The left’s talent for manipulating language has enabled it to influence public opinion on various hot button issues. For example, the left has long defined supporting abortion not as being “pro-abortion” but as being “pro-choice,” subliminally tying abortion to “freedom.” Conservatives should never use the phrase “pro-choice.” Instead, they should call it what it is: pro-abortion.
Last year, I expressed my disappointment in several conservative media outlets that chose to recognize transgender people by their “gender identity” instead of their biological sex. Just as bad, if not worse, in my opinion, was the avoidance of using gender-specific pronouns in reference to the individual.
For example, in writing about Amy Schneider, the biologically male Jeopardy contestant who was falsely deemed the top-earning female player, the Daily Wire avoided using pronouns in reference to him in a story. The Blaze referred to Lia Thomas by female pronouns in multiple articles even though he is a male.
I strongly believe that the transgender movement gets enough undeserved validation from Hollywood and academia and therefore doesn’t need more validation coming from conservative media using preferred pronouns. I certainly won’t give it to them.
I also won’t refer to the recently signed anti-grooming bill in Florida as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Yet, for some reason, several conservative-leaning outlets are.
Earlier this month, an article written by Michael Reagan with Michael R. Shannon refers to the bill as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” in the headline and within the text of the article—despite debunking the left-wing myths of the bill. Likewise, an article last month about the Biden White House denouncing the bill refers to it as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in the headline.
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Anyone who has actually read the bill knows that describing it as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill is incredibly inaccurate. As PJM’s Megan Fox previously noted, the bill prohibits school districts from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels. “Primary grade levels are ages four to nine,” she points out. “This bill says you can’t talk to them about any sexual orientation or any gender identity. It doesn’t specify gay or straight. So the Dems have been lying from the beginning. This bill tells teachers to back off the gender theology with tiny tots.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill on Monday, though the radical left is still hoping they can get it repealed.
Yet conservative outlets are helping the radical left brand the bill on their terms for some reason.
For example, the Daily Caller similarly referred to it as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in an article about an SNL skit trashing the legislation—though other times, they refer to it as the more accurate “Parental Rights Bill.”
Articles at Fox Business and the Washington Examiner have also referred to the bill as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in headlines. They shouldn’t be doing that. Instead, call it the “Parental Rights” bill or the “Anti-Grooming” bill … just stop calling it the grossly inaccurate “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
There’s certainly a case to be made that referring to the bill as “Don’t Say Gay” is good for search engine optimization (SEO) and could allow conservative sites to reach people they otherwise wouldn’t in order to expose the myths of the legislation—but if we cede the power of language to the left, we’ll ultimately lose.
