There was another anti-trans protest in Ottawa this week. It was organized by a group whose foundational beliefs are labeled trans-exclusive radical feminism (TERFs) or “gender critical”, depending who is doing the naming.
This follows an incident a week ago where a man from Vancouver who makes a living crowd-funding anti-trans actions and is affiliated with TERF groups showed up at an elementary school in Ottawa with transphobic signs and was filming children. Meanwhile, over the past two weeks, the Quebec government has introduced a law that would require trans people to be sterilized to update identity documents, the Toronto Star released a piece decrying trans-inclusive language, the CBC published another portraying inclusion of trans people as a danger to cis women, and CTV aired a piece from their investigative show W5 that tried to stir a moral panic over care for gender diverse youth, uncritically parroting disinformation from UK TERF organizations. The CTV production was reminiscent of the documentary on the same topic that the CBC had sourced from the BBC a few years ago which centred the views of a conversion therapy clinic operator.
I’ve written about this new wave of anti-trans organizations before. Whatever moniker used to identify them, their behaviour is near identical to anti-gay evangelicals of yore.
Both portray the acceptance of gender non-conforming people as a threat to women and children that will lead to societal calamity. Both have utter disregard for the wealth of evidence to the contrary. Both value the unrealized fears over the demonstrable violence faced by those who are gender non-conforming. Both advocate against any measure of inclusion whether anti-bullying measures in schools or more inclusive language in government documents. Both have prominent members that openly call for executions of gender non-conforming people. Both act against the very causes they purport to represent, be it evangelicals opposing the freedom of religion for gay Christians or the LGB Alliance supporting forcing kids into conversion therapy. Both are invited by conservatives to oppose rights legislation.
“Gender critical” activism is just what evangelicals were doing repackaged for a more secular society.
The parallels don’t stop there.
Where once there was a moral panic about gay people corrupting straight children, now it’s about activists confusing cisgender children into believing they’re trans. The damage before was that gay parents were denied custody of their own children and gay people were fired from their jobs as school teachers. Now we find this same level of ignorance directed at gender diverse youth; with 86% of trans and non-binary youth in Canada avoiding public spaces out of fear and 60% having considered suicide in the past year alone. Trans or not, gender non-conforming youths are suffering because of this unfounded histeria.
Where before there was outcry over political correctness, now it’s cancel culture. They’re the same thing: entitlement by the aggrieved to all spaces at all times, entitlement to not have any push back when they ostracize people, and entitlement to only have their say count in decision making. Any less elicits accusations of censorship.
Meanwhile the “gay agenda” has been rebranded “gender ideology”. They’re both attempts at portraying inclusion of gender non-conforming people as sinister conspiracies.
| Then | Now |
|---|---|
| Gay agenda | Gender ideology |
| Recruiting children (to be gay) | Grooming children (to be trans) |
| Political correctness | Cancel culture |
History is repeating itself.
I think there’s two reasons for that. First, because the backlash against the increasing visibility of trans people followed the backlash over the visibility of same-sex partnerships, and many of the same antagonists are involved.
Secondly because they both share the same original sin: control over women’s bodies. We’re still untangling the ways that women have been subjugated throughout history, and our society continues to have deeply entrenched gender roles that limit autonomy. Departures these norms make many people uncomfortable so movements arise to make the icky people go away. A lot of folk aren’t inclined to question that discomfort when continuing as-is is perceived as inconsequential.
What I don’t understand is why journalists and commentators keep falling for these tropes. It takes so little to fact check these absurd claims into oblivion. Even the topics that appear contentious, such as gender affirming care for youth, are quickly defused with a bit of credible sourcing. Why then those whose livelihoods depend on discerning facts fall for them and create otherwise preventable satanic panics is beyond me.