American Holy War

Don’t Make a Deal with Someone Who Believes in the Devil

Some feminists are making a mistake of existential proportions

I may take grief for this, but it has to be said. It should also be in big type so no one misses it:

If you are a person with even a trace of progressive belief in your soul, you must not make common cause with the Christian Right on any social issue. Ever.

It’s not that our political parties can’t work together. If Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley can come together over, say, an infrastructure project, then go ahead. But in a previous piece (There’s Not a Civil War Brewing in America — It’s Much Worse), I conclude the Christian Right isn’t fighting a war of ideas. Their goal is a country where the Bible overrides — if not actually becomes — the law.

On the left, social issues are subjects of debate. On the right, they’re a matter of God’s opinion. And history shows being on the wrong end of that is bad for your health.

A toxic relationship

This article was spurred by Ephrom Josine’s article Are The TERFs Waking Up? and Katelyn Burns piece The rise of anti-trans “radical” feminists, explained in Vox. Both discuss an alliance between conservatives and TERFs (“Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists,” aka “gender-critical” feminists) on opposing transgender rights.

Now, the old saying “politics makes for strange bedfellows” is true, and a middle-aged straight white guy is not necessarily the best person to bear this message. But for those on the left, it’s never out of order to mention it’s a bad idea to ally with anyone who is fundamentally committed to opposing your cause.

Or in the case of the LGBTQ community, fundamentally committed to opposing your existence.

This isn’t like Congress arguing whether to spend one billion dollars or five billion. Feminists joining with conservatives in opposing trans rights is like public school advocates siding with privatization absolutists.

Opposition to feminism and almost every other cause associated with progressive women aren’t just matters of preference for conservatives, they are central tenets. And of course, for those who “engage in homosexual acts” the stakes are much higher.

For anyone who doesn’t know, feminists are not monolithic

Though feminism and LGBTQ rights are both associated with the left, there’s no reason a feminist couldn’t be anti-trans. In particular, some might believe the gains they’ve won would be diluted by extending them to people they don’t see as women. I certainly have sympathy for anyone who has battled the patriarchy her whole life, only to feel that men are encroaching on the fruits of her labors.

But no matter how someone reaches trans-exclusionary opinion, they’ll be short of allies among progressives where support (or at least lip service) for LBGTQ rights is the norm. However, there is one group in America intractably opposed to transgender concerns — the Christian Right.

As an example of a threat to feminist victories, Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said the following:

It’s very curious to see that so many self-styled feminists in politics and the media have taken steps that are objectively harmful to women. I mean, Title IX was a long-sought and hard-fought battle to try to achieve equality between women’s sports and men’s sports. Some of the very same people that fought those battles — or their philosophical and political inheritors — are willing to sacrifice those gains, all in service of this radical abstraction of Gender Ideology.

It’s completely reasonable to consider the effect of transgender rights on Title IX. But those of us of a certain age remember the battle Sen. Cotton refers to was hard-fought because of people like him.

The reason it sounds so strange to hear conservatives speak this way is because it’s so breathtakingly cynical. They don’t give a damn about women’s sports except to the extent they’re impacting men. The conservative base doesn’t even believe programs for women are necessary — 72% of Trump voters say that “obstacles that once made it harder for women are now largely gone.”

They have fought tooth and nail against everything feminists have gained, and they’ll strike it all down if and when they get the chance. My parents were active in the pro-ERA movement, I’ve been seeing the attacks for more than four decades.

To paraphrase the Senator: are some of the very same people who fought those battles — or their philosophical and political inheritors — willing to sacrifice those gains by allying with those they fought against?

The lesser of two evils is less evil

Unless I’m missing something, I can’t imagine a scenario where lesbian or bisexual women should give the Christian Right so much as the time of day. While it’s true trans people are their target du jour, their enmity extends to everyone LGBTQ.

However, the right is nothing if not strategic. Public opinion on feminism is trending positive, as is support for L, G, and B. So they’ve turned their guns on T. It’s a more complicated issue and doesn’t yet have wide popular support, so they’re concentrating their fire there.

But don’t think for a minute they’ve given up. In 2016, three GOP presidential hopefuls — including white Evangelical favorite Ted Cruz — appeared on stage with Pastor Kevin Swanson. This charming gentleman should be more famous, in particular for his rant that all homosexuals deserve the death penalty. He does graciously admit he isn’t actually trying to kill them right now, but only so they have a chance to convert and repent.

Unfortunately, Pastor Swanson’s position is the Biblically correct one. If someone is L, G, B or T, Bible literalists want them celibate at the very least, whether they say so or not.

Is there any sense in lesbian or bisexual women rejecting someone who might threaten women’s rights in favor of those who quite literally don’t want them to exist? Even if you accept the premise that trans people will dilute gains by women, victory by the Christian Right poses an existential threat.

Don’t be a tool

One reason politics has made strange bedfellows is the idea of siding with the opposition in hopes of gaining some credit toward compromise or support in return. In this case, it isn’t going to happen.

It strains credulity to even imagine the Christian Right sees this as more than a tool to weaken progressivism in general. Whether you call yourself a TERF or a gender-critical feminist, you’ll always be wicked in God’s sight. Once you’re no longer of value the knives will come out.

Warriors for any god make poor allies. They have no loyalty to anyone else. They don’t need to ask questions or have a conscience. It doesn’t matter if you are friends today, you’re on the impure list and will become a target eventually.

Accepting their help in any situation is the road to madness. If there’s one thing conservatives are good at, it’s unity, and no single part of the progressive coalition is strong enough to face them alone. Unless all voices, all colors, all genders and preferences, all religions, and everyone else joins and stands up together, the holy warriors will win. Diversity is a strength in many ways, but not in this particular fight.

As another old saying goes, if we do not hang together, we will all hang separately.

More by John Werth on this topic.