I am often accused of being a pessimist, but I think this is an unfair charge. I’m not a pessimist. I’m simply a realist. I understand that human nature is what it is, and therefore people tend to act a certain way, and that results in many predictable conclusions. It’s not my fault that those conclusions are often depressing, enraging, perplexing, or disappointing. I wish it wasn’t this way, but I prefer to see things as they are rather than as I wish they would be.
In other words, again, I’m a realist.
But every once in a blue moon I will put my realist glasses down and try on a pair with a rosier tint. I will try to adopt the mentality of someone is more naively optimistic. And, every time I do this, I regret it. Case in point. This weekend, the pop star Ne-Yo got a lot of attention for some comments he made during an appearance on a show called VladTV. During the conversation with host Gloria Velez, the singer was asked about his views on gender ideology. He responded with a lengthy and rather well spoken monologue on the topic. You could tell that this is a subject he’d spent some time thinking about. And his thoughts were quite lucid on the topic:
Now, fans of this show might have a pretty good idea who he was just quoting there. He was in fact directly referring to something I said during my Dr. Phil episode. Here it is:
Me and Ne-Yo on the same page. A classic collaboration. So far so good. But of course we know that the Left can not allow someone like Ne-Yo to say these kinds of things. They believe they own him. He belongs to them, both because he is a mainstream celebrity and because he’s a black man. By the Left’s thinking, Ne-Yo owes them his unthinking fealty. So the outrage mob set to work, screaming that he was a transphobic and a bigot and on and on. But he did not relent. In fact, he addressed the comments in an instagram post where he appeared to double down:
“1st and foremost, I CONDEMN NO ONE. Who am I to condemn anybody? Your life, your kids, your choice. I was asked a question and I answered it. My opinion is mine. I’m not asking anybody to agree with me nor am I telling you what you can and cannot do with your children. I stated my opinion on a matter and that’s that… Why should I care if my opinion upsets you when you don’t care if yours upsets anyone? Opinions aren’t special. We all have one. People voice them regularly whether they’re asked or not. I was actually asked mine. Agreeing to disagree is not a declaration of war. Y’all do whatever the hell y’all want to. But my feelings on the matter are mine. Same way yours are yours. Meanwhile, I love everybody. Don’t agree with some of y’all’s ideals … but love you no less.”
Now, if you inspect this statement closely, you will can see that this is not really a double down. In fact, you can detect the seeds of equivocation already. Which is why I almost posted a tweet predicting that he would fully cave to the mob within the next 24 hours. But I stopped myself, put on my little-worn rose colored glasses, and decided to be positive and optimistic instead. I sent out a tweet simply congratulating Ne-Yo for taking this stand, and I left it at that.
And then, an hour later, as if to punish me for dabbling with optimism, Ne-Yo posted another statement. Here’s what it said:
“After much reflection, I’d like to express my deepest apologies to anyone that I may have hurt with my comments on parenting and gender identity. I’ve always been an advocate for love and inclusivity in the LGBTQI+ community, so I understand how my comments could’ve been interpreted as insensitive and offensive. Gender identity is nuanced and I can honestly admit that I plan to better educate myself on the topic, so I can approach future conversations with more empathy. At the end of the day, I lead with love and support everyone’s freedom of expression and pursuit of happiness.”
Now, we have seen many people utterly debase themselves and shed whatever scraps of dignity they still had left, all in a vain attempt to appease the zombie hordes. We have seen many targets of the outrage mob, in this exact situation, decide to betray the very people who were defending them while bending the knee to a bunch of pitchfork-wielding troglodytes who will still hate them even after they apologize. We have seen all of this, more times than we can count or want to count. But what makes this one especially grotesque is that Ne-Yo’s original statement was spoken with such force and eloquence that you can tell this is an issue he really cares about and has long reflected on. In other words, this isn’t someone pathetically apologizing for some off the cuff remark. This is someone apologizing for saying something that, it’s clear, he truly and deeply believes.
If I took this final statement seriously I might ask what arguments did the other side make to convince him that “gender identity is nuanced”? What facts did they present to make him question his previous belief that it’s a bad idea to transition a five 5-year-old boy? What actual points did they make to persuade him that actually it’s a good idea to castrate and sterilize children? Before, he said little children are too young to consent to these things. What happened to make him suddenly feel otherwise? What did the other side say to lead him to the conclusion that he needs to “educate himself” more on the topic? I would ask him to tell us more about this “Road to Damascus” moment. What was said to him in that blinding light? What great truth was revealed?
I would ask all of that, but I know the answer. We all do. The other side made no argument. They presented no facts. They did not give any reason to actually believe anything they say on this subject. Instead his handlers, and his PR team, and his record label executives told him to bend the knee or else. They threatened him with loss of revenue, and who knows what other kind of blackmail, and they wrote up a statement for him to post — and he posted it.
This is, of course, by no means meant to let him off the hook. Far from it. He gave up his soul for fear and greed. He is a coward and a traitor to himself and his own belief system. Many such cases, and each case is just as shameful and disgusting as the last.
But it is worth reflecting on the fact that, out of all of the Ne-Yos of the world, who have prostrated themselves before the mob of trans activists and offered their own integrity up as sacrifice for their sins — out of all of these people, and their forced scripted apologies, not one of them has ever said “You know, the trans activists made such and such point and it really made me think differently about this situation.” That has never happened. The trans activists have persuaded many people, but have persuaded none. They have won millions of converts, and also not a single convert. That’s because their position is one so laughably incoherent, so ridiculous and irrational, so nakedly insane, that no sane person could ever truly be convinced by it. That’s why they don’t bother convincing. They can’t. Instead they use intimidation, threats, coercion, fear. That is how they have assembled an army marching under a flag that none of them believe in. They have built a house of cards and imprisoned millions of people inside of it. All that any of them have to do is push gently against one of the walls and it all comes tumbling down. The trans activists recognize this, which is why they must be so quick to squash dissent whenever it arises. And lucky for them, there are many cowards in the country who are quite easily squashed.
But the good news is that these kinds of tactics can only work for so long. A position so absurd and morally depraved can only be defended for so long. Eventually that house of cards will come tumbling down anyway, one way or another. We are watching it happen right now, as we speak, in fact. And Ne-Yo, along with the rest of the coward contingent, will be on the inside when it falls.
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Update: Ne-Yo released an additional statement late in the day.