Our party must correct course on gender
The latest op ed from DIAG
DIAG wrote this opinion piece in the immediate aftermath of the US election. We sent it to the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the LA Times. All three took a pass.
We realize, of course, that major media outlets are swamped with submissions and can publish only a tiny handful, so our feelings aren’t hurt (much). Nevertheless, we’re disappointed that major media outlets have yet to publish a piece that goes to the heart of why so many left and center-left voters, including diehard Dems and unaligned independents, decided to stay home or mark their ballot for Trump and his fellow Republicans. There’s been a lot of general talk in the MSM about a backlash to “wokism,” but hardly any focused analysis of the No. 1 issue we see driving lifelong lefties away from the party and rendering Democrats less electable: the “trans” issue, with all its pernicious ramifications.
In the spirit of continuing the dialogue (aka refusing to drop the subject), we offer our take. We look forward to your comments … and wish you very happy holidays!
—the DIAG Team
OUR PARTY MUST CORRECT COURSE ON GENDER
Why did so many Democrats abandon Kamala Harris and accept the risk Donald Trump poses to our democracy?
Many election postmortems have pointed to the transgender issue as one factor. Our organization, Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender, receives messages daily from disaffected Democrats angered by their party's embrace of gender ideology. It came as no surprise to us that a Trump campaign ad swayed voters with the tagline “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.” Indeed, in a Blueprint poll, swing voters who broke for Trump listed as their most frequent criticism, “Kamala Harris is focused more on cultural issues like transgender issues rather than helping the middle class.”
Democrats handed Republicans this talking point. On his first day in office, President Biden prioritized changes to Title IX regulations to allow biological males into female sport and spaces. His executive order betrayed both the law’s original intent and a core Democratic value—the rights of girls and women. Video of Harris endorsing taxpayer-funded surgeries for trans-identified inmates was yet another affront when healthcare is unaffordable for many.
Democrats intone, “Believe the science." The science says sex is not on a spectrum. A human embryo with the SRY gene on the Y chromosome will follow a developmental pathway to produce small (male) gametes—sperm. Without an SRY gene, it will develop to produce large (female) gametes—eggs. Genetic anomalies may produce ambiguous genitalia, but not a third sex.
We feel compassion for the young athletes who want to compete in girls' sport, but the science tells us this is unfair. Data show male bodies have an overwhelming physical advantage over females—90% in upper body strength to cite just one of the many statistics showing superior male power and speed. Testosterone suppression by male athletes does not undo the advantages conferred by puberty. The same goes for males with a declared female identity in women’s prisons.
HHS Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine claims “there is no argument among medical professionals” about the “life-saving” value of so-called “gender affirming care” for young people. This is a lie. Systematic evidence reviews in Europe, including the four-year Cass review in the UK, have found no credible evidence these interventions improve mental health. Puberty blockers and cross sex hormones do, however, set healthy youth on a path to sterilization, sexual dysfunction and lifelong medicalization. Surgeries are irreversible. The suicide statistics activists use to justify these harmful interventions have been thoroughly debunked. Heeding the science, Sweden, Finland, France and the UK rolled back these treatments.
Illiberal trans activists have convinced our fellow Democrats their cause is the next civil rights battle after gay marriage. The gay rights movement, which we wholeheartedly support, was about equal rights. The trans lobby, though, demands more than protection from discrimination—which we also support and which is already legally guaranteed—seeking special privileges for men to “identify” into women’s legally protected spaces. And it tells proto-gay boys who like to play with dolls or girls who hate to wear dresses their bodies need to be "fixed."
Most Americans oppose men in women’s sport and medical interventions for gender confused minors, but, as Congressman Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts 6th) bravely noted after the election, Democrats have shut down debate on the issue. Self-described liberals dismiss concerns about women’s rights and the health and well-being of children as “transphobia” or GOP culture war baiting, threatening dissenters with loss of position and social ostracism. The backlash from fellow Democrats against Congressman Moulton’s questioning of party orthodoxy proved his point.
People know there are only two sexes and there is no changing from one to the other. Our party’s promotion of gender pseudoscience has eroded trust in our institutions. If the White House tells us males can compete against females, if HHS endorses sex change interventions for minors, why should we believe them on climate change or vaccinations? The damage goes beyond lost medals for female athletes and lost healthy lives for young people.
President-elect Trump’s choice of unqualified, extremist cabinet nominees confirms the seriousness of his intent to upend our democratic institutions. It is imperative that our party correct course on gender and bring home the voters it lost in 2024.
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It's so frustrating, isn't it? I submitted no fewer than six op eds to major outlets in the wake of the election, including to the Washington Post, New York Times, and Boston Globe (I didn't try the LA Times). The Post at least did me the courtesy of rejecting me; the others ignored me. I finally got this published in The Hill, but it's such a slog. https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5004781-democratic-leftist-feminist-criticizes/
Gender craziness is just one (but an important) issue that killed the Democrats in November. Here’s my stock response. Sorry if you’ve seen it before.
After the election the Democratic Party (my party) must rethink many of its policies as it ponders its future.
To be entrusted with power again Democrats must start listening to the concerns of the working class for a change. As a lifelong moderate Democrat I share their disdain for many of the insane positions advocated by my party. We are no longer the patriotic, sensible party of FDR and JFK.
Democrat politicians defy biology by believing that men can actually become women and belong in women’s sports, rest rooms, locker rooms and prisons and that children should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible.
They believe borders should be open to millions of illegals which undermines workers’ wages and the affordability of housing when we can’t house our own citizens.
They discriminate against whites, Asians and men in a futile effort to counter past discrimination against others and undermine our economy by abandoning merit selection of students and employees.
Democratic mayors allow homelessness to destroy our beautiful cities because they won't say no to destructive behavior. No, you can’t camp in our city. No, you can’t shit in our streets. No, you can’t shoot up and leave your used needles everywhere. Many of our prosecutors will not take action against shoplifting unless a $1000 of goods are stolen leading to gangs destroying retail stores. They release criminals without bail to commit more crimes.
The average voter knows this is happening and outright reject our party. Enough.