Our culture has passed conservatism by. Stuck in their old, bigoted, uncompromising ways, conservatives are ill-equipped to handle our society’s accelerated progress toward tolerance and acceptance. For example, it was just 20 years ago that the idea of “civil unions” for same-sex couples was considered so radical that it doomed the presidential campaign of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. Today, full marriage equality is accepted by all except for the fringe.
t’s not just marriage equality. On the issue of trans rights, the American people are firmly in favor of acceptance. A Pew poll last summer found that 64% of Americans “saying they would strongly favor or favor laws or policies that would protect transgender people from discrimination in jobs, housing and public spaces.”
You know how many opposed or strongly opposed such laws? 10%.
Ten. Percent.
Talk about a fringe!
It is this key culture-war battleground loss that has MAGA conservatives pining for Vladimir Putin’s reactionary repression of LGBTQ+ rights in Russia, and has led to their hysterical reactions over minor matters like Bud Light featuring a trans influencer in an Instagram post, or Target featuring Pride merchandise. MAGA conservatives are a cultural fringe clinging to their last vestiges of control and influence. They are a dying breed.
Conservatives literally went to the Supreme Court in the Hobby Lobby decision to allow corporations to practice bigotry, and in Citizens United gave them the same free speech rights as individuals. Yet they are demanding that companies stop exercising that free speech now that the message no longer suits them. The whole “pro-business” facade is crumbling everywhere, and certainly spotlighted in Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has made his culture-war feud with Disney a key plank in his presidential bid.
Conservatives are out of step with the mainstream, and this coming Pride Month will certainly shove it in their face. Given how much these snowflakes are already struggling to cope, this coming month will prove particularly brutal for them.
Conservative snowflakes who have pretended to boycott the NFL over Colin Kaepernick taking a knee and other such supposed transgressions will now have a new reason to rail against the nation’s most popular sports league.
To be fair, I’m not seeing any conservative reaction to this yet. It’s doubtful they haven’t noticed. The Bud Light thing was a fleeting Instagram post, not an entire public campaign. Maybe Fox News will get right on it, or maybe conservatives have grown tired of pretending to boycott a game they know damn well they’re going to watch.
Maybe it’s easier to target a less popular retailer as—uh oh—LGBTQ+ pride has spread beyond Target!
Get ready for nonstop wailing and hysteria over the next month. It’ll be one for the ages.