In 2019, Hillary Clinton is definitely not woke enough.
The once-beloved senator and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee is now an anti-transgender bigot. At least, according to the rapidly shifting standards of the woke elite. Clinton’s latest bout with controversy stems from an interview she and her daughter Chelsea Clinton did with the U.K.-based Sunday Times.
What did Clinton do to earn the activist class’s ire?
Well, she seemed uncomfortable with the idea that a person with a penis and a beard can identify as a woman, and dodged a question to that effect. Clinton said, “Errr, I’m just learning about this. It’s a very big generational discussion, because this is not something I grew up with or ever saw. It’s going to take a lot more time and effort to understand what it means to be defining yourself differently.”
And as reported by the Washington Examiner, Clinton continued to say: “I think you’ve got to be sensitive to how difficult this is. There are women who’d say [to a transgender woman], ‘You know what, you’ve never had the kind of life experiences that I’ve had. So I respect who you are, but don’t tell me you’re the same as me.’ I hear that conversation all the time.”
Whoa whoa whoa. Clinton just climbed well over the line of acceptable thought, as evidenced by her daughter’s visible discomfort during the interview. Surely, Chelsea Clinton knew the backlash that was coming after her mother broke with woke dogma.
Self-described “proud social justice warrior” and former ThinkProgress flack Zack Ford blasted Clinton, calling her answers “TERFish,” employing a slur for feminists who push back against aspects of transgender issues. He called on activists to reject Clinton’s views for the “transphobic narrative” they supposedly represent. And Ford’s sentiments were echoed elsewhere, both by other activists online and in the left-wing gay and transgender media. Out Magazine, for instance, published a bizarre article castigating the woman who was liberals’ beloved woke icon like five minutes ago as “sensitive to transphobia.”
Disappointing to see Hillary’s TERFish answers on trans issues. We really need to push back on this “some cis women are uncomfortable around trans women” narrative and call it out for the transphobia it is. https://t.co/5oh6ljN6xs
— Zack Ford (@ZackFord) October 15, 2019
As a mother or a trans teen and spouse of a trans woman, I’m really disappointed by @HillaryClinton’s comments on trans rights. I expected far more understanding from her, but it seems she has a lot of learning to do. If I can learn, you can learn.https://t.co/eAdH3j6o72
— Amanda Jette Knox (@MavenOfMayhem) October 15, 2019
Oh, no no no no no. @HillaryClinton. I worked my heart out for you in 2016. But I can’t stand by you for this. Being “patient” with transphobes hurts and kills trans people. I beg you to reconsider.
https://t.co/Sbo5UW3m2U— Jaclyn Friedman❄️ (@jaclynf) October 14, 2019
This backlash is unhinged. I’m no fan of Hillary Clinton, but any level-headed observer must acknowledge that the comments she made are not some type of hate-fueled bigotry but a completely understandable perspective, particularly for a woman of her generation.
Clinton is not even denying transgender issues or denying the identity of transgender people. After all, she struck a decidedly pro-transgender tone during her 2016 campaign for president, backed legislation such as the Equality Act that’s supported by the transgender lobby, and earned the endorsement of left-wing gay and transgender activist groups such as the Human Rights Campaign.
She’s simply saying that biological males who make zero effort to transition, i.e., retain male genitalia and appearance, shouldn’t automatically be considered women just because they say that’s how they feel. This is a position that anyone outside the most radical corners of the woke elite and liberal activist class would find eminently reasonable. And it’s not even inconsistent with Clinton’s support for the many transgender people who truly seek to live as the opposite gender.
As far as Clinton’s comments concerning women’s bathrooms and the like, the former first lady is not even embracing the view that transgender women ought not share women’s facilities, but simply saying she understands why those who do have that perspective, which includes many liberal women, feel the way they do.
For this, Clinton must be canceled. In 2019, anything other than complete condemnation of those who dissent from left-wing orthodoxy is a betrayal. It’s one the woke elite simply won’t tolerate.
