Nazis having their protests or gatherings has been a thing for a long time. And that because they have the right like everyone else to obtain a permit for their gathering. I remember hearing of them in the 80s: they have their marches, people counter-march and then they all go home. In a country with free speech, it's their right, even if we don't agree with them or like them. And it's more important to protect the right to speak - whatever you may say and however offensive it may be - for the precise reason that tomorrow it could be our speech being curtailed. The desire many people have to shut down Nazis seems to fail to register on them that it could just as easily be themselves who are shut down should the tables turn, and should the freedom to speak be taken away. They appear desperate to stop anyone who does not agree with them having a voice. This is wrong. It doesn't feel good to hear what you don't like, but to put into effect the death of freedom will be far worse for all of us. Take it from me, a person who lives in a country without a constitution that protects my right to speak, and I can be prosecuted for a joke or a "bad" political opinion now. In the near future I expect it will be illegal in my country to criticize certain political agendas, and groups. The right to say your piece is beyond price... as it's also the right to defend yourself and to pull apart bad ideas in a public arena. Nazism is a bad idea - a proven bad idea - let it show itself in the open rather than being driven underground to fester and attract disenfranchised people to it. Let it be openly ignored, not surrounded by throngs and given immense media coverage.
Many people are wondering why the political "right" is on the rise, why LGBT freedoms are being fought against, and I'll be honest - I think the real reason isn't that the world is full of Nazis. It's because of identity politics and the way certain movements and groups have - in the last 10 years - stepped up a campaign of demonization of anyone who does not agree with their opinions. Anyone who doesn't love mass immigration is branded a racist. Anyone who doesn't agree that trans people should be allowed into any gendered space they desire is branded a transphobe. Anyone who doesn't want to bake a gay cake is a homophobe. And in many cases the law has been sent after them, to shut down their businesses, their marches, have them fired and disgraced. Is it any wonder they begin to despise us? What result should we expect? I am a trans individual and I despise this method of demonizing and silencing people. I can see where it is going to lead and is leading. Not anywhere good that's for sure. There is a human rule everyone should know - that is, when you try to get what you want by force, all you ever get is force in return. Resistance. Hatred.
So by all means we need to keep up the struggle for our recognition as human beings and to educate people. That responsibility can be taken on by any one of us, spreading the word ourselves with each person we meet. But I will not get behind pro-transgender laws designed to suppress and silence the rights of others, because all that will do is cause them to despise every fiber of all of us. I'm talking about the ones that force people to use pronouns or face jail, or to face jail for a transphobic joke, or to be prosecuted or harassed for their views. I agree, we need to use our brains and not a sledgehammer. We can win people over. We can ask for equal rights, but not special rights, like the right to get someone fired for not liking us. By all means we should seek equal rights. Equal and no more. These people out trying to "get" Nazis, or "get" people fired on our behalf are not making the world a more tolerant place. In the last ten years I see only people becoming nervous wrecks from this identity political witch-hunting. People see racism, sexism and bigotry everywhere, even where there is none. Because we've been told it's in everywhere and in everyone, at every moment. This is simply not true.
The reason I'm saying this is because this is a pivotal moment in our history, and it could all go pear-shaped if the LGBT - and the left at large - tries to suppress its way to victory. Then all that will happen is many people will go over to the right, possibly the far right and alt-right in response, and we will have opened the gates for our own oppression. This is why this is happening in general - things have become far too aggressive and nonsensical from the left, such that even people who consider themselves of the left, such as myself, are left speechless by the lack of awareness and the urge to stomp on anyone who is not "with us" from our own side. I've spoken to many people the last few years about their shifting political opinions and their reasoning for it. This change is a reaction to the changes that have swept across the Western world, and the social engineering that is being forced onto people by their governments, propelled by activist groups.
If we fight at all, fight smart. Or the future will be us that have no voice and no rights. Some people say we are on the cusp of winning our rights to be equal. But ours might be the shortest victory of all time, and I do not want that. We are going to have to co-exist with people and not get absolutely everything that we want. We will have to compromise in some ways, and allow others the freedom not to love us. But that will be much preferable to a future run by people who have come to hate us because governments have persecuted them also.
Already it seems to me that the movements of the left are beginning to falter because they have left the actual concept of liberalism - freedom of thought, speech and association - behind to pursue a more collectivist and authoritarian kind of "equality". I really hope that does not happen because I do not think it will win.
