[by François Rastier]
Intersectional ideology is not reducible to campus conflicts or a cancel culture imported; it certainly finds support in universities, but also in democratic institutions.
In short, half a century after the 1er May 1971, when activists from the Front homosexual d'action révolutionnaire and the Gouines Rouges chanted in a CGT parade: "Proletarians of all countries, caress yourselves!", it has become the official ideology of late capitalism naturally seduced by its diversionary capacities. It is disseminated and instilled in their personnel by the big internet firms, even by trusts like Lockheed[1], since now the pink washing prevails over the green washing.
The intersectional ideology has been concretized by the international EDI standards, for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, now in force in universities as well as in companies. They guide research and education upstream, since projects must meet these standards to be selected. In addition, among its priorities, the Europe of research now distinguishes the Queer studies, even though they seem to owe the essential part of their intellectual contribution to the evasive imprecision of their object.
In France, intersectional ideology is relayed by unofficial organizations such as the Interministerial Delegation for the Fight against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Homophobia (DILCRAH) or the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH), whose evolution we will detail somewhat. Founded in 1947 on the initiative of René Cassin, and accredited to the United Nations, its explicit missions since 1990 have included the evaluation of the policy to combat racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia, and since 2018 the implementation of the National Plan to Combat All Forms of Anti-LGBT Hatred[2].
For a long time, however, the positions of the CNCDH have been open to discussion, firstly because of its positions on Islamophobia, obviously supported by the Islamist movement.[3]. If the denunciation of Islamophobia has taken a back seat since the law against separatism and the dissolution of the Committee against Islamophobia in France, other phobias have since taken over, both at the DILCRAH and at the CNCDH, first and foremost LGBTphobia, and in particular transphobia.
The latest report from the CNCDH, entitled “Sexual orientation, gender identity and intersexuality: from equality to the effectiveness of rights”[4] bears eloquent witness to this.
Taking up an excellent use of activist literature, the report begins with a glossary. Under the guise of elucidating the subject, it could well impose language elements whose expectations are not at all discussed. Here is an extract:
"Although the definition legitimate of ''LGBTI+'' is the acronym for ''Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Intersex'', the ''+'' (or ''Q'' for queer) refers to other biological sexes, gender expressions, gender identities, or sexual orientations. / The acronym ''LGBTI+'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual, cisgender, and dyadic. » The reader is invited to decide for himself: he probably knew Cisalpine Gaul, he could learn, not without concern now, that he is perhaps cisgender, or even dyadic.
Common in trans activist literature, the assertion that there are "other biological sexes" than male or female is surprising in such a report intended to inform public action, because it has obviously never received the approval of biology and its mention suggests that public action could find itself misinformed.
The confusion increases, and the indefinite enumeration of acronyms such as IQ+ lends itself to the identity casuistry characteristic of gender ideology. It also presupposes an inclusiveness, certainly imperative, but without definable limits.
Economic demands
The CNCDH echoes the economic demands of trans associations. They particularly concern the management of medical-surgical transitions.
Even though:
"Trans or intersex people may wish to undergo specific treatments to modify their physical appearance as part of their transition process, theoretically covered by social security with recognition of a Long-Term Condition."
The CNCDH, however, deplores a "significant remaining charge, particularly due to significant excess fees". Has a sexual or gender elite therefore formed, which would be reimbursed for excess fees affecting ordinary social security beneficiaries? Would the imperative of inclusion restore privileges? At the very least, "the CNCDH recommends that the Ministry of Solidarity and Health and the High Authority for Health (HAS) establish national protocols for the care of trans people, one for adults and one for minors, in collaboration with associations, in order to guarantee the free choice of doctor to support their [sic] journey and to define a basket of care covered within the framework of transition journeys, guaranteeing effective and identical reimbursement throughout the national territory".
Education and rehabilitation
The edifying nature of this introduction announced proposals concerning education.
"The CNCDH insists on the importance of including, for all educational and administrative teams in private and public establishments, un mandatory module on LGBTIphobic discrimination in initial training and to offer tools and sessions continuing education. Training should address gender-related discriminatory prejudices and biases, how to detect and respond to discrimination, and how to welcome and support parents and students. In higher education institutions, this training should also be provided to human resources managers, jury members, to members of staff representative bodies (…)” (my emphasis).
Continuing training, which we hope will be profitable since LGBT+ associations must be funded, is therefore essential, because there will be a lot to do to educate or re-educate educators, especially since phobias are on the rise. In addition to LGBTphobia and transphobia, there is now the serophobia : “Due to prejudices and lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS, gay or bisexual men and transgender people are particularly affected by serophobia”[5].
The number of "transition paths" has increased 32-fold in the United Kingdom in ten years, and most developed countries seem to be experiencing a similar evolution. In this respect, gender ideology is an heir to theosophy.[6] establishes a hierarchy between sexes and genders, and the prestige associated with the transition, the example of activist influencers, devotional groups that multiply likes at the slightest inclination, convince a growing number of adolescents.
This is not enough for the CNCDH, because measures must be taken for the "construction of young people" by presenting them with "media figures": "The existence of media figures who assume their LGBTI identity is essential for the fight against LGBTIphobia and inclusion. They play a particular role in the construction of young people. The media play an essential role in the visibility of these role models. If efforts are underway to improve the visibility on television of people with disabilities and people perceived as "non-white", the same approach needs to be undertaken for LGBTI people. A positive dynamic is nevertheless underway with regard to fiction, as shown by the inclusion of homosexual and transgender characters in several French series or TV films". Let us reassure the CNCDH, its recommendations will have been listened to before they have even been formulated: and the omnipresence of LGBT people and in particular that of transgender people has largely overflowed the public service media.
The "construction of young people" through identification with media figures or transgender characters is thus recommended, while countries that were once at the forefront of "transition paths", such as Sweden or the United Kingdom, are now taking measures to protect minors, in particular to control the use of puberty blockers and mutilating surgeries. While a thousand English families recently joined together to file a complaint against a gender clinic who practiced such treatments[7], the euphoric recommendations of the CNCDH seem at the very least misleading.
for science
After its assertion on the multiplicity of biological sexes, the CNCDH must support its report on scientific research. It does so by mentioning a "dark figure". It is not that of anti-Semitic attacks, the documented number of which increased by 72% in 2021 compared to the previous year. This figure will remain unknown: "The expression 'dark figure' refers to all unreported LGBTIphobic acts which therefore escape Justice". There is no doubt that it is frightening, as its darkness suggests.
To advance science, the report is associated with a call for projects. For example, "projects aimed at preventing and combating stereotypes and discrimination related to gender and sexual orientation and violence to which women, girls and LGBTQIA+ people may be subject" may be the subject of an application. This excludes violence suffered by heterosexual men: for example, dozens of marital murders are recorded each year in France, but they are not publicly counted, unlike "feminicides".
It will be understood that in this case human rights lose all generality from the moment that humanity is immediately divided into "identities" and they are reduced here to those of a sex and/or a gender.
The eternal inclusion
In short, what has been called "republican wokism" underwent a shift in 2018-2019, when the DILCRAH and the CNCDH, until then focused on issues of race and religion that they saw synthesized in so-called Islamophobia, saw their missions explicitly broadened to gender ideology. But with the help of intersectionality, this is more of a change of display than a real turning point, because the politics of identities remains, as does the incrimination of institutions and the postulate of the systemic nature of multiple discriminations that are indefinitely renewed.
The same speakers previously invited to combat Islamophobia are returning to address LGBTphobia. We know that a patient policy of implantation and influence had allowed the Institutes of Political Studies to be converted to the fight against Islamophobia. We remember the hijab day celebrated at Sciences Po Paris, as at Sciences Po Grenoble, public threats from students and colleagues against teachers denounced by collages bearing the slogan Islamophobia kills.
Sciences Po Toulouse now intends to impose mandatory awareness modules for each year in certain courses, including "Fight against LGBTQIA+phobias", "Gender, violence and prevention of sexist and sexual violence", as well as "Gender equality and prevention of sexist and sexual violence". Culture has not been forgotten, however. In addition to theatrical performances of Long live the Vulva (let's not see any sexism in this title), a conference by Hourya Bentouhami, entitled "The power of bodies. Feminism against racism", adds to the intersectional project. Indeed, the speaker, author of a "Political Phenomenology of the Veil" and familiar with Islamic media, is not suspected of Islamophobia[8], which earned him a junior chair at the Institut Universitaire de France. In short, future decision-makers who graduate from the Institutes of Political Studies will have been (re)educated from the outset, which augurs an even more inclusive future.
But wouldn't the totalizing project of inclusion aim for a form of closure? The strength of mythical thought lies in its closure: myths are characterized by constant references between all semantic domains that allow thought to be locked into a totalization that is as seductive as it is illusory. In short, intersectional ideology draws its strength from the indefinite references of sex to gender, race, and religion. It can thus adapt to changing situations: when religion or race are no longer popular, sex and gender offer a welcome recourse, as we see today. It then deploys various variants of the same myth that is part of a political theology that is perfectly compatible with sexual superstitions.
