At the root of it all, you’ve allowed yourself to be persuaded down the rabbit hole marked ‘Gateway to Fascism’.
There’s no easy way to say this and it’s no real surprise, but we’re way past the ‘sleepwalking’ stage and we’re now galloping towards fascism.
The horrors of arms to Israel, deportations, the rise of the incel, the dehumanising of the trans community, the attack on abortion rights and all the other government/far-right sanctioned changes creeping across the Atlantic are well documented, albeit received with a strong element of disbelief. Where possible we can and should avoid travelling to the US and buying US goods. This is a bit of a no brainer. So much to agree on there.
The Supreme Court decision last week marks a significant step into a completely different dimension. One that involves many of the self-proclaimed left and feminists who protest in horror at the genocide of Gaza, for instance. They are happy, actually deliriously happy to see the demonisation of a remarkably small minority -.our transgender community. Notably (hint) the focus on trans women.
We’re not talking about the worst of the planet’s Internet trolls. They’re a fixture. We’re talking ordinary, everyday people.
The whole thing is rotten through with rancid patriarchy. It’s ugly to see it come from women. Even uglier from women we know well and particularly gruesome from middle-aged white male ‘feminists’.
In fairness, I’d hazard a guess that most people are still decent and don’t obsess about adult genitalia and chromosomes. I’d also put money on it that most who do, did not five years ago. That was lockdown, I was there. Despite an undercurrent, less acutely experienced by the public at large, we cared primarily about death and disease, toilet roll, soap, Zoom. And to a large extent, we cared about each other.
So, get that. Ordinary people, or at least, people in our everyday lives.
The sizeable minority of those challenged by anything that they can’t explain logically, are emboldened to repeat a section of history that should never, ever be revisited. A far higher number are staying quiet, because it’s not comfortable expressing these views either way and no-one likes to rock the boat.
In truth, it’s essentially unprecedented in our times. We know about racists who would happily see families drown rather than land on UK shores. We’ve been identifying racists and assorted bigots for decades. I can’t think of another situation where we’ve shared so much right-thinking politically, with those who have the sickness of transphobia buried under their skin like a tick.
But wait, though this blatant transphobia is unfathomable to those not aflicted by it, it comes in a package with other traits that emerge on further examination. The tendency towards victimhood for one. Check how many ultra terfs are now crying into their milk about being harangued, threatened, misunderstood. Welcome to the far right-world of poor-me: Gender reforms-gone-too-far, free-(hate)speech backlash. Of course they want safe spaces for trans people too (that lie will disappear), but the script goes that they’ve been shut down/cancelled/disadvantaged for so long.
A 2020 report by Stonewall reported that
“… In 2017, 76% of people said that prejudice against transgender people was ‘always or mostly wrong’, compared to 76% in 2019 …” A generally consistent level of support…The biggest change (downward trend) is in attitudes to trans women in refuges, where now just 51% of the population are comfortable (compared to 61% in 2016)”
Only 1% of women claimed to be scared of trans people. The negative impact on attitudes can only be explained by the creeping prejudice of media reporting on gullible, easily influenced people. Worryingly, not necessarily media junkies, but those in thrall to outspoken, charismatic personalities.
It was clearly naive to think that Trump’s regime, ravaging it’s way in real time through women’s and LGBTQ+ rights would be a wake-up call to many. Strangely it appears to have accelerated a doubling down of attitudes. Check – those who don’t like to admit they were wrong, step in line with the narrow-minded, the gullible and those who essentially lack empathy.
There have been some staggeringly convoluted ready-made arguments and excuses for the emboldened transphobia of those who suspect on some level that it’s a bad thing and that no good will come from it. Any disgust over the stomach churning display of celebration by a rich millionaire author has been rinsed through with the same victimhood that tells them how deserved this moment is, oblivious to the destruction afflicted on the planet by narcissistic, patriarchal billionaires.
Debate is dead. If you believe that scientific development is arrested at the level presented by the sex-is-binary premise, you’re unlikely to read lengthy documents that argue otherwise. There’s no requirement to labour the scientific argument in any case, given that this is about human dignity and respect. If you’ve had hysterics about the prospect of GRA, then campaigned against the use of puberty blockers and any route to transition – you’re confused.
Or maybe just dishonest. At the root of it all, you’ve allowed yourself to be persuaded down the rabbit hole marked ‘Gateway to Fascism’.
Political differences no longer centre around the negligible differences between the Labour and Tory parties. They all lead to Reform. We are now brutality divided by stark choices of whether or not to outwardly support or trample the rights of a minority. Or stay quiet. We all know where that leads. The choice is down to our conscience and courage.
Gender politics in Scotland’s main parties show a clear split between the Tories, Alba, Sarwar’s Labour, (who denounced support for gender recognition, having initially voted for it) and the unequivocally trans-supportive Scottish Greens. John Swinney’s measured statement of acceptance of the Supreme Court decision falls far short of the assurance required by the Trans community and beyond.
The overruling by Westminster of our devolved responsibility to enact the overwhelmingly accepted mandate to enact gender recognition should never have led to acceptance of this hideous process. All of this, along with the shadow threat of a Wee Free deputy FM curtail the optimistism over the pro Yes polls in recent days.
We can’t allow ourselves to slip into an ‘after indy’ mindset, nor forget that there is no immediately open route to independence. There is much heavy lifting to be done here, but independence is our only hope out of this mess. Or else every route leads to Reform, but not in a good way.
Guest writer
