Anti-LGBTQ laws offend liberty as the nation's glory
Proponents betray neurotic obsession with sex
Secretary of State John Quincy Adams trumpeted on July 4, 1821, that the nation’s glory is liberty, i.e., the opportunity to march to your own drummer, to develop your own faculties, and to pursue your own dreams free from domestic predation or foreign aggression.
John Stuart Mill amplified on demonstrable harm to others as the threshold for compromising liberty in his landmark treatise On Liberty:
“The object of this Essay is to assert one very simple principle, as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion and control, whether the means used be physical force in the form of legal penalties, or the moral coercion of public opinion. That principle is, that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinion of others, to do so would be wise, or even right... The only part of the conduct of anyone, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”
Another way to put it, to paraphrase Martin Luther King, is that a person’s standing in the community should pivot solely on character and accomplishments. Sex is a private matter that modesty dictates should stay in the bedroom.
Sexual orientation, whether chosen or genetic, falls comfortably within protected liberty. A person’s sexual orientation or transgender health care access does not harm others. To the extent transgender health care of minors causes material physical or mental harm, to that extent such treatments are already prohibited by child abuse statutes. And to the extent such treatments are not generally recognized as curative or ameliorative within the medical community, to that extent they constitute malpractice justifying professional discipline and civil litigation by the allegedly injured patient.
To the extent a person experiences a panic or anxiety attack by knowing there is an LGBTQ community, that psychic turmoil does not and could not qualify as harm without annihilating liberty. As On Liberty explained, simple disagreement or disgust at what someone else is doing or is does not justify suppression. Diversity is a necessary price of liberty.
What can be made of the spasm of bills introduced in state legislatures placing the LGBTQ community in the cross-hairs and magnifying fleas into elephants? More than two dozen bills seeking restrictions on transgender health care access have been introduced in eleven (11) states: Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.
What is the ulterior motive of the sponsors? They generally hallucinate that the LGBTQ community is an existential threat to the species and is abnormal because not predominant. But at one time, men feared witches and burned women. Irrational fright, bigotries, prejudices, or stereotypes do not justify society’s intrusion on individual sovereignty, the summum bonum of every civilized community.
Persons who have nothing better to fret over than sexual orientation or transgender health care are living stunted, juvenile lives. They need to move on.
Secretary of State John Quincy Adams trumpeted on July 4, 1821, that the nation’s glory is liberty, i.e., the opportunity to march to your own drummer, to develop your faculties, and to pursue your dreams free from domestic predation or foreign aggression.
John Stuart Mill amplified on demonstrable harm to others as the threshold for compromising liberty in his landmark treatise On Liberty:
The object of this Essay is to assert one very simple principle, as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion and control, whether the means used be physical force in the form of legal penalties, or the moral coercion of public opinion. That principle is, that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinion of others, to do so would be wise, or even right... The only part of the conduct of anyone, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.
Sexual orientation, whether chosen or genetic, falls comfortably within protected liberty. A person’s sexual orientation or transgender health care access does not harm others. To the extent transgender health care of minors causes material physical or mental harm, to that extent such treatments are already prohibited by child abuse statutes. And to the extent such treatments are not generally recognized as curative or ameliorative within the medical community, to that extent they constitute malpractice justifying professional discipline and civil litigation by the allegedly injured patient. To the extent a person experiences a panic or anxiety attack by knowing there is an LGBT
T has hijacked the LGB movement. T is not a sexual orientation and does not belong with those. Trans does not exist, because mammals cannot change sex. Attempting to trans is a fool's errand and impossible. Those surgeries are cosmetic, not functional, and cause lifelong illnesses and often death from things like sepsis. These operations are totally experimental, and minors cannot consent.
Children do not need to have greedy doctors amputate healthy breasts & genitals just because they have gender dysphoria. It's a mental problem and there are significant co-morbidities like anxiety, depression, anorexia & self harm most times. Children with gender dysphoria need empathy and understanding, not wrong sex hormones & mutilating surgeries.
GenderWoowoo is anti-scientific & was made up by PoMo philosophers who want to destroy language and meaning. The GenderWoowoo is deeply homophobic and woman-hating. It tells women that they are reduced to "menstruators" "chest feeders" "birthing bodies" and other such dehumanizing terms. It tells women that "men in dresses are better women than you are". It's incredibly hateful and insulting to adult human females. There is no such thing as "cis".
Most kids with gender dysphoria grow up to be gay, not that there's anything wrong with that. Many right wing Christian parents will trans a boy who likes dolls and dresses, because they think having a gay child is shameful, so they trans the kid. Kai Shappley's mother beat him because he liked dolls and wearing dresses. And then transed him, while the kid yells, "God don't make no mistakes!" (Irony meter is broken, folks.) Please do your research. "Be kind" is used as a club to beat women and girls over the head and take advantage of their natural kindness, and violate their boundaries in many areas of life.
Thank you for this. Especially for the Mill’s ‘On Liberty’ insights. I’m starting my own Substack called Woke Civics and I think Mill’s work provides a clear test as to where individual rights start and stop: I think that’s fundamental to understanding civics... and how to referee the ongoing and forever culture wars.
My resume does not even begin to approach yours in any way. NOT EVEN CLOSE. So I’ll be watching your Substack and learning along the way. Thanks again.