The Global Sexual Revolution and the Assault on Freedom and Family | Dr. Benjamin J. Vail, OFS | CWR
German author and sociologist Gabriele Kuby discusses “gender mainstreaming”, the new totalitarianism, and being called a "homohater"
In early April 2014, German author Gabriele Kuby visited the Czech Republic to give a number of public presentations promoting her new book, The Global Sexual Revolution: The Destruction of Freedom in the Name of Freedom, recently translated to Czech. During her visit to Brno, I had a chance to interview Kuby about her book and ask how her Catholic perspective helps her understand one of the most important issues of our time: the continuing sexual revolution that is leading not only to private lifestyle changes but a new legal understanding of sexuality and the family.
Kuby warns that the global trend of “gender mainstreaming” threatens the fundamental understanding of our very human nature, with dire consequences for children, families, and society as a whole. For example, until 2014 users of Facebook had to indicate their sex – whether they are a man or a woman. But now the popular internet social network gives users 58 different options to indicate their gender. Also in 2014, the winner of the popular “Eurovision” song contest was an Austrian man named Thomas Neuwirth, known by his stage name Conchita Wurst, who attracts curiosity by cross-dressing in women’s clothing while wearing a thick beard. Kuby points out that these kinds of situations create confusion and real psychological and spiritual harms for individuals and society.
CWR: For the benefit of our readers, would you please summarize the main thesis of your new book?
Gabriele Kuby: After my conversion to the Catholic faith, and given my background in the study of sociology and interest in political and social developments, I began to realize that sexuality is the issue of our time. We live in a time when sexual norms are being turned completely upside down, which is unique in human history. No society does has done this. No society has ever said, “Live out your sexual drive any way you like,” but our society does. I think this issue of sexuality is the main attack on the dignity of the human being, and on society as a whole, because if a society lets go of its morality in general, and especially in the area of sexuality, it tumbles into anarchy and chaos, and this can result in a new totalitarian regime by the state.
CWR: A main theme of your book is “gender mainstreaming.” Can you educate our readers about gender mainstreaming, and explain why it is dangerous?
Kuby: The term “gender” was a grammatical term used to differentiate the genus of a word, before it was used for a political agenda. Then radical feminists discovered this word and used it to create a new ideology. I marvel at the strategic far-sightedness of knowing that you need a term to promote a new idea, and this is the term “gender.” Gender now means there is a “social sex” which can differ from you biological sex. Of course, there are cultural and historical differences in the ways people live their masculinity and femininity. But the feminist theory is, there is a social construction of sex which can be different – indeed, need not be identical to – your biological sex. And if we give up our identity as a man or a woman, and say there is no such identity, then of course the whole sexual order collapses, and anybody can have sex with anybody – which is not just a theoretical claim, but a practical claim of this movement: there are not two sexes, or two genders; there are many genders, like heterosexual men and women, homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals, transgender, intersexual and queer people (“queer” being a term for any kind of sexual deviance from heterosexuality).
Gender theory says our sexual orientation is the main criterion for our identity. The main value by which this is promoted is freedom. Our hyper-individualized society claims that we have freedom to choose our sex, whether we are man or woman, and it is our freedom to choose our sexual orientation. Society must not only tolerate but positively accept any kind of sexual orientation. But in fact, heterosexuality is the natural condition of our human existence, and more than 97 percent of the population of this earth is heterosexual and has an instinctive rejection of homosexuality. The people who push the gender agenda around the world of course have to start with very young children and teach them that any kind of sexual orientation is equally valid.
The whole thing is “sold,” so to speak, as ever more rights for women.
Gee. On this question she sounds more Catholic than... well, a lot of key voices we are hearing today.
Posted by: jm | Thursday, September 11, 2014 at 07:34 PM