We must act now | Guest Viewpoint

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It’s madness out there. 

Shortly after Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed a bill banning drag shows in public venues or non-age-restricted spaces, and totally banned gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth, pictures surfaced of him in drag. Everywhere Republicans and their so-called Christian allies war against wokeness, a term rooted in Black culture that signifies “the quality of being alert to and concerned about social injustice and discrimination.”

Nor is the madness just out there. All you need do is utter “Do you have a penis?” at a trans employee of the Port Townsend YMCA who is following state law, and your crusade is highlighted by Tucker Carlson on Fox. Nor has city council’s proclamation that we value our transgender residents — that “discrimination and prejudice, in any form… have no place in the city of Port Townsend” — stemmed the local misinformation campaign.

It’s about far more than “Don’t Say Gay!” It seems that the answer to the movement to celebrate ourselves is to label it “cancel culture” and cancel everything that might inform us about our history, rights, identities, and full potential. Try teaching the history of sexual and gender expression in America or that the origins of American racism lie in institutions and laws that date back to the era of legalized slavery — try affirming that we have the right to control our own bodies — and your classes are banned, your curriculum is altered, and your books are all but burned. As the armies of the righteous invade school board meetings, those who espouse fake science are touted as experts, and members of Congress cite Chinese propaganda as truth, “alternate facts” are elevated to a level of sacrosanct unimpeachability previously reserved for the Christian Bible. 

Woe to any woman who wants or needs an abortion in the 24 states that have banned or are poised to ban it. As politicians defy the will of the people, dystopian scenarios of women being shackled to beds, forced to give birth against their will or the advice of their physician, near reality. 

Let us be clear what’s happening. The so-called “Culture Wars” are an attack on self-determination, on our right to take responsibility for and control our own lives. They affect every single one of us, regardless of race, sexuality, gender, or belief system. 

The goal of these attacks is to remove/erase/obliterate knowledge of our true identities and personal power. Behind these multi-pronged, white-washed assaults on personal autonomy lies the determination to destroy democratic institutions and consolidate power in the hands of autocrats and the financial interests that support them. 

The push to prevent us from embracing our authentic selves is underway throughout the United States. Those of us who know which way the wind blows must remember our strength. As the last presidential election proved, we are in the majority. We need to own who we are, unite, and support those who are at the forefront of the movement to maintain democracy and personal freedom. We must act now.

(Jason Victor Serinus is a former civil rights worker and member of the original Gay Liberation Front. He is the oldest Commissioner on the WA State LGBTQ Commission.)