Before speaking recently at an event at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, a pastor approached me and said that we had met 20 years ago when I spoke at a particular church in Virginia. Then he said, “You warned us back then about all the stuff that would be coming with gay activism and how everyone thought you were crazy. And now,” he added, “it has all happened.”
I smiled at him and said, “The same God who showed me what would happen with LGBTQ+ activism back then also showed me there would be a pushback!”
Day by day, that pushback continues, as the radical Left continues to overplay its hand.
Consequently, the same people who may have been sympathetic to same-sex “marriage” are not sympathetic to transgender activism. To paraphrase, “We didn’t sign up for this!”
Of course, the latter (meaning trans-activism) is the natural outgrowth of the former (meaning gay activism). The trajectory is as clear as it is predictable. That’s why Christian leaders such as Francis Schaeffer could sound the alarm decades before most of us were aware of what was taking place.
To offer an especially prescient quote from Schaeffer dating all the way back to 1968 (one year before the Stonewall Riots), he wrote, “But much modern homosexuality is an expression of the current denial of antithesis. It has led in this case to an obliteration of the distinction between man and woman. So the male and the female as complementary partners are finished.”
Talk about a deep spiritual and cultural insight. (For the record, “. . . Schaeffer lamented the church’s complicity in marginalizing gay people. . . . Indeed, Schaeffer’s ministry became a magnet for gay people wrestling with Christianity.”)
But I say all this in order to say again: The same God who showed me what would happen with LGBTQ+ activism also showed me there would be pushback.
Here are some recent examples.
A growing number of states have outlawed the chemical castration or gender mutilation of children who identify as trans. While trans activists are calling this genocidal, others with clearer perspectives recognize that this will save many a child from making a terrible and irreversible decision.
In Canada, a male weightlifter signed up as a female in a weightlifting competition and smashed the current record – one set, ironically, by a man who identified as a woman – simply to illustrate the absurdity of the current state of things. You can expect to see more examples like this.
Back here in America, “College swimming champion Riley Gaines says she plans to take legal action after San Francisco State University praised students for 'peaceful' protest at an event where she claims she was assaulted and held for ransom.”
She was physically attacked by trans-activists who were furious with her for speaking the truth about having to compete against (and share a locker room with) Will “Lia” Thomas, the biological male who identified as female and rocked women’s collegiate swimming.
Gaines, who is outspoken about her Christian faith, has decided that enough is enough. She will speak and she will act.
Then there is the pushback against Budweiser and Nike for their ridiculous (and, from a marketing standpoint, insane) decision to make social media influence “Dylan” Mulvaney, a biological male, into their poster girl.
Here are some recent headlines: “Nike angers feminists after choosing controversial trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney as new face of its women's SPORTS BRA, days after Bud Light was slammed for putting her on can.” And: “MAUREEN CALLAHAN: So Nike pays a trans woman who parodies my gender to wear their sports bras - but was once accused of cutting salaries of its pregnant ambassadors. Enough! Ladies, let the pushback begin.” (Notice that word “pushback”!)
It was reported last week that, “Veteran country music star Travis Tritt announced Thursday he is no longer having Anheuser-Busch products on his touring hospitality rider. What’s more? Tritt says ‘I know many other artists who are doing the same.’”
Next, we learned that, “Country music star John Rich has added his name to the growing list of performers boycotting Anheuser-Busch for signing transgender activist, Joe Biden supporter, and TikTok icon Dylan Mulvaney to a lucrative endorsement deal centered on its Bud Light beer.”
And then this report: “Beer juggernaut Anheuser-Busch has seen its value nosedive roughly $5 billion since Bud Light’s polarizing partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney.
“As of Wednesday's close, Anheuser-Busch has fallen 5.02% and lost $4.562 billion in market cap, according to Dow Jones Market Data Group.”
Five billion dollars is a lot of money!
And the pushback continues even beyond trans-activism. To cite another report, “At least six players have said they won’t wear Pride-themed jerseys because of personal religious reasons and potential legal consequences in Russia.
“Three teams have said their whole roster won’t wear the jerseys because of a Russian anti-LGBTQ+ law.”
As I’ve said endlessly over these years, my issue is with the activism, not with the people. (In fact, I addressed that again just a few days ago.) But I will continue to speak out against the corrosive effect that LGBTQ+ activism is having on our nation while reaching out to individuals on a personal level.
Thankfully, more and more Americans are pushing back, be they parents who are offended by drag queens grooming their kids or by major companies pushing males as females.
May the pushback continue to gain ground (but without crushing LGTBQ+ people in the process).
