This Anti-Woke Activist is Taking a Stand Against Trump's Anti-DEI Madness

We cannot be complicit in authoritarian action with real world harms

Photo by Anthony Tori on Unsplash

This was originally going to be a post about Trump's anti-trans executive orders. However, I've since decided that focusing on that would be too narrow, because it is simply a broader manifestation of how he is approaching cultural issues this time, which has frankly made me feel very uneasy. I also need to talk about how 'anti-woke world' is responding to all this, and why their response has made me feel even more uneasy. So while there will certainly be discussion about his anti-trans orders later on in this article, let's talk about the anti-DEI hysteria first.

Before I go any further, I have to say that I have long been against what is commonly known as 'wokeness', as in the genre of social and political activism that seeks to apply postmodern critical theory and adjacent identity theories to the real world. Identity-based critical theories divide society into oppressor vs oppressed groups, while postmodernism fundamentally has a problem with the objective truth. These philosophies logically lead to divisive and anti-objective-reality approaches to social problems, as well as anti-free speech phenomenon like de-platforming and cancel culture. This is why I have long argued that postmodern critical theory is a threat to the future of Western civilization, and must be confronted and defeated for the sake of our future. I also recognize that, while woke activism seems to have superficially calmed down in recent years, the underlying attitudes and worldviews are actually more deeply entrenched than ever among a significant section of society. This means that we need to keep arguing against postmodern critical theory, and keep trying to win people back over to the old-school liberal side. It is actually for this reason why Trump's anti-DEI 'counterrevolution' is making me feel very uneasy.

For a long time, I have argued that anti-wokeness shouldn't be anti-social justice, but rather provide a better, more liberal version of social justice, to compete against wokeness. Ideally, the anti-woke liberal cares deeply about social justice, that minorities have equal opportunity in society, and that people receive the help and accommodation they need so they can live their best lives. However, the anti-woke liberal is also committed to liberal values, including core classical liberal values like free speech, freedom of conscience and individual merit or guilt, because they believe that these values are what will promote wellbeing for all, especially in the long run. This means that the anti-woke liberal can't accept the worldview that society is made up of interlocking systems of oppression that must be dismantled, or that speech and discourse are fundamentally about power dynamics, or that universal tolerance of all ideas and speech is 'oppressive' and 'repressive' as Herbert Marcuse famously asserted. I am an anti-woke liberal in the aforementioned sense. I really am a 'bleeding heart liberal' (or 'bleeding heart libertarian', depending on which aspects of my political philosophy you want to focus on), as the saying goes, and I really care about social justice, in the old-school liberal sense. Indeed, a big reason why I came to be anti-woke was because I believe that woke activism and postmodern critical theory is incompatible with real social justice as I understand it.

This is where I vehemently disagree with Trump's sweeping anti-DEI executive orders. While I disagree with affirmative action, and I am also quite skeptical about contemporary 'DEI' efforts, what Trump is doing goes way too far, and is effectively throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Trump is using the excuse of DEI to rip apart long-standing programs, initiatives and arrangements, and I believe there are things in there that aren't actually 'woke', and are actually helping people in the real world. Taking all that away in the name of fighting 'DEI' is not only unjustified, it is actually despicable, especially when there are clearly other ways to rid the DEI programs of their postmodern critical theory influence. It is still too early to assess exactly what damage has been done, but I'm sure we're going to hear all the stories over the next few months, and it won't be pretty at all. To the extent of what is happening, I really can't help but begin to agree with the analysis that anti-DEI hysteria is being deliberately kicked up by the reactionary right so that they can dismantle vital civil rights protections, and regress society back 100 years or so. To the extent that Trump and the right succeeds in doing this kind of damage, they will be condemned by history, and very rightfully so.

What has upset me even more is how 'anti-woke world' has responded to Trump's anti-DEI blitz. Much of anti-woke world seems to see this as a victory for their side. Even those parts of anti-woke world that are not normally fans of Trump are saying how he is doing something they agree with for once. It appears to me that anti-woke world has developed an inability to recognize the real world harms of Trump's actions. Philosophical debates and disagreements are fine, until they begin to harm real people in the real world. Trump's anti-DEI blitz has clearly crossed this line here, and is therefore unethical. But apparently, not many people in anti-woke world seem to realize this. I am really shocked, and not in a good way. I certainly don't stand with these people anymore, if I ever did in the first place. My anti-wokeness is all about winning the intellectual argument against the postmodern critical theory worldview so that individual freedom can be restored, and real social justice can prevail. It is certainly not about justifying authoritarian reactionaries taking away people's support systems in the name of 'stopping DEI', whatever that might mean.

In this context, I would now like to talk about those infamous anti-trans executive orders. For anyone new to my work, I am a trans woman who disagrees with mainstream trans activism. I believe respect for free speech and freedom of conscience is paramount, and that we should have a good faith discussion with those who have genuine concerns about certain trans activists demands, particularly in relation to sports and single-sex spaces. I am one of those people who believe that we can protect the rights of both trans women and genetic women, but to achieve that we are going to have to have some compromises and accommodation both ways, so that everyone feels comfortable moving forward. I believe the way we can hammer out a consensus here is to have productive conversations. Up until three weeks ago, I believed a large part of anti-woke world was with me on this. However, since Trump's signed his 'two sexes' executive order, much of anti-woke world has welcomed it wholeheartedly, despite its clearly stated intention to recognize only biological sex, and not gender identity. Indeed, the executive order unfairly sweeps basically all recognition of gender identity under the broad 'gender ideology' umbrella, and basically bans all US federal government agencies from such recognition. This has had real world consequences like making trans people unable to change the gender on their passports, which in turn makes them feel unsafe when traveling, with no benefit in terms of protecting women's rights no matter how you see it (given that passports are only used for travel, and are not used to control access to single-sex spaces or women's sports). It has also led to the defunding of trans health programs, even where they have nothing to do with postmodern ideology, and only serve trans adults. This really looks like recklessness about harming people, just to make an ideological point, i.e. like the rest of Trump's 'anti-DEI' agenda. This kind of reckless, ideological policy making also makes it harder for the aforementioned necessary conversations to be had. And frankly, even I would find it quite difficult to argue that those who support the entirety of Trump's anti-trans executive orders isn't at least somewhat anti-trans, given the consequences they have had, and given that you can have a very reasonable policy of recognizing both biological sex and gender identity, as relevant to the context. As a trans woman, I am already seeing the trans community getting really radicalized over Trump's recent actions. The space to have those needed conversations is getting smaller and smaller by the day. Perhaps this is what the reactionaries want, because they want absolutely no progress on trans rights (or women's rights) at all, even when it's the reasonable kind of progress. However, it is definitely not what a pro-social justice liberal like myself wants, even if I am an anti-woke liberal.

Overall, I think Trump's actions in his first few weeks in this area, and especially the way anti-woke world has responded to these developments, means that genuine anti-woke liberals like myself must draw a line in the sand between ourselves, and what the broader anti-woke world has become. We must not be complicit in a reactionary agenda designed to take society back decades if not centuries, and also harm already disadvantaged people in the real world, even if it is disguised in language that looks superficially attractive to some anti-wokers. After all, I am anti-woke because I want us to have a better future, and I believe wokeness would prevent that from happening. This is why, going forward, I want to explicitly take a stand against Trumpism/MAGA and the New Right from the perspective of an anti-woke liberal. We need to revive genuine liberalism, liberalism sans wokeness, which is certainly very different from 'anti-woke' reactionism.

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TaraElla is a singer-songwriter and author, who is the author of the Moral Libertarian Manifesto and the Moral Libertarian book series, which argue that liberalism is still the most moral and effective value system for the West.

She is also the author of The Trans Case Against Queer Theory and The TaraElla Story (her autobiography).