LGBTQ+ hate is completely based in fear

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Yet, courses such as SJUS:1001 Introduction to Social Justice and SJUS:2000 Theories of Social Justice are meant to orient students toward the major conceptual areas that constitute social justice. Hopefully, through students consuming concrete knowledge of various people’s historie and experiences the university could become a place of true equality and belonging for all.

jordan-coates@uiowa.edu

Under critical examination, it’s hard to understand why there is still a massive opposition to the rights and even the existence of LGBTQ+ people.

Evan Weidl Opinions Editor

Hate is a heavy burden to carry, especially when it is not based on anything reasonable.

In a press event on Friday, former vice president and 2024 presidential candidate Mike Pence called to reinstate the Trump administration policy that bans transgender Amer- icans from serving in the military, receiving much applause. Pence said he believes allowing transgender personnel “erodes unit cohesion in a very unique way.” He also said he believes it negatively impacts recruitment.

Pence’s argument against transgender people in the military can be completely dismantled by a simple question: Why?

The right-wing hatred of transgender, and LGBTQ+ people in general, is entirely amorphous. Their hatred is purely based in fear of what they don’t know or what they see as different, and they see it as different because their fear made it a taboo subject.

Conservatives may claim it is due to religious preferences. Whether or not that is actually consistent with their religion is up for debate, but either way, any law that is passed in any case cannot use any religion’s principles as its basis, as that would be a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution.

They may claim they are trying to protect chil- dren, but we have known for decades that gay men are not more likely to be pedophiles. This again is just something that conservatives cling to without evidence because if they think they are simply protecting children, then they must be right.

They may even claim that the science is on their side, making arguments that homosexual relationships are unnatural or that sex and gender are the same thing, and gender cannot be changed. Once again, we know that homosexuality and bisexuality are not social constructs because homosexual behavior has been documented in hundreds of species of animals.

Mike Pence thinks that the military, which has more funding than China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, the United Kingdom, South Korea, France, Japan, Germany, and Ukraine combined, is seriously threatened by the 0.0051 percent of military personnel who may be transgender and who just want to serve like any other soldier.

Furthermore, allowing transgender people to serve would have “little to no impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or readiness,” according to the Rand Corporation.

At the end of the day, the right-wing opposition to progressive gender identity policies and laws is not based in science, logic, or anything reasonable. It is purely based on an unwillingness to accept change and difference evan-weidl@uiowa.edu