Why We Must Speak Out

Gay, aka homosexuality, is just same sex attraction. Nothing more. It is hard wired and found in every human society throughout history. Same sex attraction exists as a natural phenomenon-separate from any meaning society might give it. The vast majority of homosexuals lead lives pretty much like heterosexuals. We take our kids to school and clean the bathroom. You’d have to dig to find out we are gay. And when you get to know us you realize our sexual orientation doesn’t matter. It’s near the bottom of the list when we describe ourselves. Boring with a capital “B”.

Queer, on the other hand, is an artificial tribal identity. It is a social construction originating in late 20th century American academia. You know right away when someone identifies as Queer. Many think it matters big time, makes them special, and therefore becomes the focus of who they are. The worst of them seem to exist solely to ruffle as many feathers as possible. But such narcissism has no connection to being gay, other than the fact that most queers are gay. Most gays, however, are definitely not queer.

Queer used to be a subculture within the gay community that evolved over time with coded behavior and appearance to make connecting with other gay people easier. That was needed. The guessing game of “are they like me” was fraught with danger. To some extent that need still exists, though much less so. Straight folks just don’t freak out like they used to. Besides, one only needs to open a smartphone app these days to see if that intriguing person nearby might be family.

Alas, what was once a relatively benign subcultural function has become unhinged. Queer extremists, supported by well intended professions seeking to assuage their collective guilt from terrible things done in the past, now demand that society accommodate their chosen language and behavior. Not just accommodate but revere. If a queer identity were something outside one’s control, like skin color or sexual orientation, that might be understandable. But while Queer employs those legitimate badges it is essentially a social construction made out of them. Queer exists not in isolation. This is an artificial tribe, relatively new, linking legitimate minorities that do not need the queer label and would probably function better without it. The radicalization of this new identity, essentially a capital Q that relegates all those other letters to lower case followers, creates conflict. To be fair, most queer identified individuals are not radical. But a growing number of those that are have taken control of powerful civil rights organizations. Their tentacles now reach into the highest levels of government and commerce, enforcing a victimhood narrative that attempts to silence critics with claims of phobia and discrimination.

But criticize we must, because normative gay folks like us are at risk. Note that “normative gay folks” is a pejorative in Queer circles. Here’s the gist: the more queer culture pushes itself into the mainstream the more a sick-of-it majority pushes back. Unfortunately that pushback affects we who don’t push anything. Why? Because of guilt by association. Gay is associated with queer even when the former is not the latter. We plain vanilla lesbians and gays, that vast invisible majority under that umbrella term LGBTQ, get the brunt of it. Even when we are not the cause. And don’t kid yourself extremist Queer readers: you are not “fighting the good fight” for our benefit-it’s for your identity and ego only.

The more reasonable and insightful commentators, both gay and straight on both sides of the political aisle, understand this distinction. They see how Queer poses a problem for regular gay people like us. Think Andrew Sullivan, Julie Bindel, Douglas Murray, Pamela Paul, among others. Less reasonable and more opportunist commentators, on both sides of this issue, don’t make any distinction. Their simple emotional narratives lump gay folks in with Queers. All in an attempt to rev up their respective base.

And so this self reinforcing loop grows. As each side asserts itself the other side feels compelled to do the same. Cultural war leaders, smitten with that intoxicating drug called influence, whip up their followers with that intoxicating drug called victimhood. It works on both sides. Does it really matter which side the political left or the political right has chosen? Not when the dynamics are exactly the same. Queer plays better on the left and Anti-Queer plays better on the right. The difference between assertiveness and escalation is a matter of perspective.

But rational observers like us, outside the two bubbles, can detect bullshit. And, honestly, most of the stench comes from the Queer side. Let’s address that which reeks the most: gender. Queer has overplayed this card big time. Biological males must be allowed in private women’s spaces like restrooms and locker rooms? In that case there are no longer women’s spaces. Biological males must be allowed to play on women’s sports teams? In that case there is no longer women’s sports. Must we ignore the rights of biological women? Extremist queers say yes. We rational gays say no.

And of what value to society are all these pronouns that must be used without any acknowledgement of biology? As a matter of respect the preferred pronoun should be used. But compelled speech contradictory to a scientific fact? As if DNA and chromosomes matter not. Seriously?

Of course trans children should be treated with love and respect. Everyone should use their preferred pronouns and accept whatever manner of behavior and dress they chose. It may be their vivid imagination. It may be a desire for attention. It may be peer pressure. It may even be a “gendered soul” as queer extremists insist. There is no way to know for certain until they reach an age where they are capable of rational self assessment. Until then there should be no drugs or surgery. Or at least the bar should be set high. That “progressive” mainstream media continues to harp about “denying health care” to trans children reveals a level of capture no rational journalist should accept.

Tragically it is genuine trans people that suffer the most. The vast majority of trans women would never display their penis in private women’s spaces. It is the unstable biological male, often straight, now able to indulge in fetishes in previously forbidden places, that fuels conflict in women’s spaces. Nor do genuine trans women have any desire to play sports. It is the biological male seeking the thrill of victory, and the loophole that enables it, which is the problem. Genuine trans folks just want to lead quiet lives. They want equal rights that are reasonably balanced with the rights of biological women. They get the complexity. Queer leadership doesn’t see it that way. It’s all or nothing to them. They won’t acknowledge the damage they are doing to trans people specifically, and to society in general, by overplaying the gender card. Instead they just double down. That is extremism.

It is not just the gender card that Queer has overplayed. It is the general cultural creep they seek to engineer. Some amount of Pride is reasonable. Pride month used to just be June. Now it has to be all summer? A rainbow flag in every window? That makes sense in gay enclaves. But everywhere else? Of course not. Get over it radical queers. The world does not belong to you.

As for pride parades, the majority of us plain vanilla gays stay away. It embarrasses us. We like a party as much as anyone but a parade requires some degree of public relations. Like when marches were needed to ensure civil rights. Having mostly secured rights the emphasis now seems to be on spectacle. How exactly does that help? The vast majority of lesbians and gays figured out a long time ago it’s time to move on. The prevalence of identity politics separates us by magnifying differences when it is the similarities that bring us together. We Main Street Lesbians and Gays are accepted and welcome in most Western countries precisely because we aren’t extreme. The clown car show that many pride parades have become undermine our secure place in society.

Parades are almost as bad as Drag Queen Story Hour. That decidedly adult form of entertainment with it’s parody of women (as in huge breasts and hips) boarders on misogyny. There is enormous talent in these drag shows, with much to offer the right crowd in the right venue. But children’s story hour is not the place. What unbelievably bad optics! Who would support something that gives so much fuel to those spewing the grooming myth? It’s beyond stupid. It’s irresponsible.

This is what is so disturbing about radical Queer ideology. It is impervious to common sense and offers society nothing of value. It wraps itself in self righteous victimhood without regard to anyone else. How delightful for the ego-indulged, integrity-challenged Queer Extremist. And how perfectly dreadful for everyone else, especially all us normative lesbians and gays. We have to navigate the growing resentment that the Q crowd insists on causing. Enough is enough. We must speak out.