Jonathan Chait thinks Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis is an authoritarian nightmare and a threat to democracy in the US. But, at the same time, he shares and boosts DeSantis-like conspiracy theories about trans people. As the father of a trans daughter, this is infuriating. It’s also not an effective way to fight fascism, which is what Chait claims he wants to do.
Chait’s case against DeSantis, published this week in New York Magazine, is strong and well-stated. The Disney corporation criticized DeSantis. DeSantis responded by ordering the compliant legislature to strip Disney of its self-governing status within Disney World. This is a direct threat to freedom of speech, and a nakedly authoritarian move to squash criticism and force corporations to bend the knee to the state.
Chait adds, correctly, that DeSantis is boasting that if elected president, he would do to the US what he’s done in Florida—“use government power to force both public and private institutions to toe his line.” That means, as Chait says, that “Speaking out against him, or even producing content he disapproves of, would become a financially risky proposition.”
DeSantis is a scary guy. Chait and I agree!
There’s one thing missing from Chait’s otherwise convincing analysis, though. He manages to go through his entire article about Disney’s criticism of DeSantis and DeSantis’ reaction without ever once mentioning what exactly it is that Disney was criticizing. What was the “prized legislative initiative” (in Chait’s words) that Disney objected to?
What Disney (mildly, belatedly) objected to was DeSantis’ sweeping “Don’t Say Gay” policy, which bans discussions of gender identity or sexuality in schools. The legislation effectively pushes teachers and students into the closet and fuels the state’s book bans.
Chait may have avoided talking about gay rights because he wanted to focus on free speech, not the content of the speech. But he also may have avoided talking about gay rights because he’s recently been pushing anti-trans conspiracy theories himself. Chait has embraced the idea that trans children are able to access health care too easily. In a recent New York article, he told his readers of reports that young people were coming into trans health care clinics claiming to be rocks or mushrooms, and immediately being given hormones.
This raises questions. What hormones would you give a rock? Why would you use your platform to spew unconfirmed and nonsensical rumors? Chait’s claims were quickly debunked by local reporting in St. Louis. At which point Chait wandered onto Twitter to say he was updating his “Bayesian priors” and whine because people were mocking him for being a credulous and bigoted fool.
Again, my daughter is trans, and I know first-hand it’s not easy to get trans health care. The first doctor my daughter talked to about trans care was transphobic and grossly insulting. It took us months to get connected to a care provider who was knowledgeable and took our insurance. Even though my daughter has very supportive parents and lives in a blue city, accessing trans health care hasn’t been easy. Chait wants to make it even harder, and is willing to spew nonsense to achieve that goal.
It isn’t just Chait’s nonsense though. The idea that doctors are irresponsibly pushing young people to transition is a right-wing talking point deployed by people like DeSantis to justify the policies Chait claims to oppose. DeSantis and his ilk believe that queer people are a contagion; they argue that children would all be happy and straight if they never heard that queer people exist. The right-wing authoritarians Chait warns about agree with him that evil doctors are pushing mushroom transition on unsuspecting youth. That’s why authoritarianism is needed—to protect the children from these wild conspiracy theories that Chait, among others, is cosigning. That’s why states like Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Kansas are pushing bills that would ban trans health care even for adults.
Reactionary centrists like Chait want to have it both ways. They want to oppose fascism without having to stand with marginalized people, who make them uncomfortable, or just seem less respectable than middle-aged white male pundits with sinecures at major magazines. Why can’t you fight fascism and deny trans people health care? “Both sides!” Chait bellows, as he bashes out a column warning of the dangers of the powerful governor of Florida and then turns around and bashes out a column about the dangers of human rights for a despised, marginalized minority.
Authoritarians like DeSantis use bigotry as a tactic. The fear and misinformation Chait promotes becomes the excuse for sweeping state dictats. The children are in danger (Chait agrees!) and so, DeSantis says, we need to do everything needed to protect them. That includes punishing corporations who speak against the ruler, banning books that challenge the ruler, and jailing people who try to vote against the ruler.
