Kerby Anderson

You may have noticed that the contentious issues in the culture war seem to be coming faster and with more intensity. In a recent commentary, Kevin Williamson validates that observation. He begins by reminding us how long it took for homosexuality to become mainstream. The decision by the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual took place in 1973. But homosexual acts were still listed as criminal for an additional 30 years until the Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas overturned laws on homosexual sodomy. He then reminds us that even after the ruling, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ran as candidates in 2008 opposing same-sex marriage. By contrast, he says “transgenderism took a shorter and much more direct path.” Both the speed and intensity have been greater on the transgender issue. We can look at what the Obama administration has threatened in North Carolina when the state legislature offered what most would think would be a reasonable accommodation. We can look to New York City where the mayor threatens nonconforming businesses and other establishments with huge fines if they do not adjust to transgender demands. Kevin Williamson shares his own experience when the Chicago Sun Times reprinted his essay from National Review that raised important questions about surgical attempts to change a person’s sexual organs. The firestorm of reaction illustrates one point. Another point comes from the fact that he quoted from Dr. Paul McHugh who has been critical of sex-reassignment surgery. A number of studies show that: “Such surgery often is harmful, or produces harmful results.” Kevin Williamson wonders, though, if someone like Dr. McHugh would even be allowed to publish such an essay today. This is the result of an aggressive transgender culture war.