that I needed to pony up for a subscription!
I'm someone who has always been sympathetic to transpeople, but the boundary expansion, to the point of erasing women has turned me into a TERF. And I am unapologetic about it.
"But unlike the current trans rights movement that’s fundamentally rooted in Queer Theory, the gay rights movement never required anybody to adopt reality-denying ideologies, and that’s what gave it such strength."
Thank you! As a gay person who was politically active in the 90s and early 00s, and I can personally attest to the truth of this statement. We weren't asking government to redefine the army; we just wanted to be able to join it. Same with marriage, housing, employment, etc.
Honestly, the gay community is slowly tearing itself apart over queerness, and it's tearing ME apart. I've never felt so alienated from gay activism.
New subscriber here. Unfortunately I don't believe gender ideology is on life support. How much pushback to Thomas winning an NCAA championship has there been? Does the NCAA have any intention of changing its policy? I don't think so.
The federal Equality Act, supported by ALL Democrats, would allow any man to declare himself to be a woman, and then enter any women's space or organization or event, and make it illegal to stop him. This is already the law in California and New York.
You are of course aware of how many of your biologist and medical professional colleagues support the "sex is a spectrum" nonsense.
Facts are not enough to defeat this.
I recommend reading N.S. Lyons to learn about how bad the current situation is; e.g.,
Good summary, and the GLBT point was quite relevant. Gays asked for the freedom to exist without punishment, the freedom to have sexual relationships with whom they wish, and the freedom to marry whom they love, which never denied freedoms to anyone else. I suspect when the zeitgeist reframes this as an issue of women having the freedom to compete in sports fairly (a hard-won freedom which includes title-IX issues), then the sadness of biological men preventing women athletes from competing will be stopped. I’m waiting for the first Title-IX challenge, which may redefine the “playing field” so to speak. “Freedom to compete unfairly” won’t work very well as a rallying cry.
Good article! I think it's great that women's groups are able to leverage your knowledge for these more significant events or protests such as this NCAA swim competition. You can help them stand ground against claims made against them.
I think it was also really important that you engaged the opposition, listened to what they have to say, and then offered alternative with data. Given that you sensed the passion I would assume this also means emotionally driven thought. It's very hard to persuade people when in this emotional reasoning vs logical reasoning but it sounds like you were able to make at least one member think more deeply about what they were standing for and begin to ask questions. This is the first step! And they'll likely go look up the studies after talking to you. In this same way that ideas can spread exponentially I think they can also decrease. As you educate gender activists and they are viewed as defecting it might cause observers to also start questioning.
Always tough to stay patient and calm during these but sounds like you did it well! Keep up the good work. This article gives an optimistic outlook on this area and is good to hear in these troubling times.
Thank you for this article. As a GC female I am continuously frustrated at the lack of discourse on all topics dealing with trans issues. I can talk rational, calmly and produce all sorts of facts and statistics and the response is usually, "You're transphobic", "You're a terf", or worse. I'm now convinced that's the strategy, keep them dumb and loud.
Schools have utterly failed in their mission to properly educate, but have succeeded swimmingly in indoctrination. That a college student didn't know what a literature review is tells me that whomever is paying for that "education" should ask for a refund.
I've enjoyed reading your perspective, Colin, and decided that I needed to pony up for a subscription!
I'm someone who has always been sympathetic to transpeople, but the boundary expansion, to the point of erasing women has turned me into a TERF. And I am unapologetic about it.
"But unlike the current trans rights movement that’s fundamentally rooted in Queer Theory, the gay rights movement never required anybody to adopt reality-denying ideologies, and that’s what gave it such strength."
Thank you! As a gay person who was politically active in the 90s and early 00s, and I can personally attest to the truth of this statement. We weren't asking government to redefine the army; we just wanted to be able to join it. Same with marriage, housing, employment, etc.
Honestly, the gay community is slowly tearing itself apart over queerness, and it's tearing ME apart. I've never felt so alienated from gay activism.
New subscriber here. Unfortunately I don't believe gender ideology is on life support. How much pushback to Thomas winning an NCAA championship has there been? Does the NCAA have any intention of changing its policy? I don't think so.
The federal Equality Act, supported by ALL Democrats, would allow any man to declare himself to be a woman, and then enter any women's space or organization or event, and make it illegal to stop him. This is already the law in California and New York.
You are of course aware of how many of your biologist and medical professional colleagues support the "sex is a spectrum" nonsense.
Facts are not enough to defeat this.
I recommend reading N.S. Lyons to learn about how bad the current situation is; e.g.,
https://theupheaval.substack.com/p/no-the-revolution-isnt-over
Liked the coverage, but some friendly advice, please work a bit more on your writing.