False binary of LGBTQ support fails to convince Iowans

There’s a candy shop that my family and I have patronized for years because it sells us stuff that we really, really like. I follow them on Facebook to stay up to date on their business happenings and give them an opportunity to keep luring me back in with the pictures of their latest goodies.

A post the business shared last week caught my eye, but not because it was a business update or a picture of something that would make me drool. It was as “proclamation” in reaction to legislation both in Iowa and around the country regarding topics ranging from abortion to elections to LGBTQ issues, which the business described as “aimed at suppressing and removing” certain people’s rights, according to the Facebook post made by the owners.

“We do not support any of these actions. We believe they are acts of hate and come from a place of fear,” stated the caption on the post. “Today we formally proclaim we are anti-hate.”

The proclamation itself was pretty vanilla, with the usual “striving to create a safe space” and “all people are welcome” type language. The caption on the post, which made the assertions of motivation of hate and fear and suppression, was more interesting to me. “If you disagree with our beliefs[,] it’s OK,” it read.

But it isn’t OK, apparently. In that very same caption, the business and its owners had intimated why: Hate is not OK, hence the stunning and brave act of proclaiming that they were “anti-hate.” The legislation they were speaking out against was, according to them, driven by hate. If a person who supports any of the legislation to which they were referring, that person is supportive of hate, motivated by fear.

Did the business mean to imply that anyone who supports the legislation is a supporter of hate? Certainly not — hence the insistence that it was OK to disagree, lest they alienate any customer who may have found the message less than inspiring.

But by hinting that one side of the issue is driven by welcome and the other driven by discrimination, the Facebook post nevertheless demonstrated this false dichotomy posed to anyone trying to make sense of LGBTQ issues. Anything other than a total embrace is seen as a rejection of the LGBTQ community — a rigid binary of allies or antis, with no room in the middle for nuance or moderation; no spectrum of concepts within which one can concur on some and dissent on others. “Love is love,” and “be a good human?” Right on. Uncomfortable with cross-sex hormones prescribed to minors or children being allowed to alter their identity without the knowledge or consent of parents? You evil discriminating bigot.

Culture war issues are a hot topic right now, with many of its battles being fought in legislative chambers nationwide. In the Iowa Statehouse, where Republicans control both chambers, legislation already passed as of the end of last week includes a bill to prohibit surgical and/or medical treatment of minors to affirm a minor’s perception of gender that is inconsistent with their sex. As of this column’s deadline, it awaits Gov. Kim Reynolds’ signature.

On March 8, the Iowa House approved a bill prohibiting the instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation for students aged kindergarten through grade six. It now goes to the Senate. And on Thursday, a bill requiring that all people at Iowa schools use intimate spaces such as restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their biological sex.

Are those bills based on hatred for LGBTQ kids? Those who oppose them are quick to say so. Was this what voters asked for when they elected Republicans to sweeping legislative and signed onto another four years of Kim Reynolds?

Recent polling suggests that it is. A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll revealed that 52% of Iowa adults surveyed, including half of those who are parents of children under 18, favor legislation to ban gender-affirming medical treatments in minors. An even larger majority supports prohibiting instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation to children in sixth grade or younger. (Notably, the survey was taken during the days immediately preceding and including the day the gender identity instruction bill passed the House.) When accounting just for parents of minor children, the number of those polled who support a ban on gender identity education for K-6 students exceeds the number of those who do not by over 20 points.

If LGBTQ issues in Iowa really are viewed through the binary of love versus hate, support versus oppression, or acceptance versus rejection, then it only stands to reason that more than half of Iowa adults hate transgender kids. Does a reasonable person really believe that?

Plenty of people whom I would describe as less than reasonable do believe that most Iowans favor the targeting of transgender youth. Their invective regularly makes its way to my email inbox or my Twitter account. In May, I wrote an analysis of the Linn-Mar Community School District’s gender identity support policy, during which I dove somewhat deep into the potential conflicts while still taking care to posit that the new policy was not borne out of some sinister agenda.

One reader sent an email calling the article “disgusting, hateful and vile.” A response to another article on the subject included terms like “ignorant,” “stupid,” “poorly informed,” “unsafe,” “disgusting bigot,” and “bad person” (and that was from just one reader who apparently got out their thesaurus.) Limiting the reasons for a person’s stance on these issues to the mutually exclusive motivations of support or hatred is not only a false dichotomy, but a nasty one at times.

I never mind the nasty comments. Journalism takes a thick skin. But the observation of rage isn’t limited to your friendly neighborhood disgusting and vile columnist. It’s observed by others who don’t want to be its target. To be shamed as a bigot is something no one wants. When those who do speak out with valid concerns are labeled as extremists, those who don’t want to be labeled extremists opt to not speak up. When that happens, it’s easy to assume that the momentum is on the side of the opposition.

But it isn’t. The last general election showed us that, and the recent Iowa Poll confirmed that Iowans feel legislative intervention is warranted to address and prevent unwise gender identity-focused practices.

Agree or disagree, if all the opposition has is to proclaim everyone else bigots, those at whom they hurl their invective will likely keep electing those same evil Republicans. And those evil Republicans will keep fighting the battles of culture war inside the Iowa Statehouse — and even win a few.

Comments; 319-398-8266; althea.cole@thegazette.com

Opinion content represents the viewpoint of the author or The Gazette editorial board. You can join the conversation by submitting a letter to the editor or guest column or by suggesting a topic for an editorial to editorial@thegazette.com