May 17 is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. We will be celebrating Pride Month in June. But there are many events, lately, which do not give the heart to the party. Let’s start by naming things.
There is a group of public agitators in Quebec who have not missed a beat, for several years, to try to make the population believe that non-binary people, trans people and their allies cherish the secret ambition to abolish the social categories of man and woman, father and mother.
We are skilfully sneaky: no one openly claims transphobia and queerphobia. It is simply argued that the visibility and rights of trans people, the contact of drag artists with children or the inclusion of non-binary identities on official documents or in public discourse constitute a social “loss of bearings”, a threat to traditional identities, in short, a sign of the collapse of civilization.
It might be tempting for people who don’t identify themselves with sexual diversity not to feel concerned about recent “scandals” targeting trans people, non-binary people or even drag artists. It’s that some of these moral panic attacks are so ridiculous, it can be depressing to even devote energy to them. The most recent example being the “cancellation” of Mother’s Day, which of course was never wanted by anyone.
A priori, the suggestion of a “parents’ day” by a teacher in a very specific context of a classroom, to be sensitive to the realities of a very specific group of children, has absolutely nothing to do with the rights of LGBTQ+ people. But let’s not be hypocrites: if the affair has even made the National Assembly and the House of Commons talk, it is precisely because our favorite reactionaries saw in it the opportunity to wave the scarecrow of the great replacing the word “mother” with non-gendered parenting.
A cycle of news that feeds on the anecdotal quickly takes on the appearance of a fire in the garbage can: somehow, everyone will do their best to minimize the risk of getting burned. Once the storm has passed, there remains a paralyzing and deterrent effect (chilling effect) who won’t make the headlines.
On the one hand, there may remain a pang in the heart, or even in some cases a reflex to lay low in homoparental couples, non-binary parents or families who in one way or another come out of the nuclear model. — even if they have a priori nothing to do with this story. Just as the “war against Christmas” which has supposedly been going on for years (Christmas continues to do very well) fuels distrust of religious minorities, we must not misunderstand the social consequences of a supposed “war against mothers and fathers.
On the other hand, the harassment that the teacher has suffered will surely leave consequences in her personal life, but it will also make teachers particularly cautious who would like to propose other initiatives to meet the needs of their students. If the price of the awkwardness that often accompanies creativity is now so high, it should come as no surprise that ordinary people are dissuaded from innovating around sensitive issues.
Here, we touch on the real consequences of this type of moral panic on sexual minorities themselves, but also on society as a whole. When we tear each other apart about a drag queen who gives story time to children, we first attack the rights of this artist, of course, but also more broadly the right to be different and with a joyful flamboyance that clashes.
When newspapers make fun of non-gendered pronouns and inclusive writing, we certainly make the lives of non-binary people particularly difficult. But we also attack, in the same breath, the idea of a society where each person is free to be whoever they want and to flourish as they wish. When we deny trans children the right to assert themselves for who they are, we sacrifice their childhood well-being and health at the altar of adult comfort. Not only are we causing these children great suffering, but we are renewing the idea of a society made up of thick and tight boxes from which we must above all not leave under pain of ostracization.
The more we move away from the norms, the more these austere categories will make us feel like a prison. But what the queer movements tell us, basically, is that a world without the freedom to be oneself, without authenticity, without the possibility of exploring one’s identities, one’s sexuality, one’s relationship to the body, to love, family, femininity and masculinity is a stuffy world for everyone.
May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, is also the day that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has chosen to ratify laws that ban health care for trans children, ban drag shows, force trans and non-binary people to use bathrooms that match their gender assigned at birth, and restrict young people’s right to use pronouns of their choice in the classroom.
It would be dangerous to entertain the illusion, even for a minute, that there is no connection between American news and the anecdotes which suddenly become the topic of the hour here. Let it be said: the political current rising from the United States and relayed by the neoconservatives here is bringing about a more violent world for gender minorities. And a more violent world for gender minorities is a less free world for everyone.
Anthropologist, Emilie Nicolas is a columnist for Le Devoir and Liberation. She hosts the Détours podcast for Canadaland.