In my formative high school years, as I tried to figure out what my life was all about, one set of three novels proved to be pivotal: "The Illuminatus! Trilogy" by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. I took to those books like some teens take to "Atlas Shrugged" but, thankfully, Ayn Rand never interested me.
Among the many bits of philosophy I took from "Illuminatus!" was one line from "Celine's Laws" buried deep in the text, "every Law creates a new criminal class."
"As more and more laws are passed, more and more citizens become criminals," wrote Wilson, speaking through the character Hagbard Celine. "The chief cause of the rising crime rate is the rising number of laws being enacted."
With that, I can't help but note the crime rate is about to explode.
In August, speaking at a Moms For Liberty event, former and future President Donald Trump told the crowd that, "On Day 1, I will sign an executive order instructing every federal agency to cease the promotion of sex or gender transition at any age. They're not going to do it anymore."
Yes, he can do this. It won't be easy, and there's more than likely to be legal fights ahead, but I assure you that plenty of people will fall in line with such a rule, fearing repercussions — and less funding — if they do not.
Additionally, many departments in this administration, fueled by the plans laid out in Project 2025, make it clear that a vast pushback on trans rights will be more than just a day one agenda item.
Ben Brody, a reporter at Punchbowl News, recently secured a copy of Federal Trade Commission member Andrew Ferguson's pitch for the FTC's plans going into the new presidency. While there are a great many awful things in there, the plans for trans people are chilling.
In a section labeled "Protect Freedom of Speech and Fight Wokeness," is this: "Fight back against the trans agenda. Investigate the doctors, therapists, hospitals, and others who deceptively pushed gender confusion, puberty blockers, hormone replacement, and sex-change surgeries on children and adults while failing to disclose strong evidence that such interventions are not helpful and carry enormous risks."
Read that a second time, and think about just how far the administration can go with this. Consider that this very column could potentially be under threat if I do not lie to fit Ferguson's agenda. The FTC is but one of 15 agencies that will all be tasked with — among many other things — stripping transgender people of their rights.
Of course, we have three branches to our government, so perhaps we can look at Congress. Let's examine a bill filed just a few days ago, HB 9218. This is the Defining Male and Female Act of 2024. You can read the whole bill here. The important takeaway is that this will rigidly define men and women and, in short, place transgender, nonbinary, gender fluid, intersex, Two-Spirit, and many other people outside of the law.
This bill is close to the worst possible outcome.
Or, consider HB 10186, the Protecting Women's Private Spaces Act, viewable here. This is Congressmember Nancy Mace's (R-South Carolina) bill, limiting the use of single-sex facilities on federal property based on biological sex. This means that many airports, national parks, post offices, federal buildings, and places like the Smithsonian would have to police and segregate their restrooms from me and people like me.
So clearly, Congress will be of little help. This leaves the judiciary.
Arguments were held at the Supreme Court December 4 in U.S. v. Skrmetti, which will determine whether a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors can stand. The case, historical in many ways, with not the least of them being that Chase Strangio, a trans man and lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, became the first known trans attorney to argue before the court, could also deeply impact transgender care, with many seeing it as being wielded against all transgender people, not just trans youth.
While the Tennessee ban would surely be deemed unconstitutional in a non-corrupt court, it is likely this one will rule in favor of Tennessee, setting aside the United States Constitution to allow for state discrimination of transgender people. Or, as Justice Elena Kagan, one of three liberals on the court, put it, "sounds to me like we want boys to be boys and we want girls to be girls."
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh tried a different approach, arguing, "The Constitution doesn't take sides on how to resolve that medical and policy debate. If there's strong, forceful, scientific policy arguments on both sides in a situation like this, why isn't it best to leave it to the democratic process?" In short, Kavanaugh would rather punt the fights of a minority into the good will of a majority — knowing that the majority is so generous.
Or, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor, another liberal, said, "When you're 1% of the population or less, [it's] very hard to see how the democratic process is going to protect you."
To me, the current branches of government are a perfectly awful trifecta. The administration will remove us from all our protections, Congress will make our existence illegal, and the judiciary will — at best — sit on its thumbs rather than protect the people.
And we transgender people will become a new criminal class overnight.
So, what to do? Well, what does one do when there is nothing left to lose? We will need to learn to push back, to ignore unjust laws, and do what we need just to exist — and exist we must.
It is all on us now.
Gwen Smith remembers what it was like to write lighthearted columns. You can find her at www.gwensmith.com
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