Dude looks (kinda) like a lady

Last week, Christine Hallquist won the Democratic Party’s primary and earned their nomination for governor of Vermont. Although the smart money says Hallquist is headed for a fairly serious beating at the hands of incumbent Republican Governor Phil Scott, winning a gubernatorial primary in any state — even Vermont — is an accomplishment. But no one is cheering Hallquist just for winning, as if that’s not praiseworthy enough on its own.

See, Christine Hallquist is actually Dave Hallquist. And according to our cultural betters in the media, Hallquist broke new ground, becoming the first transgendered person to win a major party’s gubernatorial primary. Far be it for me to poop on Hallquist’s parade. But let me be clear: Hallquist is welcome to call “her”self whatever the hell “she” wants. If Hallquist wanted to wear a Disney^® princess costume and go by “Tinkerbell the Magnificent,” that would be fine by me. I have no issue with a dude dressing and acting like a girl. I’ll even play along. My problem starts when I’m expected to treat dress-up like the real thing and, further, expected to act like it’s better than the real thing. Just because I’m willing to indulge Hallquist’s fantasy doesn’t mean I accept it as reality any more than I accepted Rachel Dolezal “identifying” as black. Hallquist can change “her” name, hair, clothing and preferred personal pronouns. She can’t change her DNA.

I’m not suggesting we stick electrodes to Hallquist’s temples and turn the juice up to “baked potato.” I am suggesting we stop pretending dressing up like, acting like or even mutilating yourself in order to look more like someone of the opposite gender is normal, much less laudable. As a libertarian, I’m a big believer in people doing whatever they want as long as it doesn’t detrimentally affect anyone else. Dave Hallquist calling himself Christine, or Tinkerbell the Magnificent, doesn’t have any effect on me. And someone who calls themselves Christine, or Tinkerbell the Magnificent, winning the Vermont Democratic gubernatorial primary isn’t likely to change much in my life. But being a libertarian means I’m willing to accept it if Dave wants to call himself Christine; it doesn’t mean I believe Dave is Christine.

Making Hallquist’s win an accomplishment for transgendered people requires it being more of an accomplishment because “she’s” transgender. That would require it being less of an accomplishment if Hallquist ranked lower on the protected class scale. It also begs the question: Would Hallquist have fared as well if “she” ran as “Dave” instead of “Christine?” By celebrating Hallquist’s win as “historic,” her fans are equating Hallquist with civil rights icons like Rosa Parks or Jackie Robinson. And that’s ridiculous.

When Bruce Jenner became “Caitlyn,” I didn’t care much. When ESPN gave Caitlyn an award for bravery, I still didn’t care much, because ESPN is welcome to give whatever awards they want to whomever they want. But when Caitlyn became a cultural icon just for being Caitlyn, I reached for the hypothetical handbrake. If Dave Hallquist wants to be called “Christine,” it’s fine by me. I’m even cool with Christine winning the Democrats’ Vermont gubernatorial primary. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to offer Christine any extra congratulations because “she” won as Christine.

— Ben Crystal

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