Serious question - why is the far right obsessed with gender definitions?

[sekker]

Mr645 wrote:
[quote=pdq]
[quote=Mr645]
No one cares if you're gay, bi, trans, whatever.

Really? No one?

Then why does the GOP seem to be enthusiastically pursuing a nationwide persecution of their rights?
The same .05% of far left and .05% of far right that the media give 90% of the spotlight to. Using the few to control the masses.
I share this overall view, but I see one side stomping on the Constitution and taking rights away, and the other defending civil rights.

[sekker]

Rolando wrote:
The fact that leftist are pushing the issue on the other end is falling right into their trap.

Many on the left have not learned the lesson of the 2016 Presidential campaign for sure.

[sekker]

Ted King wrote:
[quote=anonymouse1]
In addition to all the good points made previously, I see a couple of things (which overlap with the previous points):

1. There are some people/groups who are very susceptible to out-group hatred. It's a group-bonding experience for them.

2. Some people are anxious/scared. This gives them something concrete to be scared about, which is paradoxically calming--it's no longer free-floating anxiety/fear.

3. There are entrepreneurs of fear, like DeSantis, who want to take advantage of 1 and 2.

4. If you haven't been exposed to that type of stuff until you're and adult, you may have some unconscious prejudices.

That is a pretty good list. I would add that "fundamentalist" religion plays a big role in 1. and 2. and also that religion gives those "in- groups" a moral pretext to ignore science. For example, it gives a moral pretext to say that g-ender d-ysphoria is wrong because it isn't "natural" even though the scientific evidence is that people with g-ender d-ysphoria come by it naturally, not by nurture or choice.

Edit: I wish there was a way to get the forum filter to quit treating "g-ender d-sysphora" as though it was a "bad" phrase. It kind of pisses me off.
My wife is a Catholic and religious ed teacher. She does NOT subscribe to these anti rights movements. She actually calls them anti-Christian.

[RgrF]

[i]“We knew we needed to find an issue that the candidates were comfortable talking about,” said Terry Schilling, the president of American Principles Project, a social conservative advocacy group. “And we threw everything at the wall.”

What has stuck, somewhat unexpectedly, is the issue of transgender identity, particularly among young people

[DeusxMac]

RgrF wrote:
[i]“We knew we needed to find an issue that the candidates were comfortable talking about,” said Terry Schilling, the president of American Principles Project, a social conservative advocacy group. “And we threw everything at the wall.”

What has stuck, somewhat unexpectedly, is the issue of transgender identity, particularly among young people

"Following the Republican Party's post-2012 election review, in which the GOP suggested de-emphasizing social issues, APP (American Principles Project) published a report detailing the importance of social issues to the Republican Party. The report pointed out that Republicans ran almost exclusively on economic issues during the 2012 election to lackluster effect."

"In 2018, the APP Foundation released a “Contract with American Families” describing its agenda for 2019. In 2021, APP created a membership program that it called an "NRA for Families.""

"The American Principles Project super PAC received $3.2 million from Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein between 2020 and 2022. In 2022, the PAC spent $25,000 on commercials for a school board election in Polk County, Florida."

[Ted King]

sekker wrote:
[quote=Ted King]
[quote=anonymouse1]
In addition to all the good points made previously, I see a couple of things (which overlap with the previous points):

1. There are some people/groups who are very susceptible to out-group hatred. It's a group-bonding experience for them.

2. Some people are anxious/scared. This gives them something concrete to be scared about, which is paradoxically calming--it's no longer free-floating anxiety/fear.

3. There are entrepreneurs of fear, like DeSantis, who want to take advantage of 1 and 2.

4. If you haven't been exposed to that type of stuff until you're and adult, you may have some unconscious prejudices.

That is a pretty good list. I would add that "fundamentalist" religion plays a big role in 1. and 2. and also that religion gives those "in- groups" a moral pretext to ignore science. For example, it gives a moral pretext to say that g-ender d-ysphoria is wrong because it isn't "natural" even though the scientific evidence is that people with g-ender d-ysphoria come by it naturally, not by nurture or choice.

Edit: I wish there was a way to get the forum filter to quit treating "g-ender d-sysphora" as though it was a "bad" phrase. It kind of pisses me off.
My wife is a Catholic and religious ed teacher. She does NOT subscribe to these anti rights movements. She actually calls them anti-Christian.
Yeah, lots of Christians don't subscribe to those views. That is why I tried to qualify it with "fundamentalists" (in quotes). Granted "fundamentalist" is a vague term, but it seemed like a way to communicate my point since I think most people do recognize that a LOT of those who are anti-trans come from a background that can roughly be called fundamentalist. As in - though it may be the case that not all fundamentalist Christians are necessarily anti-trans, a noticeably disproportionate number of them are.

It's a bit like when I used to teach about evolution in my classes. I never had a Catholic parent complain about it. When I got complaints it was always from what I would call fundamentalist Christian parents.

[mattkime]

DeusxMac wrote:
APP created a membership program that it called an "NRA for Families.""

I'd love to see a commercial for this organization.

[DeusxMac]

mattkime wrote:
[quote=DeusxMac]
APP created a membership program that it called an "NRA for Families.""

I'd love to see a commercial for this organization.
Some of their "work" is on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrZp6oOXDco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycs4f9uQ7Xg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuz1A91BlsU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL_DO382a90 (the actor in this ad Terry Schilling, president of the APP)


Careful though, this APP is a rabbit hole warren of rightwing connections; i.e.

- Terry Schilling is one of ten children of Bobby Schilling, a member of Congress from Illinois.

- Bobby Schilling was a Democrat and former trade union officer before becoming a "Reagan Republican" and being influenced by Glenn Beck. "Schilling was one of the 9–12 Candidates, a group led by Beck, and signed the 9–12 contract of principles and values."

- Glenn Beck... well, we know about him

- The "9-12 Project"

[SteveG]

she's all woman and I love her

[anonymouse1]

Please say a bit more.

Rolando wrote:
The fact that leftist are pushing the issue on the other end is falling right into their trap.