Well, here we are again: Pride Month. I don't embrace the progressive belief that everything LGBTQIA+WTF must be celebrated, but neither do I support the extreme conservative position that it should be persecuted.
On theological grounds, Christianity has generally considered homosexuality and transgenderism to be sinful, but so is murder, and the Christian Right tends to be disturbingly pro-war regardless of that. They tie themselves in knots trying to show how belligerence is somehow compatible with just war theory. The Catholic church is notorious for instances where their priests abuse boys and get little punishment. However, some more progressive denominations bless same-sex marriages, and there are apparently historical instances of homosexuality being at least acknowledged.
Philosophically, I am a libertarian. If you do not violate the life, liberty, or property of others, you're not a criminal. This doesn't mean everything outside that sphere of trespass is moral and good, but it places basic universal limits on how others can interfere with your choices, and where you may not interfere with theirs. My goal is a society built on the principle of consent. That means you have the right to surgically alter yourself, have sex with as many consenting adults as you want, call yourself whatever pronouns you like, wear what you want, and so on. However, you do not have the right to coerce others into complying with or celebrating your declarations and dalliances.
Image Credit, and yes, I know this is technically slacklining.
Does this make me an ally, or a regressive hatemonger? I want others to be free to pursue their happiness, whether they are right or wrong. I also want to be free to express disagreement with their choices. whether they are political, religious, linguistic, or fashion. I can't help but notice there does seem to be an effort by some transgender activists to prey on vulnerable people. I also know people who truly believed they were born the wrong gender long before this became a topic of public discourse. Is this nature, a sign of deeper psychological issues, or something else? I don't know.
As a former librarian, I am acutely aware of the controversies surrounding literature. There have always been steamy romance novels. Some of the books for teens present what I would consider deeply unhealthy relationships as normal. Many depict homosexuality or transgenderism, because that is the hot-button issue right now, and I don't doubt the publishing houses see at least a lucrative opportunity, even if they don't have an agenda, by feeding the controversy. And libraries try to have newly-published books. This is not proof of a library plan to transgender the youth or groom them for abusers, though.
Obnoxious people of all stripes are using Pride events as an excuse to be confrontational. In local news a couple years ago, a man performed at a drag show in Coeur d'Alene and was accused of exposing himself by a local muckraker who called for his arrest. I'm not a fan of the drag scene, but this particular woman is notorious for exaggeration and blatant falsehoods when it comes to the general topics of sexuality and homosexuality. He sued her, and won. I have deep concerns about slander and libel laws, but in this case with a prominent enemy of local libraries facing penalties for her actions, I admit at least a degree of schadenfreude at her predicament.
Meanwhile, once again, corporations in most of the western world are changing their logos to rainbow patterns as a cheap "woke capitalism" public relations tactic while doing nothing in parts of the world where homosexuality is literally a crime. It's a worse instance of flamboyantly pretending to be something they aren't than any drag show.
Maybe I should just exercise my straight white male privilege and try to ignore the whole mess.
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