I went to the Gay Pride parade in 1999 as a straight supporter. I went back in 2010 as a congressional candidate. In 2017, I went to the Los Angeles parade as a journalist — and by then, the whole thing had become coldly partisan. They rebranded the Pride parade as “Resist,” and it was all about hating Trump, not standing up for tolerance and for sexual liberation and all that.

I have many thoughts about the whole Pride phenomenon. In college, my friends were the Jews, the blacks, and the gays. I lived (randomly) in Harvard’s gayest dorm, and went to the gay student group’s parties, which were the most free-spirited. At the same time, I remember finding it odd, during a visit to San Francisco in 2001 or so, that they had rainbow flags on all the lampposts on Market Street. It seemed strange to me to celebrate a private preference as civic virtue.

Fast-forward to today. I have many gay friends and some transgender acquaintances in my social circle. My wife and I enjoy (or used to enjoy, before the pandemic) clubs in West Hollywood, L.A.‘s gay neighborhood. Yet I share the common rejection, among conservatives, of the transgender ideology that seeks to undo the basic idea of male and female, and to impose it on children — not for “grooming” (I never bought that) but for long-term political indoctrination.

I see the military, among other institutions, tweeting Pride images. I get that it’s good for recruitment (or is it? How many traditional, Christian, tough-guy recruits are we losing?). I just don’t see what it has to do with the military — or, more to the point, whether it means we have lost the raw, essentially masculine, martial virtues that are necessary in an effective fighting force.

I’m cool with whatever kinky stuff people are into, as long as it’s safe and consensual among adults. I’m cool with people deciding to identify as whatever gender they want to, though I don’t think they should expect that the rest of society must adjust to their shifting preferences (and I draw the line at plural pronouns for individuals). I would like to think there’s room for debate, but the LGBT[…] movement, which used to be about tolerance, has become the most intolerant of all.