The German Reaction to the Inauguration

Germany

I watched DW News out of Berlin the day after the Inauguration, expecting the coverage to focus on the critical questions of what the Trump presidency will mean for the Ukraine War, for NATO, for exports of American liquified natural gas to Germany, for exports of German cars and other products to the US, for Germany’s relationship and trade with China, or for the implications of the US withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords.

Instead, the first ten minutes of the newscast were focused on something far more important, at least in the upside-down thinking of the German media.  It focused on what the presidency will mean for transsexuals and transgenders.

The segment featured American and German transsexuals and transgenders bemoaning the election and claiming that they feared that their rights were going to be taken away.  They didn’t specify if they were referring to the Rights of Man, natural rights, constitutional rights, or what.

The segment also featured a black woman in New York who was introduced as LGBTQ, as if she was all of those things in one package.  She claimed that she was terrified of the Trump presidency.

I have to weigh my words carefully here, so as not to be typecasted as a knuckle-dragging, red-necked transphobe.  The featured people behaved, spoke and dressed outlandishly and weirdly, as if to draw attention to themselves in a performance art, so as to provoke a negative reaction and thus prove how victimized they are and how intolerant everyone else is.

My comments would be no different if they pertained to heterosexual cisgenders with off-putting mannerisms and appearance, such as the Arizona guy who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, wearing horns, animal skins and face paint.  As with the others mentioned above, he wouldn’t be invited to my house to have dinner with the family.

Intolerant, indeed.

The progressives at DW News and elsewhere use bizarre behavior as a litmus test of tolerance, open-mindedness, and non-judgmentalism, as long as the behavior comes from the left and not the right.  The more bizarre the behavior, the better the litmus test.  If you dare to be judgmental about the behavior, it’s proof that something is wrong with you.

Something is wrong with you, therefore, if you think it’s weird that a big hairy guy with a deep voice and a large Adam’s apple dresses as a woman and reads fairy tales to children during drag-queen hour at the local public library.  You failed the litmus test.

Passing the test are the parents who eagerly take their kids to such readings, in a public display of their virtuousness.  Well, call me closeminded, but they’re also not going to get an invitation to dinner.

Like much of the West, Germany is full of contradictions.  It opened the door to millions of Muslim migrants, including those with extreme Islamic beliefs, such as the righteousness of honor killings and the stoning to death of gays.  Yet nary a negative word is said about the extremists in the media, because, by definition, minorities can do no wrong and are always victims and not victimizers.

In this strange calculus, looking askance at drag-queen hour is worse than the stoning of gays.

No wonder German media can’t understand why Trump was reelected.

Mr. Cantoni can be reached at craigcantoni@gmail.com.

About Craig J. Cantoni 71 Articles
Community Activist Craig Cantoni strategizes on ways to make Tucson a better to live, work and play.

2 Comments

  1. giving ‘gay’ a bad name… let the dogs lick their balls

    EU in collapse – UN in collapse – perhaps move the UN to EU – won’t be long – enjoy your new bedfellow RUSSIA !

Comments are closed.