It's not just Stonewall here in the UK—it's everywhere around the world, even India is getting in on the act. In the age of the internet it defies belief that whole countries are falling for this nonsense even as it wobbles in the West. How can they not know about France, Sweden, and Finland, pulling out of WPATH? Even the Dutch are re-thinking their Protocol and urging caution.
I think they're ignoring all of that because they're in the grip of a religious cult. It's the only rational explanation for the moral panic over "Evil TERFs who want to rob trans people of all of their rights" as exemplified by transgender poster child Katy Montgomerie, and the insistence that any contradiction of the trans creed narrative is an act of stochastic terrorism by disgusting bigots.
What exactly is a cult?
The best definition I've seen so far is,
A cult is a group or movement held together by a shared commitment to a charismatic leader or ideology. It has a belief system that has the answers to all of life's questions and offers a special solution to be gained only by following the leader's rules. - The Tennesseean
The dictionaries tend to describe them as "a system of religious veneration or devotion directed towards a particular figure or object" or "a small religious group... that has beliefs regarded by many as extreme..."
Whether you're willing go accept this or not, gender identity ideology has a range of cultish aspects that people are increasingly becoming aware of.
Let's take a closer look at them.
1. Veneration or devotion.
This tends to manifest in a rabidly aggressive response to criticism of any aspect of gender identity ideology or any person who claims a trans identity. While Yaniv is universally despised as a nasty paedophile creep, at least on the surface, woe beside anyone who dares to misgender him.
2. Mangled language/jargon
In her book "Cultish," Amanda Montell explains how cult leaders seek to "establish, through language, a clear way of demarcating between believers and non-believers." They also like to impress upon their members the notion that their tenets are rooted in science, tradition, or something just as authoritative. The difference is, of course that their science, tradition, or whatever, is special and exclusive, known and understood only by them. They're an in-crowd that only the obedient can ever be part of. So they talk about "cis" men and women, or when they really dig in, "cishet" men and women.
3. A creed to repeat
I used to be a member of the Pirate Party but fell out with them over gender identity ideology. I had noticed a tendency in one particular person (who was otherwise decent) to latch on to an opinion and cling to it like grim death no matter what. While his mantra-chanting shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did, the spectacle of others joining him in calling me a Nazi because I can't accept that Phil from Accounts is a woman because he says he is really freaked me out.
The creed:
- Trans women are women.
- Trans men are men.
- Non-binary identities are valid.
I know this because he chanted it at me before he blocked me. You don't question gender identity ideology. Ever. Other people have done this to me since then and I still think it's weird. Web designer (and person I used to respect) Ethan Marcotte linked a one line blog post on Twitter at least once: "Trans women are women." He blocked me for pointing out that this is a shibboleth to divide believers from infidels like me. I'm still an infidel, Ethan.
4. A system of religious beliefs
The Encyclopedia Britannica's definition of religion has done nothing to dissuade me from calling gender identity ideology a religious cult. Read it. I really can't see a difference. Think about it: religions such as Christianity have a set of beliefs that members are expected to accept and live by no matter what; adherence to the faith that their beliefs are true facts is what marks out the faithful from the unbeliever. Well gender identity ideology is no different. I'm amused by people saying there is no such thing. Oh yeah?
The OED describes ideology as "a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy." Add some metaphysical considerations and you don't get to tell me I'm wrong about it being religious.
The similarities with Scientology are to do with levels of exposure to the more extreme aspects of the belief system. That there's a fair amount of contradiction within the system is due to the hierarchy; those lower down the chain tend to have a rather Santa Claus-y, rose-tinted fairytale viewpoint while the more committed tend to express outlandish ideas that those lower down the chain disavow when confronted with them. For reasons I don't understand they don't get reprimanded for this as long as they stick to the creed.
The beliefs:
- Trans-substantiation - the idea that a man who has declared a feminine identity, even on a part-time basis, is actually a woman and should be treated as such at all times.
- People are born transgender (despite the wealth of evidence to the contrary).
- There is "no difference" between "cis" women and transwomen.
- "Cis" women should never have anything of their own as a group as this is exclusionary in and of itself. However, this should never be said out loud. If anyone asks the question, pull the race card and compare it to Jim Crow segregation. That'll show them!
- Transwomen have been using women's spaces since forever, unnoticed because they "pass." When they don't, play the terrified victim card.
- At no point do perverted men ever fake being trans to gain access to women and girls. That's a transphobic myth spread by evil TERFs.
- Kids who display behaviour outside of gender norms are trans.
- Kids identified as trans should be put on puberty blockers ASAP to prevent them from committing suicide.
- Puberty blockers are harmless and reversible, a pause button on puberty to give kids time to work out who they are - despite the evidence to the contrary.
- There is an ongoing conspiracy of hate against trans people; TERFs want to see all trans people robbed of healthcare and/or dead.
- Any attempt to establish a separate status for "cis" women and transwomen is, in and of itself, transphobic. So when "cis" women advocate for their rights on the basis of their needs as a sex class, it's transphobic because it excludes transwomen.
- Any criticism of men or discussion of male violence is a transphobic dog whistle.
- There is no such thing as autogynephilia (despite all the evidence to the contrary).
- There is no such thing as gender identity ideology (despite all the evidence to the contrary).
- TERFery/gender critical positions is an ideology.
- All unbelievers and critics must be punished and/or excommunicated from society and rendered pariahs.
If it walks like a duck and goes quack, it's a duck. Make no mistake, this is an insidious cult whose tentacles reach deep into the corridors of power.
What can we do?
Thankfully the resistance is growing. As our institutions sever ties with Stonewall and its ilk and the excesses of trans ideology are revealed to the public (why sport and not prisons?), it's becoming more acceptable to speak out against gender identity nonsense and to call it out for what it is.
Every court case we win knocks another chip out of the wall. Every voice raised makes people ask questions about how this nonsense even got started and how it got so deeply embedded in our institutions.
The Cass Report will be out soon enough; surely prosecutions for the reckless experiments on kids will follow.
And we can't legally get sacked for holding or expressing gender critical views as long as we're not abusive when we do.
So speak out. Ask questions. Don't worry if people turn against you, there are thousands more who'll join you. If you're afraid, ask for help. Join women's advocacy groups like Sex Matters and Fair Play For Women. Take part in public consultations and write to your MP. If someone abuses you, don't abuse back; show yourself to be the better person by graciously but firmly disagreeing. The tyranny is coming to an end. Let's speed its demise.
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