I Went to a Rally at the Supreme Court

Gays and lesbians showed up to say, "Stop transing gay kids."

I be sayin stuff

I’m not really a protester. I mean, I’m passionate and I have convictions—call me crazy, but I don’t think sissy boys need to be castrated—but I’m not a sign-toting, drum-banging, “What do we want?! [something!] When do we want it?!” [now!]” type of person. I’m more like a “I’ll tell you what I think needs to happen from the comfort of my home and then shut down my computer and watch Friends” type person.

But I knew it was important for me to be there. Because if gay people don’t speak out, then the Matt Walshes¹ of the world are going to control the whole narrative about why people should oppose “sex changes” for kids, and then nothing is really going to change. So when the opportunity came to speak at a podium in front of the Supreme Court during the U.S. v. Skrmetti oral arguments, I said yes.

Here’s what was so awesome about it. When I got there, it was pretty much all gays and lesbians with signs that said things like “Gender-affirming care is conversion therapy” and “Stop transing gay kids.” I knew we were going to have a presence, but I honestly didn’t realize just how much of a presence we would have. These were my people.

Here’s my speech:

I think my favorite thing about it is that it’s scored by Tinashe’s “Nasty.”

No, but seriously, I’m glad I got to say what I did, and I don’t regret any of it. I said what I believe.

***

It was a long morning. Speeches began at 8:00. I spoke around 8:40, and then it was one speaker after the other until noon. The opposing side started to trickle in around 9:30. By 10:30, their side had really grown. Annette Bening was there. “To have a transgender child has made me so much more interesting,” she told the crowd. And Ellen/Elliott Page croaked out a speech about her trans joy. (Seems like just yesterday she was talking about the thrill of coming out as a lesbian.)

I stayed focused on our side, mostly because I didn’t want to get gay-bashed by some psycho in a full face mask. Later, I heard from a friend that a shit ton of their speakers talked about abortion for some reason.

Of course, the opposition didn’t hesitate to wander into our camp. They pushed in front of us, screamed through their bullhorn or megaphone or whatever you want to call it, and called us racists (lol). One mom of a trans kid told Jamie Reed that she should be a man and that she’s denying her true gender by being a lesbian. A topless transman (no shirt and also no breasts) told another lesbian friend that she should transition because she was wearing “boy clothes.”

***

It was fun talking to other gay and lesbian protesters who had showed up. Buzz, a fifty-something lesbian with a silver buzzcut, wore a sign that had a picture of a mother and a little girl on it. The little girl says, “Mommy, I think I'm a boy” and the mom says, “Well, you're not.” Beneath the picture, Buzz wrote, “Puberty and my mom cured my gender confusion.”

Buzz told me, “I'm a childhood desister and I'm here today for my seven-year-old self. When I read in the Cass Report and the original Dutch study that nine out of 10 participants in the study were same-sex attracted, I knew they were transing an entire generation of gay kids. I can’t imagine where I would be medically if I had let them alter my body and stop my puberty. So I'm also here for my mom and dad, because I love them unconditionally and they love me unconditionally. It's okay to be gay and lesbian. You don't have to alter your body.”

José, 26, is a government employee in Miami. “I'm here because I'm concerned about the over-representation of homosexuals seeking gender treatment,” he said. “I care about gay kids.”

Sherry, another lesbian in her fifties (maybe sixties), traveled to D.C. from Iowa. She spun around so I could see both sides of the sign she was wearing. It said:

Same-sex attracted
Lesbians
Gay men
Bisexuals
There’s men and there’s women.
21^st century homophobia: wrong-sex hormones, double mastectomies, phalloplasty, castration, inverted penises.
Follow the science.
The affirmation model is conversion therapy.
Stop medicalizing LGB kids, autistic kids, vulnerable adults.

“Well, that pretty much covers it,” I said.

“Absolutely,” said Sherry. “I’m trying to be proactive and not only take back our rainbow, but also our language. You know, reframe things to center women and children and gays and lesbians and bisexuals. We've totally been trampled by this ridiculous... This dominant narrative that's out there is just total lies, you know, and it’s just throwing mud and dirt on all of us.”

***

I got to talk to some press, too. Washington Blade, D.C.’s local LGBTQIAASADFKJ paper, quoted me in their coverage of the event. Although my quote has a typo and they paraphrased it kind of oddly.

From the Blade:

An unlikely coalition came out to support Tennessee’s ban on gender affirming care. Far-right figures, such as U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Matt Walsh — both of whom have a history of making homophobic statements — were joined by groups such as the LGBT Courage Coalition and Gays Against Groomers.

The groups questioned the quality of the research finding gender-affirming care to have a positive effect on the well-being of trans and gender nonconforming youth and argued that minors cannot consent to medical treatment. Ben Appel, a co-founder of the LGBT Courage Coalition, which he notes was “co-founded by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans adults who oppose pediatric gender medicine, which we know to be non-evidence-based and harmful to young gay people,” said gender nonconformity is often part of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual experience and should not be “medicalized.”

“I care about the adult gay detransitioners who have been harmed … by these homophobic practice,” he said “They should have just been told they’re gay.”

An Associated Press reporter was super interested in what I had to say. “I'd never thought about it like that,” she told me after I said something super basic and painfully obvious. She took my number, so maybe she’ll call and follow up. And I did a recorded interview with Hearst Communications, so perhaps that’ll pop up somewhere, too.

For a good stretch of time, The New York Times had this picture on it’s homepage. (See me holding the “Stop transing gay kids” sign?)

And today, this was in The Guardian:

It was a successful day. People heard our message.

I’d be shocked if the Supreme Court didn’t rule in our favor and allow Tennessee’s ban on pediatric sex-trait modification to stand. It’s likely they won’t issue their decision until the spring.

***

Last night, the Courage Coalition hosted a post-Skrmetti event. There, we debuted our latest video from a series we’re putting together. This one’s unofficial title is “Dear Gays and Lesbians”:

Please pass it on!

Good god, I’m tired. I’m on the train, heading back to New York from D.C. My train was delayed by about an hour, who knows why.

Oh, one more thing. I got to interview Andrew Sullivan today. The online magazine Queer Majority asked me to guest-edit their January issue. One of the articles will be a transcript of our chat (I think they’ll include the recording, too.) The theme I chose for the issue is “Heretic.” I’ve got some excellent writers contributing, including Lisa Selin Davis, Corinna Cohn, Julie Bindel, Glenn Belverio (aka Glennda Orgasm) and so many others. I believe it’ll be out on New Year’s Day. I’ll be sure to post about it.

Alright see ya.

1. Nothing against Matt Walsh but we don’t really see eye to eye on everything.