So I was having a discussion on Facebook with Jason Gerraughty and Alan Theisen, two composers you should definitely know. The topic of conversation was this New York Times op-ed by Bret Stephens. These are my thoughts:

I happen to think both pronouns and good jobs are worth the fighting for, and I believe we can do both. Look at Danica Roem in Virginia. Let’s not fall over ourselves to get back white guys as a monolithic group when they will *always* be more conservative. Let’s expand the board. We can fight for good jobs and higher wages without making life harder for trans folks and women and minorities and everyone else.

Or, to turn the framing around – why are we not doing a better job of explaining to some that someone else’s pronouns do not impact them in any way, and their insistence on believing otherwise is why we can’t do more about jobs and wages?

Personally, I’d like to put an end to this fetishization of “work” as a goal in itself, but without guaranteed minimum income that ain’t gonna happen.

We make it clear that it’s the same fight – the fight for the dignity of *every* human being and for the chance for *every* human being to live the best life they possibly can.

One major flaw in contemporary American society is the idea of “sin” and “redemption” as *collective* problems instead of individual ones. Are there national sins? Perhaps, but they are sins of omission instead of commission. A trans person being treated as they would want to be treated and called as they wish to be called by the state is not something that will jeopardize your *personal* salvation, if you believe in such a concept.

And don’t get me started on toxic masculinity…

WF