Restricted and compelled speech, a totalitarian technique.

From "All people deserve to be treated with dignity. If someone identifies as non-binary, I will respect that choice. I cannot, however..." by Ann Althouse.

Being someone very attuned to language, Althouse focuses on the forcing of language to accommodate individuals who are in some state of ambiguity. The media over the past few years have been trying to force Trans issues into some sort of grave societal problem. Despite all the arguments, I cannot see this as being much of a real issue other than for the individuals involved and for them it is clearly much more than just a social issue.

What strikes me every time there is a new storm in a tea cup is that most people are either oblivious or kind. Very few will go out of their way to be cruel.

Jordan Peterson, bête noire of totalitarians, focused primarily on the issue of coerced speech by the state. The state should not be passing laws to compel speech.

I look at this slightly differently. We are now all accustomed to the strong inclination and actions of the progressive left to suppress speech. "We won't let them speak at this campus", "You can't say that", "That's Not Funny!" It is not only coercive but, through the heckler's veto, violent.

The whole trans contretemps appears to me not a civil liberties issue at all but the reverse side of the heckler's veto, compelled speech. It is all about trying to control other people through speech.

The mendacity is extreme. Trans are a vanishingly small population. Within that small population, their psychological, medical and other issues are far more extreme than hurt feelings arising from misused pronouns. Most people dealing with Trans usually go out of their way to either avoid them, or accommodate them. Given that there are no settled norms at either a societal or personal level as to what those norms ought to be, essentially the complainer is asking for control over other's speech. That is obviously absurd.

The effort to compel speech appears to me to be part-and-parcel of a broader totalitarian approach. The desire to control what people are allowed to say and the desire to force people to say things with which they might disagree. Seen from this perspective, the trans issue is simply a sheep in wolf's clothing. Totalitarians are trying to control speech (wolf) under the guise of not giving offense (sheep).