There are few pieces of literature that describe the current state of American politics so accurately as one George Orwell quote from the novel 1984: “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” For those unfamiliar with the novel, it is the story of a citizen living in a totalitarian state that enforces its authority by persecuting anyone who holds unspoken beliefs that oppose the artificial truth upheld by the government.
We see examples of this in modern America, especially the bullying tactics used by the Obama administration regarding bathroom usage in public schools. Attorney General Loretta Lynch issued a statement saying, “There is no room in our schools for discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex.” The statement went on to encourage public schools to allow students to use the bathrooms of their identity or else face the possibility of loss of federal resources.
In other words, the Obama administration threatens to defund any public school which does not believe that a boy should pee next to a girl. It is worth noting that Attorney General Lynch made the Orwellian proposal in March to federally prosecute anyone who denied climate change, completely undermining free speech principles.
I do not judge a person based on their race, gender or sexual orientation. You shouldn’t either. I prefer to live by the old-fashioned rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr. and judge people based on the content of their character. The current atmosphere, however, is a culture of identity politics that seems be moving further and further away from this form of individualistic thinking.
It is not my job nor the government’s job to go about dictating your life. However, the premise of embracing transgenderism is a scary one.
In modern America, it is more acceptable to come out as transgender than it is to come out as a Republican. For evidence of this, look no further than the 2015 ESPY Awards. After winning the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, Caitlyn Jenner became the unsung hero of the transgender movement. However, after expressing support for Republican Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz and expressing hopes for a role in his administration in an interview with The Advocate, Jenner received unfriendly backlash and was even branded as a “traitor” by one supporter.
It is not my job nor the government’s job to go about dictating your life. However, the premise of embracing transgenderism is a scary one. It is built on the basis that I must surrender reality and conform to one made up by somebody else. It creates an environment in which calling a man a man and calling a woman a woman is construed as bigoted. We can disagree on social issues and argue about them passionately: That is the beauty of this country. But when telling the truth becomes frowned upon, this is a precedent that can be extended to so many other aspects of life.
The act of embracing someone else’s untrue reality is, by definition, insanity. One of the more troubling examples of this was the social media outrage aimed at UCSB student Carlos Flores and members of UCLA Republican Club. After posting an image of his friends holding posters with the messages “there are only two genders” and “transgenderism is a mental disorder,” the students were subjected to a flurry of ridicule, shame and hate speech. One observer even compared them to members of ISIS.
As it turns out, there are two genders. The fact that this is considered hate speech is bewildering. Every human being in history has either been biologically a male or female. This is a fact of nature. Gender dysphoria is a disorder recognized by the United States National Library of Medicine. Nationally renowned political columnists like Steven Crowder and Ben Shapiro supported the students and praised their courage to stick by their message of reality despite the outrage.
We live in a time where students’ lives are threatened not just for speaking their minds, but for speaking the truth. Maybe George Orwell was right.
Gerardo Banuelos is concerned that telling the truth is becoming a dangerous act.
Every human being in history has either been biologically a male or female. This is a fact of nature. – like most of what you said this is just false.
So if I got a big old johnson, and I want a wa-wa, will I be able to tuck and fold some meat to be a lady? Or will simply look like a lady?
dude you either have a penis or vagina.
when your brain is wired wrong, you have a mental disorder. in this case, its gender dysphoria
Preddy ignorant of you to deny the science that you probably hold so dearly. Admittedly, there are people born intersex with ambiguous genitals, but they (in most surviving cases) have XY/XX chromosomes. People with XXY have a genetic disorder, nothing should be faulted about that. But if someone thinks they’re a man when they are a woman, or vice-a-versa, they have gender dysphoria, which is a diagnosed mental condition. Do you indulge a schizophrenic in their delusions when treating them? Or do you help them adjust to a healthy mind-state? The same should be applied to those with gender dysphoria:… Read more »
However, who are you to deny someone of their happiness? If a person genuinely wants to change their gender (which is defined as a social construct anyway) then they should be allowed to do that. It’s similar to free speech, if you’re allowed by constitutional right to say what you want to say, even if it might deeply hurt others, then transgendered people should be allowed to change what they want with their bodies. It’s really simple. Also, if you’re looking at it from the standpoint of a mental disorder, which is not necessarily what i agree with, then you’re… Read more »
I’m 100% for trans rights but gender is not “defined” as a social construct. It is declared a social construct by academics in a small handful of fields. And while we’re at it, “social construct” is a descriptive statement about the origin of a definition. It is not justification to dismiss a concept as invalid or useless.
The statistical probability of a transgender individual committing suicide is higher than cisgender people because of bullying, mistreatment, and stigma even if they don’t undergo sex-change surgery.
Bravo! Finally an opinion column I agree with. I hate being forced to tolerate something and being called “ignorant” simply because I disagree with something! Amen brother.
Oh my fucking god, of everything the united states does, you use this non-issue as your argument for an orwellian state? Where is your sense of proportion?
Seriously.
Of all the untrue realities that are being forced upon politics, you chose this? No mention of other untrue shit like religion, something which has been attempted to be forced upon U.S. politics (by those precious loving Republican) being called “insane?” You have bigger issues than transgenderism, but hey, I guess you got to pick your battles lol
The part about “hate speech” is interesting to me because I think you’re ignoring a crucial point. Transgendered people are victims of hate crimes, more so than any cisgendered person. The physical harm hateful people do to transgendered people stems from speech that condemns them, implies that they have a mental disorder, or trivializes their situation. By taking some arbitrary stance against transgenderism, like you just have, reinforces hateful action, which does real harm to the transgendered community. You won’t like this comment no matter what because I’m disagreeing with you and that’s ok, but consider what you’re putting into… Read more »
Gender is how someone sees themselves and sex is what genitals and chromosomes someone has. Not only is the claim that male and female are the only two genders incorrect because these terms refer to sex. Even then, there are more than two sexes. People can be born with both male and female genitals or be born with an XX chromosome/testicles or XY/uterus combination.
I’ve seen your last sentence in the most basic human biology textbooks. Like, this is common sense. But hey, since when do conservatives/republicans listen to facts?
I used to sympathize with Republicans for all the shit they get but now their over exaggerations over non-issues and their whining over getting their feelings hurt from getting called ignorant, etc is just as annoying as SJW’s. Yes, having a different opinion shouldn’t warrant backlash (looking at you SJW’s) but fun fact: opinions can actually be ignorant, bigoted, and actually wrong (looking at you republicans). If your feelings are hurt over the name calling, guess what, no one cares about your feelings. Isn’t that your motto?
Truth is a dangerous act, that is why people in the days of the American Revolution wanted the First Amendment. But to take the extreme emotional opposite argument to this flurry, I wonder if what is really being said here is not “I was raped as a child, and I did not have safety so neither can you.” or “We resent that you have genetical descendents, which we won’t, so lets make your children really uncomfortable”.
If it’s not your job to dictate people’s lives then why are you advocating for it in this article? No one is being forced to act in any way by this directive, they’re being forced to allow other people to do things. Like peeing. And pooping. That doesn’t put anyone in danger. Grow up and learn critical thinking skills.
Great article. Coming out as “Republican”… or even “Christian”… at UCSB puts on the hate stand. Coming out as transgender makes you a hero. I personally don’t give two shits what gender people want to “identify” with , but when it comes to the two-faced bigotry of the left on this campus I am constantly astounded.