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“For the good of society… transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely – the whole preposterous ideology, at every level.” This sentence was said to the public by Michael Knowles at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, March 4th, 2023. Yes, 2023.

This large claim is oddly reminiscent of some of the speeches that may have been preached in Germany during the 1930s to the 1940s in reference to Jewish people. However, this man speaking out against humanity happens to be very hypocritical.

Knowles happens to also star in a student film called “The House of Shades” released in 2012. The aforementioned movie is available on YouTube and stars Knowles as a gay charac- ter; not only that, but Knowles was also photographed wearing a dress and a wig multiple times in 2016. For someone so full of hate, Knowles could at least learn to present himself in a manner that could help his cause. Public appearance is incredibly important in any campaign. The fact that Knowles can apparently not be bothered to grasp this concept should give the trans community hope; if he thinks so simply, there must be more intelligent individuals higher up willing to take a stand against blatant hate. Besides the notion that the face of hatred can easily be revealed to be foolish, the entire concept of “eradicating transgenderism” makes no sense. Sure, the early transitioning of minors who are not fully sure of themselves makes sense to put limitations on (with the human brain’s maturity age peaking at age 25), but what about some of the other legislation? One of the many bills that were proposed would allow schools to potentially out gender nonconforming students to their parents.

The bill falls under a “parental rights” category; however, the forced outing of children who identify as a gender other than their birth-given gender would likely only make public spaces more dangerous for children. As nearly anyone who experienced middle school can attest to, children are ruthless, especially to those who do not fit into societal expectations. The forced “outings” of children’s nonconformity to these roles would likely result in further mental distress, bullying, and possibly increased suicide rates.

Another one of the proposed legislations is titled “My Child, My Choice.” This applies to the concept of parents signing waiv- ers in order for their children to be taught about concepts that include, “...lessons specifically related to gender identity, sexual orientation, or transgender studies…” as stated on Congress’ website. Which, while understandable when it comes to sexual reproduction, makes little sense for gender identity.

Gender identity is extremely commonplace. If this act passes, parents would likely have to sign a waiver much earlier than they expect for their child’s English class upon the teaching of pronouns. Without teaching proper pronoun usage, how would a child learn how to write properly? Realistically, if parents did not sign these forms, their child would end up only receiving half of the necessary knowledge as well as half of history as a whole. We cannot afford for children to be forcibly blinded from the entirety of this world’s truth when it comes to others’ existence.

Heritage is not necessarily hate, but it can easily become hateful

GABRIEL BRADY managing editor fought for the right to do so. However, no one in my family is proud of this fact or talks about it. We are ashamed of it because it is shameful. Taking pride in fighting to own other humans as property is sickening. erate flag and erecting statues of Confederate generals is their heritage, then surely the descendants of Union soldiers should be allowed to tear the flag down, burn it and topple the statues, since that is their heritage.

April 12 marks the 162 year since the start of the American Civil War, and April 9 marks the 158 anniversary of its end. Obviously, any issue that causes a national split like that will be a sensitive subject for years after. However, as it’s been more than 150 years since the war ended,public opinion should be more direct and clear-cut.

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With Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)’s recent comments about a “national divorce” it is important to remember the facts of the Civil War, which do not care about personal feelings surrounding “heritage.”

I have never understood the pride that some feel for having ancestors in the Confederacy. I have never looked into it, but it’s safe to assume that since I had ancestors in Missouri at the time of the Civil War, then I had ancestors who owned slaves and

Some argue that the Civil War was not fought for the right to own humans, rather, states’ rights, but the question to ask then is: states’ rights to do what, exactly? The government of the first state to secede from the United States, didn’t blindly say, “States’ rights are important! We will secede!” Surely there was a contemporary issue of the time that they were inspired by, or fighting for. That issue was the right to own humans as property.

The strongest argument against pride in the Confederacy and waving Confederate flags as if they were your own, however, is to take the opposite side. If the descendants of Confederates say that hanging the Confed-

A common argument against removing Confederate monuments is the erasure of history. However, these critics ignore the fact that history is not marked by statues. It is marked by history books, stories, memories and museums. Statues are not meant to remember the negative sides of history, they are meant to highlight the positive.

We should take notes from other countries with dark histories. It is illegal in Germany to deny the Holocaust or to display Nazi paraphernalia. After the Nazi party was removed, Germany decided that the horrors they enacted should be avoided at all costs, even in violation of the freedom of speech.

The logic is related to Ger- man philosopher Karl Popper’s theory of the Paradox of Tolerance. Popper theorized that if a society permits all speech, then hateful views will be permitted as well. These hateful ideas will inevitably scare minority groups from speaking out, harm their freedom of speech and lead to the hateful individuals gaining more support and spreading their message further. So, Popper says that a truly free society cannot accept intolerance. It will restrict the freedom of speech, but will increase the rights and freedom of minority groups.

I don’t think the U.S. will ever truly outlaw hanging the Confederate flag. It is up to the people to tell the hateful that they are wrong. So, for this anniversary of the Civil War, fight with your racist relatives on Facebook. Regardless of who wins the online debate, it’s clear who won the war, and it was not the traitorous losers.