Equality is for ants

I’m so sick of equality. Labour’s painful obsession with enforcing a Marxist vision of absolute equality and interchangebility, with the cell door always ready to clang shut on dissenters, is fucking up this country in a way that mere economic collapse never could. The odious propagandists of the BBC are always ready to defend the madness of course, this morning letting rip at a “meddlesome pontiff”, but it seems within the sisterhood, some at least are showing a recognition of where this lunacy is leading us. The quiet voice of sanity? Why, Julie Bindel of course…

Now, Julie and I have had our disagreements, but in her latest campaign against absolute equality and equivalence for transgender people, I’m on her side. Because I fear or hate “trans” men or women? No – but because they are not men or women, or rather, once a man, always a man, once a woman, always a woman. In this stand – not outlined by Julie but implicit – she’s side by side with me and the Pope. This is a curious alliance…

Do I then deny trans women equality, as Julie is being accused of, facing “no platform” policies in response? Well it depends what you mean by “equality”, doesn’t it? Here, we move beyond the simple distinction between equality of opportunity (which I favour) and equality of outcome (which I do not), which find expression largely in economic terms. The brand of identity equality now favoured by those in one branch of the gender equality army is more akin to absolute equivalence. Harriet’s happy with that; her department’s vapid response to Pope Benedict’s needle at Britain’s equalitymongers – “The Pope acknowledges our country’s firm commitment to equality for all members of society. We believe everyone should have a fair chance in life and not be discriminated against” – is pretty meaningless without definitions of “fair”, but doesn’t step back from the mania.

But Hattie and the converted just can’t bring themselves to face reality. The nitty gritty. Bindel does – and for that she deserves credit. The examples she uses – would “women only” spaces welcome transexual men; eg, rape counselling centres – are not those that I have written about before, but the principle stands. I was roundly abused on CiF for wondering if everyone would be happy for transexual men to shower next to 12 year old girls in a swimming pool changing room. This isn’t a particular obsession of mine, it’s simply that I have three daughters, and I really can’t imagine that they’d be too keen on a hairy arsed bloke scrubbing his tackle in front of them – no matter if he might change into a nice frock ten minutes later.

This is the issue – the shrill, shrieking insistence on absolute equality runs counter not just to most religions, but to everyday life. That’s easy, shriek the shrillers, simply change everyday life. Well.. don’t we get asked? In among this frenzied human rights feeding frenzy, don’t ordinary 12 year old girls get rights too? Don’t you? Don’t I? Doesn’t Julie?

Identity politics is awash with contradictions and paradoxes – no one can argue otherwise. The malign truth is that these contradictions can only be reconciled in a society in which all difference is erased. Let’s say that again. The internal contradictions of identity politics can only be reconciled in a society which permits no individual identity, at all. And this…. is a “good” goal? For Baroness Harman and her chums, it appears to be.

Incidentally – the Pope said …” the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs”. “has been“. Past tense. I know the BBC struggles with the English language these days, but to me, this suggests that he’s referring to legislation that’s already had an effect – and if we’re talking Catholicism then I’d take a stab at the laws penalising Catholic adoption agencies that refused to place kids with same-sex couples. I wonder why the Beeb isn’t addressing that? Maybe because, again, that’s a practical consequence of airy-fairy laws, and most people might actually agree that, all other things being equal, kids are best served by having both a mom, and a dad?

Let’s face it folks, the craziness of legislation that can set me against it, side by side with Mad Julie Bindel, and the world’s leading god-botherer, can surely not be in doubt….