First article I read in the New Year(it hit my inbox right about midnight and I read it a few minutes past). Unsurprisingly, considering the author, that it may end up being the best, and most important, piece I'll read this year, a scant few minutes into it.
If we can get it on the ballot, it is very likely to pass.
Remember: in 2020, the exact same California electorate that voted for Biden 2-to-1 over Trump ALSO voted to reject race-based "affirmative action", 55% to 45%.
A popular defeat for gender ideology in California will send shock waves across the country and around the world.
There is a lot said about virtue signalling and victimhood among the social justice leftish, but as a former member of that milieu (and now fiercely post-tribal) I see just as much of it on the right. And there's comfort in feeling you were right, long before the converts. But that is just ego and sometimes winning an argument demands the courage of showing a certain humility by not crowing. Abigail calls it exactly right here 💪
Excellent and highly truthful points were made, as usual. But please, please remember that boys and young men are also being irreparably harmed by gender ideology as well. Of the ROGD group your wonderful book discussed about 30% are male. Please don't leave them out of the discussion. Those of us who love boys ruining their lives and bodies with this trans nonsense don't want to be left out of the conversation. Our culture is horrible to boys. Especially white boys. They need support too. And they need to be protected from the destructive cult of transgenderism.
I unsubscribed to the New York Times after my historically happy and non-dysphoric daughter decided she was a guy, aided and abetted by our local Marxist Indoctrination Factory—aka her high school. They all can kiss my bitter butt. So I guess I missed the big reveal that the left changed its mind on "gender affirmative care." can someone fill me in? Thank you!
Wow thank you--as an American Jewish Zionist and a Lesbian against both hamas AND gender equality ideology-this was the bright , poignant, and hopeful essay I needed to read. Because all identity aside-I want to live in a fair and free American/West by those who want the same. This is the good fight!
This article hits home, as I was deeply disappointed by an article that Shrier wrote on Substack a while back which, IMO, was critical of folks like me who came out strongly against Covid tyranny. I expressed my disappointment in the comments, thinking that someone who was perceptive enough to realize how much damage was being caused by the gender madness should recognize folks like me as brothers in arms.
In any event, it sounds like Shrier has come around on this issue and, as she is recommending, I will not hold any bitterness toward her.
I agree with the sentiment, but at the same time there's something to be said for being a little bit tough and rough with people. Because I think that this left wing radicalism that you describe so well advances because it intimidates people into silence. It isn't nice. It scares the supposedly neutral institutions into going along with them. Conservatives don't scare them as much, which might be why things are the way that they are. A harsh reality perhaps but I think it's true.
Thanks for the encouragement Abigail! I would take issue with “our positions became conventional wisdom,”. I don’t see very many around me who have “seen the light “. Many “regular” people seem still to have not gotten the word. I decided after a family visit that I just have to pick my battles because the mass delusion is still operating. On the other hand, there is a growing opposition from all kinds of unexpected places and THAT is encouraging. I fear, however, that we as a nation are heading for a split. The “vaccinated” vs the “unvaccinated “ metaphorically speaking.
The kind of person who believes keeping an 8 year old out of a soccer league because her mother is guilty of wrongthink is truly dangerous. Someone who would hurt a child for the sole purpose of "punishing" her mother wouldn't hesitate to: try and get said parent fired from her job; make her lose her professional licenses; restrict her freedom; use state power to fine her or imprison her.
This behavior speaks volumes about her view of liberalism, civil rights, and our common humanity. Someone who will deny a child's rights to play soccer because of her parents politics will happily deny other rights to said parents, patting herself on the back (ala Delores Umbrage) for her compassion the whole time.
Lol, Matt Walsh is one to talk about not being there on the gender thing until just 5 minutes ago. Feminists like Janice Raymond (70s), Meghan Murphy and Julie Bindel have been "shouting from the rooftops" for decades, long before Walsh got on board by using the exact same feminists' arguments while screaming "where are all the feminists???".
And even though I think he's an arrogant misogynist dick who openly hates feminists, I welcome Walsh to the party, appreciate his work "What is a Woman?", and hope he takes your advice, Abigail. Thanks for this very thoughtful piece.
As a conservative myself, I continually have been asking liberals "If every liberal policy is a failure, and all the conservative notions are successful, tell me again WHY you stick to the liberal side?" Immigration. Gender woo wack. Cancel culture. Anti-jew screaming. Drug policy. Homelessness. BLM and race hustling anti-white garbage. Rampant inflation caused by "Fight for $15". Exploding crime in cities due to failure to prosecute criminals. Letting criminals out without bail to commit more crimes. Prices rising due to minimum wage increases.
What have liberals done LATELY that works? I can't think of a single thing.
Everything you mention in your article has been a battle for me one way or another. The DEI insanity did end up making me bitter. Ultimately, I have given up fighting it, but now playing the waiting game to see how it all pans out. It is hard to imagine the craziness that we have had to endure since 2020 and now for those on the left to slowly be waking up from the madness of it all is in itself astonishing to behold. How they didn’t see the writing on the wall in the first place is the bottom line concern. I think a movie needs to be made to showcase just how much has changed in our country since 2020.
A call to our better selves - and pragmatic too. I may have to print this out and keep it nearby when I read the words of a newly rational person patting him or herself on the back for recognizing how bad the ideas promoted by the people he or she voted for and supported are. Especially, when they would vote the same way again because fear of conservatives, or Christians, or those who are pro-life, or Donald Trump still controls them in the voting booth.
Your words are important and a gentle way to move into 2024.
First article I read in the New Year(it hit my inbox right about midnight and I read it a few minutes past). Unsurprisingly, considering the author, that it may end up being the best, and most important, piece I'll read this year, a scant few minutes into it.
Thank you Abigail!
Here is something to do: get this protect-kids law on the ballot in California!
https://protectkidsca.com
If we can get it on the ballot, it is very likely to pass.
Remember: in 2020, the exact same California electorate that voted for Biden 2-to-1 over Trump ALSO voted to reject race-based "affirmative action", 55% to 45%.
A popular defeat for gender ideology in California will send shock waves across the country and around the world.
If you can, please help!
There is a lot said about virtue signalling and victimhood among the social justice leftish, but as a former member of that milieu (and now fiercely post-tribal) I see just as much of it on the right. And there's comfort in feeling you were right, long before the converts. But that is just ego and sometimes winning an argument demands the courage of showing a certain humility by not crowing. Abigail calls it exactly right here 💪
Excellent and highly truthful points were made, as usual. But please, please remember that boys and young men are also being irreparably harmed by gender ideology as well. Of the ROGD group your wonderful book discussed about 30% are male. Please don't leave them out of the discussion. Those of us who love boys ruining their lives and bodies with this trans nonsense don't want to be left out of the conversation. Our culture is horrible to boys. Especially white boys. They need support too. And they need to be protected from the destructive cult of transgenderism.
I unsubscribed to the New York Times after my historically happy and non-dysphoric daughter decided she was a guy, aided and abetted by our local Marxist Indoctrination Factory—aka her high school. They all can kiss my bitter butt. So I guess I missed the big reveal that the left changed its mind on "gender affirmative care." can someone fill me in? Thank you!
Wow thank you--as an American Jewish Zionist and a Lesbian against both hamas AND gender equality ideology-this was the bright , poignant, and hopeful essay I needed to read. Because all identity aside-I want to live in a fair and free American/West by those who want the same. This is the good fight!
love, love, love your perspective and challenge to love those who didn't and don't love us
Thank you Abigail, you are always such a breath of fresh air. Wish I heard more from you. God Bless and Happy New Year. 🤍
This article hits home, as I was deeply disappointed by an article that Shrier wrote on Substack a while back which, IMO, was critical of folks like me who came out strongly against Covid tyranny. I expressed my disappointment in the comments, thinking that someone who was perceptive enough to realize how much damage was being caused by the gender madness should recognize folks like me as brothers in arms.
In any event, it sounds like Shrier has come around on this issue and, as she is recommending, I will not hold any bitterness toward her.
I agree with the sentiment, but at the same time there's something to be said for being a little bit tough and rough with people. Because I think that this left wing radicalism that you describe so well advances because it intimidates people into silence. It isn't nice. It scares the supposedly neutral institutions into going along with them. Conservatives don't scare them as much, which might be why things are the way that they are. A harsh reality perhaps but I think it's true.
Thanks for the encouragement Abigail! I would take issue with “our positions became conventional wisdom,”. I don’t see very many around me who have “seen the light “. Many “regular” people seem still to have not gotten the word. I decided after a family visit that I just have to pick my battles because the mass delusion is still operating. On the other hand, there is a growing opposition from all kinds of unexpected places and THAT is encouraging. I fear, however, that we as a nation are heading for a split. The “vaccinated” vs the “unvaccinated “ metaphorically speaking.
The kind of person who believes keeping an 8 year old out of a soccer league because her mother is guilty of wrongthink is truly dangerous. Someone who would hurt a child for the sole purpose of "punishing" her mother wouldn't hesitate to: try and get said parent fired from her job; make her lose her professional licenses; restrict her freedom; use state power to fine her or imprison her.
This behavior speaks volumes about her view of liberalism, civil rights, and our common humanity. Someone who will deny a child's rights to play soccer because of her parents politics will happily deny other rights to said parents, patting herself on the back (ala Delores Umbrage) for her compassion the whole time.
Lol, Matt Walsh is one to talk about not being there on the gender thing until just 5 minutes ago. Feminists like Janice Raymond (70s), Meghan Murphy and Julie Bindel have been "shouting from the rooftops" for decades, long before Walsh got on board by using the exact same feminists' arguments while screaming "where are all the feminists???".
And even though I think he's an arrogant misogynist dick who openly hates feminists, I welcome Walsh to the party, appreciate his work "What is a Woman?", and hope he takes your advice, Abigail. Thanks for this very thoughtful piece.
As a conservative myself, I continually have been asking liberals "If every liberal policy is a failure, and all the conservative notions are successful, tell me again WHY you stick to the liberal side?" Immigration. Gender woo wack. Cancel culture. Anti-jew screaming. Drug policy. Homelessness. BLM and race hustling anti-white garbage. Rampant inflation caused by "Fight for $15". Exploding crime in cities due to failure to prosecute criminals. Letting criminals out without bail to commit more crimes. Prices rising due to minimum wage increases.
What have liberals done LATELY that works? I can't think of a single thing.
Everything you mention in your article has been a battle for me one way or another. The DEI insanity did end up making me bitter. Ultimately, I have given up fighting it, but now playing the waiting game to see how it all pans out. It is hard to imagine the craziness that we have had to endure since 2020 and now for those on the left to slowly be waking up from the madness of it all is in itself astonishing to behold. How they didn’t see the writing on the wall in the first place is the bottom line concern. I think a movie needs to be made to showcase just how much has changed in our country since 2020.
A call to our better selves - and pragmatic too. I may have to print this out and keep it nearby when I read the words of a newly rational person patting him or herself on the back for recognizing how bad the ideas promoted by the people he or she voted for and supported are. Especially, when they would vote the same way again because fear of conservatives, or Christians, or those who are pro-life, or Donald Trump still controls them in the voting booth.
Your words are important and a gentle way to move into 2024.