HOLDING ONTO TWO TRUTHS IN A TIME OF CHAOS

Kentaji Brown Jackson, the sole dissenting vote in this week’s Supreme Court ruling in Chiles v Salazar. Photo courtesy of Annie Liebovitz.

t has been quite a week in the news, so much so that perhaps you, like I, might have been feeling a bit of whiplash, an “is this good, or bad, or both?” kind of feeling.

First, there wIas the decision from the Supreme Court regarding conversion therapy – a decision delivered on Transgender Day of Visibility. We are left to wonder if the timing was intentional or just clueless.

While the case, Chiles v. Salazar, is not dead, the Court returned the case to lower courts because the justices found that the ban likely violates First Amendment free speech rights by censoring specific viewpoints – hanging this on concerns about “viewpoint discrimination” and totally ignoring both the power dynamic between therapist and client as well as the reality that for many young people, participation in conversion therapy does not occur willingly or at their own volition – they are compelled to engage in what both studies reveal and the overwhelming majority of mental health providers understand to be a harmful practice that, among other things, increases the likelihood of suicidal ideation (Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, 2020).

Kentaji Brown Jackson, the sole dissenting vote, is perhaps the only justice to understand how historically marginalized youth and others are particularly vulnerable to harm caused by conversion therapy.

The majority made no decision on the practice of conversion therapy (potentially good) but they returned the issue to the lower courts, essentially giving conversion therapy adherents time to perfect their case (not good). Meanwhile we wait. Fortunately, New York is among the 23 states that had statutes banning the practice.  Clearly, this case is not over. 

And then, we had two other events that each tested our ability to hold two truths at once.  First, the news, including photos, that Bryon Noem, the husband Kristi Noem, the recently fired head of the Department of Homeland Security, has been an active participant on femdom and crossdressing websites. 

I’m guessing that the first thought of many of us something akin to “that’s karma” or “what goes around comes around,” with Kristi Noem in mind. This is to be expected.  The harm caused by DHS and ICE under Noem’s leadership was without precedent in our world. 

Stepping back, however, one can see the reality is that this is also a sad story. It highlights the fact that expressions of one’s identity are still fair game for ridicule and public shaming. It also shows that the stranglehold of our puritanical roots continues to require the keeping of secrets – not to mention the ruin that can come when they are exposed.

If you doubt this, consider that coverage included “experts” who led with concerns Bryon’s activities could have compromised Noem as the head of DHS and made her a potential target for blackmail. This is shades of the Lavender Scare of the McCarthy era, targeted toward us, all still alive and well today.  We cannot be complicit in this, in the continuing characterization of those exploring and claiming an identity outside dated conventional norms as weird, fodder for cruel jokes or people who can be extorted.

Finally, we wrapped up the week with the firing of Pam Bondi.  Again, likely the same feelings of “karma,” and “if you play with the devil . . .” It is hard to argue this.  Bondi took us and the Department of Justice to places too low to previously imagine. 

Pausing and reflecting for a moment reveals that of all the close associates and sycophants who surround the “You’re fired!” president, he chose two women – Noem and Bondi – to be the ones he fired.  It feels hard to unabashedly revel in these firings when we see misogyny play out in front of our eyes.

People of conscience cannot agree with any of what Noem or Bondi did. The harm they allowed and encouraged will last for decades. And yet, even in these moments, we are left to see the other truth as well – that misogyny, shaming and othering are still alive and well.  Two truths.

To be successful in our fight and remain fierce together and in action, we have to hold two truths at once – especially in this moment – and hold those in power to account without inadvertently denigrating ourselves or those who are part of the big tent that is our LGBTQ+ community.