Democrats, Heal Thyself

The election left many liberals reeling, dazed, wondering: What in the world happened?

Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash

We know what happened.

We watched as Democrats surrendered opportunities on key issues: securing reproductive rights, mitigating the effects of climate change, protecting our environment, bolstering healthcare coverage, defending the rule of law, and more. All these liberal causes sacrificed on the altar of “gender,” a pointless, regressive, anti-science ideology.

This incoherent movement corrupts cultures, erodes rights, and silences debate. It offers a destructive non-solution to a socially constructed mental health problem. It recklessly targets and seriously harms children, teens, and young adults—primarily female, primarily those with preexisting mental health and/or neurocognitive challenges, primarily those who will grow up to become gay and lesbian adults.  

Title IX, the landmark legislation created to protect women and girls from discrimination, was handed over to trans activists on President Biden’s first day in office. Our children’s healthy bodies were offered up as collateral damage by ideologues like HHS Assistant Secretary Admiral Richard Levine.

That’s not just illiberal. It's criminal.

Dems mistook a psychological issue—generated and spread via educators, the “gender medicine” industry, liberal media, activists and influencers, social media and social contagion—for a crisis-level social justice issue. In the process, they abandoned free speech, women’s rights, scientific fact. They encouraged our youth to take the worst brunt of this, reinforcing the abusive idea that they were born wrong and that trespassing sex-based boundaries is brave and noble. Bodies have been damaged. Families have been damaged. Trust in our institutions has been damaged.

We believe the Dems could have won this one handily had they actually listened to dissenting voices. To the voices of women. Of parents. Of detransitioners. Of attorneys, writers, journalists, doctors, and whistleblowers whom they were busy canceling, investigating, and calling bigots. They silenced, punished, and ignored those who would have enlightened them—not just about where public sentiment was heading, but about the harm that was occurring on their watch. By shutting down meaningful communication they also shut down any possibility for meaningful discourse on everything this issue touches.

DIAG sees this as a "reality versus ideology" issue, not as a "left versus right" issue. But our legislators, institutions, and media on the Left have supported and promoted the ideology, leaving liberal voters either profoundly misled or profoundly angry. Those voters, everyday Democrats, will need to lead us out of this mess. We will continue to work with them toward that end.

What’s been happening behind the DIAG curtain? Quite a bit since our organization launched ten short months ago:

1. We hosted a dozen X Spaces with attorneys, journalists, parents, child and adolescent psychiatrists, detransitioners, Olympic athletes, medical ethicists, whistleblowers, and more, in an effort to bring clarity to the muddied waters of gender.

2. We launched our website, filled with fact-based, accessible information and resources, plus tools that help disenchanted Democrats send strong messages to lawmakers, captured institutions like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, and journalists

3. We reached out to hundreds of parents with information about resources and support.

4. We created a way for DIAG supporters to organize and connect for actions in their states.

5. We launched our Substack, where author Jocelyn Davis highlights rarely heard voices from the left who reject gender ideology.

6. We developed a line of DIAG merchandise—tees, totes, hats, lawn signs, stickers and more—to help supporters spread the word.

7. We advocated for and sponsored a webinar by Dr. Greg Brown, “Males and Females Are Different, and That Matters in Sports” (initially canceled as a result of activist demands).

8. We signed on to an amicus brief that provides the detransitioner perspective for the upcoming US v. Skrmetti Supreme Court case.

9. We joined a panel discussion at the WDI conference in Atlanta, highlighting the need for Democrats to change course on gender policy.

10. We advocated for the rights of a West coast detransitioner whose event was canceled by trans activists.

11. We joined and supported a demonstration and booth at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual conference.

12. We sent pitches to news stations and other media urging them to cover topics such as men in women’s sports and prisons, the Cass Review, and the WPATH Files, and let them know when they had it wrong.

13. We collaborated with adjacent organizations working to end the promotion of gender identity.

14. We reached out to Democratic legislators who voted to limit harm to minors.

15. We started the ongoing process of building our network of supporters—crucial for pressuring lawmakers on this issue.

If you haven’t visited our website recently, here’s what you’re missing:

• Easy-access actions: petitions, print-and-send letters, one-click emails to your representatives and senators, and more

• Clear, fact-based information to get you up to speed on the confusing language, the dystopian medical interventions, and the current state of international policy

• Our science-nerd corner, where we provide a primer on common study flaws, along with rebuttals to the key studies ideologues tout as support for unsafe, ineffective gender interventions

• Video clips and quotes highlighting a few of the bad takes from those propping up this ideology, with more to come

• Our own concise coverage of the WPATH Files and the Cass Review

• A page of quality resources to fill out your knowledge base and, for families directly affected, find solid support

• Recordings of all of our X/Twitter Spaces 

• Guidelines on how to manage the surprisingly difficult task of simply talking about the subject with those who don’t (yet) get it

• A chance to get to know us better: read about our mission statement and goals, plus a selection of team member bios

• Our merch shop, where you can pick up one of our reality-based yard signs, a “peaked Democrat” bag, one of our “Miss You” mugs, and brand merch

• The incredibly powerful JOIN US button, which magically turns you into a DIAG supporter for the reasonable cost of your email address and zip code — no drugs or surgeries (or NDAs) required! 

Our party needs to take a long, hard look at the policies and practices that got us to this low point. Until that happens and throughout that painful process, DIAG will be here, working to right the ship and guide it back into its liberal dock. Ideas? Criticisms? Our DMs are always open, and we can be reached at info@di-ag.org.

Please join us and add your voice. Our party needs to hear it.