Everything is changing, and you are allowed to object

Over fifteen or so years of writing about the culture war for a wide range of publications, I’ve been frequently asked why I report on “social issues” so consistently. And it is true—sometimes, many of the stories I write seem to be remarkably similar: another story about the sex education curriculum; or Drag Queen Story Hour for kids; or mandatory Pride events for children; or parents being maligned by progressive politicians for objecting. That, and the fact that the ideology of the transgender movement has gone from fringe belief to unquestionable dogma in less than a decade with virtually no discussion or even explanation whatsoever to the millions of parents whose children are now taught these beliefs as fact in state schools.

There are many reasons I cover these subjects, but one of my primary motivations is a simple one: I write about these social changes to affirm to average people that they are not, in fact, crazy. The things they see happening around them are in fact happening. The sex education curriculum is including how-to sex manuals, graphic novels with explicit depictions of sex acts, and other “education” that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. It has, overnight, become mandatory to accept that boys can become girls and girls can become boys and that giving children sex change surgeries and puberty blockers is “gender affirming care” rather than dangerous quackery.

It is important to state these things because we are being gaslit. Everything is changing around us, but if we notice, we are told that we are part of a “backlash” simply for pointing out what is happening in front of our very eyes. Schools and public libraries and daycares organize drag queen events for children, but if parents dare to object, they are accused of violating the human rights of the LGBT community (that happened). These events were not happening just a few years ago. This is brand new. It didn’t used to happen, and now it does—and you are allowed to notice, and you are not crazy for objecting. Sex education curriculum, where it existed, used to be about the birds and the bees. Now, it involves LGBT books for kindergarteners, replete with books about transgender crayons.

To reiterate: This is new. You are allowed to notice. You should speak up.

The LGBT movement has conquered every aspect of the culture, and yet they claim that they are facing a “rising tide of hate” (as per Canada’s public broadcaster) simply because some people don’t want government Pride flags in their small town; or rainbow crosswalks in front of their business; or object to their children attending mandatory LGBT events at the local public school. It is a clever tactic. LGBT activists insist on some new declaration of loyalty to their movement; some people object for a wide range of reasons; LGBT activists then characterize this refusal to pro-actively show support for their agenda as a “backlash,” the Canadian press obediently characterizes it as such, and LGBT activists are now the “victims” of their targets’ refusal to participate in a narrative they themselves created.

The prime minister is a key participant in this. During a formal LGBT flag-raising ceremony on Parliament Hill, he claimed that the ascendant LGBT movement was facing “a rise in anger, hatred and ignorance and intolerance,” and promised them a boatload of taxpayer dollars in penance. When confronted by Muslim parents concerned about the LGBT indoctrination in schools, Trudeau ignored the actual evidence of what sex-ed curriculums contained and told them that they were victims of “untruths” that were “fueled by the American right-wing.” In other words: Who are you going to believe—me or your lying eyes? What you say is happening actually isn’t happening, and if it was happening you’d be hateful for noticing.

Progressive politicians insist that ordinary Canadians noticing the changes occurring all around them—especially with regards to their children—are a bigoted “backlash.” Most Conservative politicians either support the changes or have been cowed into silence. The tax-funded press supports the agenda, and obediently covers stories from that angle. And so Canadians need a handful of columnists to point out that they aren’t crazy. That everything is changing. That they are allowed to notice. And that they aren’t hateful for objecting to what they see.

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As always, I’ve got plenty of other short, regular culture updates on The Bridgehead, and you can get a copy of Prairie Lion: The Life and Times of Ted Byfield here and here, and my other books here.