Anti-woke isn’t right wing, but right wing elements are hiding behind it — Since I wrote my last article about the so-called anti-woke movement, which was a response to Ross Anderson’s article on Dave Rubin in Quillette, I have been thinking quite a lot about the state of anti-wokeism, and the role of audience capture and peer pressure in shaping the movement (in…

We need to dissect and debunk this myth, once and for all. — Today, I want to talk about the idea that trans people are ‘reinforcing gender stereotypes’. This talking point is popular among certain feminists, and it is increasingly being heard outside the feminist context too. Therefore, I think it is important that we debunk this myth. Are trans people reinforcing…

Being truly committed to free and independent thinking is difficult, but necessary — Today’s essay is inspired by the recent article All About Dave by Ross Anderson, published in Quillette on 15 December 2022. The article traces the career of online commentator Dave Rubin, who once identified himself as a classical liberal fighting against the ‘regressive Left’, but seems to identify more as…

It demonstrates why organized conservatism has a credibility problem — Recently, there has been a moral panic about drag queens among a certain type of culture war ‘conservative’. According to the people promoting this panic, drag queens are always sexual, and they are putting on what should be adult-only performances for increasingly young audiences. I actually agree that ‘drag queen…

Fight against those who want to harm us, but don’t overreact all the time — Today, I want to address a criticism of my work regularly raised by some trans people: that I am supposedly too tolerant of anti-trans bigotry, and fail to recognize that there are people out there who want to hurt us. Let me start with this: I certainly don’t have…

Putting the Classical Liberal vs Postmodern Conflict in a Historical Context — In recent years, many ideas rooted in postmodern critical theory have been mainstreamed by activists. These ideas have been deeply divisive, because they challenge the long-standing classical liberal consensus at the heart of Western society. Some time in the past few years, these ideas became collectively described as ‘woke’, and…

There’s no incompatibility actually — Today, I am going to revisit the assimilationist vs openly queer thing. There’s no incompatibility there, actually. I am, of course, closer to the assimilationist end of the spectrum. And I guess it makes sense for me. Everyone around me is cis and straight. In fact, I’ve never had a…

Let’s examine the issue in a fair manner — Is there really such a thing as ‘gender ideology’? And how can we prevent this idea of ‘gender ideology’ from derailing the discussion on trans rights? I guess, given the intentionally vague terminology, ‘gender ideology’ can really mean anything. Every time I see this phrase being used, and I see…

There needs to be a liberal choice for conservatives instead — In light of the recent US midterm election results, and former President Donald Trump’s announcement of his 2024 run, there has been a lot of talk in conservative-leaning circles that Ron DeSantis is the person to support, to stop Trump in 2024. Even some people, who do not personally identify…