Aster Gilbert Combats Modern and Historical Transphobia at the Johnson Intercultural Lecture
Amid an ongoing, worsening resurgence in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric — particularly targeting the transgender community — Aster Gilbert debunked various misconceptions about trans ideology throughout the William R. Johnson Intercultural Lecture, held in the Founders Lounge on Wednesday, Oct. 8.
The annual lecture is named for the Rev. William R. Johnson, an Elmhurst University alumnus who became the first openly gay person to be ordained by a mainline Christian denomination, albeit only after facing decades of resistance and public harassment. This year’s installment was held three days before National Coming Out Day.
Gilbert serves as the manager of training and public education at the Center on Halsted, a community center that provides programs and services for members of the LGBTQ+ community throughout Chicago and the Midwest.
Gilbert noted that third-gender, nonbinary ideologies have existed for centuries, as opposed to simply originating from the invention of the internet.
“If we’re asking, ‘Have there always been trans people?,’ I guess a follow-up question would be, ‘Has there always been transphobia? Has there always been a reaction to it?’” said Gilbert. They likened transphobia to eugenics, the selection of certain people to reproduce for the purity of a race.
Gilbert’s presentation was divided into an overview of transphobia and its drivers, political strategies, case studies, and potential solutions.
They explained that sex and gender variance is as old as recorded human history, with vast differences across cultures and time periods. Throughout history, although trans individuals have been normalized and even given sacred roles, they have also been romanticized and persecuted as an underclass.
Gilbert defined transphobia as a dislike, hatred, discrimination, or fear of trans people. In addition to physical violence and abuse, this includes denial of representation and civil rights for trans individuals, as well as active misrepresentation of this community.
“We’re not going to actively kill you, we’re just going to let you die a slow death, cut off from all the resources,” Gilbert summarized as transphobia.
Gilbert rejected transphobia as simply a fear of what people don’t understand or “wokeness run amok,” instead characterizing it as an attack on gender ideology. They also noted that transphobia has been used to create moral panics, in addition to being weaponized as part of an authoritarian political strategy to recruit followers and gain power.
Gilbert dismissed several anti-LGBTQ+ arguments, including biological determinism, the concept that anatomical sex determines one’s identity and experience. They also rejected the misconception that sex and gender are identical, and that a heterosexual reproductive marriage is “natural” or “normal.”
Major opponents of trans ideology have included the Vatican and evangelical groups, as well as radical feminists, otherwise known as trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs). Some of these feminists perceive male biology as inherently violent and abusive, and they believe that trans women are “stealing” or “colonizing” women’s identities.
Moreover, Gilbert pointed to fears that trans ideology will lead to a collapse of the family, a lack of reproduction, a population crisis, and the eventual collapse of the nation. They connected this to the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, which fears mixed reproduction and the collapse of the white family.
Gilbert further noted multiple contradictions about trans ideology, such as that although trans people are “weak” and “a joke,” they simultaneously pose the greatest threat to civilization. Additionally, although some argue that sex cannot be changed, they also insist that it WILL be changed unless legislated and violently enforced.
Gilbert concluded that trans rights are always connected to other struggles, and mutual aid has been the bedrock of every movement in history.
“It’s basic science,” Gilbert said mockingly. “Yeah, we’re doing advanced science now.”
