Conservatives about to lose the 21st century : politics
Gov. Ron DeSantis on July 13, 2021 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle, HO / TNS They have never once been right.
Did you ever notice that? Do you ever think about it? Never once.
Oh, in matters of, say, foreign affairs or military strategy, one might contend that conservatives have had their moments, made arguments that, arguably, made sense. But on matters of social evolution, they’ve compiled a remarkable record: They’ve never been vindicated by history. Rather, they’ve always been repudiated by it, always been wrong.
You think that’s harsh? You think it’s overly sweeping? The record begs to differ.
They stood athwart the civil rights movement, William F. Buckley once arguing (and later repenting) that white people’s ”cultural superiority” entitled them to dominate African Americans.
They opposed women’s rights, Barry Goldwater once saying that he had nothing against a woman running for vice president, “just so she can cook and get home on time.”
Nor are the right’s wrongs limited to matters of human freedom. Every art form that ever dared deviate from status quo — music, film, books, comic books — has had to run a gauntlet of conservative opprobrium. As far back as the 1920s, they were up in arms over a new music called jazz.
It’s a history that provides a jaundiced context for the latest right-wing crusade. Meaning the one against LGBTQ kids. Florida’s Legislature passed its obnoxious “Don’t Say Gay” bill last week. Gov. Ron DeSantis, evidently determined to leave no principle untrampled in his hoped-for march to the White House, is expected to sign it.
The bill, which says educators may not “encourage” discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity, is just the latest front in the right’s war on LGBTQ young people, particularly those who are transgender. The ACLU counts dozens of such bills working their way through legislatures in over two dozen states. This includes Texas, whose attorney general has defined gender-affirming health care as child abuse.