The cultural tide is continuing to turn more conservative

In case you haven’t noticed, this year’s “Pride Month” is different than pride months in the past. As I recently noted, more and more Americans, from all walks of life, are saying, “Enough is enough.” This is what many of us have predicted for years, recognizing that the very success of the gay revolution would lead to its undoing.

As I wrote in 2015 (which I called the year of “pushback”), “the gay revolution will continue to overplay its hand. As those who were once bullied now bully others, this will produce an increasing backlash. ... And as gay activists win more and more battles in the courts and the society, that will actually work against them, as their goals will continue to become more and more extreme.”

This has been self-evident for years. Or do you really think that a caring and sane society can tolerate more and more stories like this? “California woman, 18, sues doctors for removing her breasts when she was just THIRTEEN because she thought she was trans after seeing influencers online.”

That’s why today, in 2023, even editorials on totally secular websites can speak with sympathy of the growing “pushback against the perceived extreme expressions of gender fluidity.”

That’s why an article on The New Republic website announces (in a clearly pro-LGBTQ spirit), “There has been a wave of ultra-conservative pushback against companies that express support for equal rights.”

That’s why another headline asked (again, in a clearly pro-LGBTQ spirit), “Does 2023 Bring the Great Pushback Against LGBTQ+ Rights?”

Note that word “pushback” is repeated time after time. The righteous opposition is rising.

And while there are surely some mean-spirited, even hateful people involved in this pushback (they should be called out and rebuked), those that I know and work with are motivated by love — love for God and love for neighbor. They are convinced that there must be an about-face for the good of society.

Here is a representative sampling of relevant, recent news.

• June 16, on the Daily Wire: American Support For Same Sex Relations Dropped Seven Points Since Last Year
• June 8, on the Daily Caller: The Left’s Mass Deception About Gender Is Completely Failing, Major New Study Reveals. “Left-wing ideas about gender are increasingly out of touch with American people of all generations and backgrounds, according to a new poll by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).”
• June 7, on the Blaze: Parents livid over Pride video shown to 3rd, 4th, 5th graders in which child says, 'I never really felt like a boy, and I don’t really feel like a girl, so I’d rather be both.'
• June 13, on the Post Millennial: 'MY PRONOUNS ARE USA': Massachusetts middle school tries to make children wear rainbow clothing for Pride; students revolt, wear Red, White, and Blue
• June 15, on USA Today: Social conservatism is on the rise. Maybe DeSantis is on to something with anti-'woke' fight. “A new poll from Gallup found that 38% of Americans say they are conservative or very conservative on social issues – a nearly 30% increase since 2021. Those identifying as liberals declined.”
• June 16, on the Daily Signal: The Uprising: Families Clash With Schools Over LGBTQ Propaganda.
• June 12, on the Stock Dork: Uh-Oh! Pride Parades Get Thumbs Down from Americans: Is it Too Much Rainbow for Business?
• June 8, on Governing.com: Storm Clouds Are Gathering Over Pride Month.
• June 16, on MSN.com (from the Washington Examiner): It's a shame what Pride has become.
• June 13, on MSN.com (from Next Impulse Sports): World reacts as transgender athletes are losing support in America.
• June 14, on the Western Journal (from the Associated Press): City Officially Bans 'Pride' Flags from Public Property, Tells LGBT Objectors 'You're Already Represented.'
• June 19, the Stream: The Uprising: Families Clash With Schools Over LGBTQ Propaganda.

Quite a few articles have focused on the striking news from the recent Gallup poll which pointed to a dramatic spike in the rise of conservatism in America in the last two years. And so, while only 10% of Democrats identify as conservative or very conservative (the same as in 2021), Independents have moved from 24 to 29 %, while Republicans have moved from 60 to 74%. (Accordingly, Independents who identify as liberal or very liberal dropped in the last two years from 27 to 23%.)

As for the breakdown by age, Gallup notes that, “Since 2021, there have been double-digit increases in conservative social ideology among middle-aged adults — those between the ages of 30 and 64. At the same time, older Americans’ ideology on social issues has been stable, while there has been a modest increase in conservative social ideology among young adults.”

But even that “modest increase” is quite substantial, with 18–29 year-olds who identify as conservative or very conservative moving from 24 to 30% in just two years. As for Americans between 30-49 years old, the shift has been dramatic, from 22 to 35%, again, in just two years. This is highly significant.

As for views on same-sex relationships, Gallup observed that, “Last year, a record-high 71% of U.S. adults said gay or lesbian relations are morally acceptable. The figure has fallen back this year to 64%, returning to a level last seen in 2019.” Will that number continue to drop?

And as righteous laws are being passed in state after state to protect gender-confused children from radical surgery and irreversible drug treatments, for the first time in its 40-year history, the Human Rights Campaign, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ activist organization, has issued a national state of emergency.

I’m aware, of course, that the vast majority of LGBTQ+ identified readers will be either grieved or irate or shocked at the contents of this article. Even more, will they be either grieved or irate or shocked by my attitude, as I’m quite pleased to see the shifts that I have highlighted here?

In their eyes (your eyes?), this is as hateful as it gets, an open and unashamed display of homophobia and transphobia, an unapologetic demonstration of the bigotry produced by fundamentalist religious beliefs.

Yes, I get it, and I understand your fear that I am celebrating the potential unraveling of what you have worked so hard to achieve over the last 50 years.

The problem, of course, is that LGBTQ+ activists declared war on religion 50 years ago.

The problem is that their coming out of the closet necessitated putting us in the closet.

The problem is that they targeted our children with ceaseless indoctrination, from pre-school to the university and from social media to TV and movies.

The problem is that the goalposts continued to move, and no recognition of “rights” was sufficient until the rights of those they opposed were removed.

The problem is that the trajectory of LGBTQ+ activism inevitably leads to queer critical theory which denies the existence of human nature.

The problem is that the fringe elements of the community became celebrities.

The problem is that we will not stand by idly when our own kids or grandkids have been chemically castrated or genitally mutilated.

No way, no how.

That’s why I will continue to push back against what I truly believe is a destructive agenda for our society. At the same time, I will work against hatred and bigotry, seeking equal protection under the law for all and cultivating a climate of grace and mercy rather than anger and hatred.

Let us go about our work and live our lives as citizens in the same great country, even in the midst of our deep differences, and even as America, with God’s help, turns back to at least a semblance of normalcy.

As I stated in my 2015 book, Outlasting the Gay Revolution: Where Homosexual Activism Is Really Going and How to Turn the Tide, “the call here is not so much to defeat the gay agenda as much as it is to promote a better agenda, one that by design will outlast the gay revolution.” By doing what is right and good we will outlast what is wrong and harmful.

I pray that we will have the resolve to promote and live out that better agenda, especially now that the tide is clearly turning.