Every social movement, everything that attracts radical activists, sooner or later descends into intolerance and absurdity. This is a fundamental law of the universe, known as Clark’s Law of Social Issue Absurdity.
This law applies to almost every major social issue in recent history — and by recent history, I mean since the fall of Rome. Maybe since always — I can see, way back in ancient times, tribal warfare breaking out over whether the spirits favored tribes who made their hand-axes out of flint vs. those who made them from obsidian. These movements often start with a legitimate issue, like votes for women or eliminating actual, legislated racism as a matter of policy, like the segregation of the Army in the 1940s. But the problem comes when the primary goals are achieved — but the radicals keep pushing, and their demands get more and more outlandish until they end up turning off the majority of the population.
Here’s a great example of this principle in action.
Robin Atkins, we can be sure, is far from alone. Most people, especially those who are just seeing an issue for the first time, try to bend towards what they think are moderate positions, although I would argue that the “social transitioning” of children, in particular, is on the wrong side of that line. But still — plenty of folks, when confronted for the first time with an issue they may never have encountered before and who may not have given it much thought, would try to adopt what they see as a moderate position.
That’s not where they are allowed to stay, though; the radicals consider this “insufficient zeal.” This is a great illustration of the fact that transgender activists just don’t know when to quit. Let’s look at a couple of specific items from Robin Atkins’ narrative.
I started out moderate on trans issues in 2019. I was open to social transitioning of children. I was fine with using preferred pronouns the majority of the time. I was fine with adults transitioning using whatever private insurance would cover it and private funds. I wanted single stall or gender neutral bathrooms added to public buildings, so those who are trans had a safe option without compromising women. I wanted an open category in sports so anyone could compete without compromising women’s sports. I have never been for affirmation therapy because affirmation isn’t therapy. I wanted therapy to continue to be exploratory therapy, as it has always been regardless of identity.
Guess what, I still got called a bigot, transphobe, homophibe, fascist, racist, etc., etc., etc.
Of course you did. Insufficient zeal. It is not enough for the radicals to try to adopt any level of moderation. The transgender movement, as I have said many times, went from asking for tolerance to insisting on acceptance to demanding celebration, and for most folks, that’s a bridge too far. That’s what happened to Robin Atkins. Here are a few of the items that led to the tipping point:
Since then, I was slowly pushed away until I became gender critical. What peaked me?
- Men who claim to be women refusing to listen to the concerns of women they wanted to be welcomed by
- watching ROGD grow exponentially in my field and being gaslit that it wasn’t happening
- watching detransitioners be attacked for simply telling their story or wanting the option to sue for the wrong they felt was done to them
- women being raped in prisons whole being gaslit that it isn’t happening
- women/girls losing scholarships and awards to biological males in women’s only sports
- receiving threat after threat because I have concerns about the sterilization of children and women’s safety
Yeah, that’s the way to persuade someone to your cause!
See Related: More Wokeness Prevails As Boxers With ‘XY Chromosomes’ Will Compete in Olympics As Women
Cowardice Keeps Transgenderism Alive
It’s a trifle baffling that more people aren’t being turned off by some of the absurdities but just wait — the tide may well be turning. The transgender movement probably wouldn’t have attracted much attention if it had stopped at consenting, competent adults changing “gender” and otherwise, you know, minding their own business. The same would apply to pretty much any movement; take segregation, for example, which was arguably wrong and has been done away with as a matter of policy, but now we have segregated dorms in American colleges — argued for by people claiming the mantle of the civil rights movement that opposed segregation.
This will proceed according to Clark’s Law of Social Issue Absurdity — the movement has to keep going so the graft can be kept up, and that requires the issue to become more and more ridiculous, and the request for acceptance becomes demands for approval and then for celebration until the whole thing descends into absurdity. I’d argue that the transgender movement has already reached the level of absurdity, and people like Robin Atkins, who supported it at one time, have been dissuaded — or, more accurately, have had their eyes opened.
Don’t look for the radicals to go away, though. There’s a lot of money in activism, as anyone who is familiar with the BLM (Buy Larger Mansions) movement can attest. So, for that reason if for no other, this issue will still be argued for years to come.