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15 Transphobias in ‘Trans Totalitarianism’
Rod Dreher’s August 2022 article in The American Conservative
Last August, Rod Dreher wrote a long, rambling screed called “Trans Totalitarianism: Time For Moral Panic” in the American Conservative. It’s low on facts and high on transphobia. First, I’ll show you quickly how we recognize that the perspective is transphobic, and then I’ll show you 15 specific pieces of nonsense.
How Do We Know He’s Anti-Transgender?
Do a quick visual scan. Here are some words he uses to describe trans people (adults or children), or the healthcare and other forms of support they receive, all from this article:
- “egregious,” “horrible,” “grossed out,” “hideous,” “demonic evil”
- “monstrous child abuse…happening out in the open”
- “trans-totalitarians in doctor’s coats and other symbols of authority”
- “Mengeles hiding behind euphemism”
- “all of us are propagandized daily”
- “the implementation of a single illiberal ideology…through total capture of [the society’s] institutions”
- “the window is closing on traditional American liberties — and that means they will be able to come after your kids, permanently”
- because those kids will be “dependent on the pharmaceutical industry and the broader medical-industrial complex, for the rest of their lives”
- so “if you are not panicking, you are not paying attention”
- and what is needed is a “Plan B” involving “an underground railroad for parents to protect their children from these ghouls” by fleeing to other states.
In the article’s 5500 words, he namedrops the people he considers his fellow activist “badasses”: Matt Walsh (5x), Chaya Raichik (2x), Libs of TikTok aka LOTT (7x), Christina Buttons (3x), Chris Elston, aka Billboard Chris (4x), and Chris Rufo (3x). He also embeds tweets, which increase the word count and the namedropping. He also heavily promotes his own book.
Dreher, a USAmerican, is a fan of Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary. He lives in Budapest, having received a fellowship from an Orbán-funded think…
