How did a small, shunned group turn into a powerful mass movement, to the point that the Israeli mainstream has adopted its positions and beliefs? What was the process in which ideas, that only a short time ago were thought to be outside the consensus, are now considered unassailable truths? And furthermore, how did we get to the point where anyone who does oppose these ideas is considered primitive, the enemy of morality and justice?
How did the LGBTQI+ movement conquer the media, academia, and the political world, so successfully that enthusiastic support for this movement has become the sine qua non for someone to be considered enlightened?
The following are seven methods used by gay organizations to carry out, within a few short years, an incredible revolution that completely changed Israeli public opinion.
1. Focus on the Micro and Ignore the Macro
The organizations focus on individual, personal stories, highlighting these people’s pain and suffering (for example, a haredi teen kicked out of his home when he comes out of the closet, a gay couple desperate to have a child, and similar stories). Of course, the public feels empathy and identifies with the pain of each person, this without thinking about the consequences and the price paid in granting blanket legitimization to these changes.
2. Define the Opposition as Mentally Ill
Using the word “homophobia” to describe the state of people who oppose the LGBTQI+ movement is a simple manipulation whose goal is to delegitimize the opposition. This is marked by the use of the psychological term “phobia” (meaning: an anxiety that interferes with one’s functionality, occasionally serious enough to require medication) and dumping it on anyone and everyone who opposes the movement, even though these people experience no anxiety nor have any problems functioning. This is a manipulative usage of language, which exploits a medical term for political goals.
In the Soviet Union, the state used similar methods against opponents of the regime: it placed them in psychiatric wards to give the message that anyone who opposes Communism is suffering from a psychiatric condition.
To be fair, in the past this is how homosexuals were treated; they were defined as being psychologically ill. We mistreated them and they fought against it – and now the LGBTQI+ world is trying to do the same thing to their opponents.
3. Connect two Different Agendas, Despite the Differences Between Them
The feminist movement was the first to use this method, working in two waves. The first wave demanded legal equality for women: equal working conditions, an end to keeping women out of significant positions, the right to vote, etc. These were legitimate demands and were a correction to years of discrimination and moral injustices. It is very easy for anyone to identify with these demands.
At that point, feminism’s second wave appeared and jumped several steps ahead: It strived to blur and even erase the differences between men and women using the claim that these differences are a fiction invented by an oppressive patriarchy along with anachronistic social constructs.
This claim is something entirely different, but feminists rode the wave of the support garnered from the first wave and tied both agendas together. The public does not always see the huge gaps between the two ideas and accepts them as one.
The LGBTQI+ movement adopted this method. The first wave demanded equal rights and basic rights for homosexuals. Most people who have a conservative outlook could accept these demands or at least understand them (in particular if these conservatives are not religious and do not approach the issues from a religious point of view).
However, the second wave has gone too far, destroying the family structure that has been in place for generations. The LGBTQI+ backers differentiate between biological sex and gender, turning the latter into something subjective that can be defined by each person (even children as young as five). Along with the above comes a plethora of radical progressive ideas.
Here, too, the average person who identifies with the goals of the first wave does not understand that both agendas have been conflated.
4. Mount an Intimidation Campaign Against Therapists, Researchers (and lately) Teachers
In virtually every area of psychological and behavior disorders, there is a generally accepted belief that therapeutic practices can improve one’s mental and emotional health. However, over the last several years, there has been a blanket veto on any attempt to apply these ideas to sexual orientation. The practice has been branded with an ugly term “conversion therapy” (which carries with it the connotation of “forced religious conversions”), along with open threats of disqualifying the professional license of anyone who even attempts it.
This intimidation campaign has even been mounted against researchers wanting to investigate the effectiveness of these reorientation therapies. Recently, school principals, teachers, and counselors who do not toe the party line have also come under attack.
5. Aggressive Street Presence
No other movement is so insistent on having large-scale national events including loud, colorful parades featuring celebrities and influential people. Any attempt to protest “pride parades” is fully exploited to show that gay people are persecuted, all the while profiting from additional media coverage.
6. Exploit Extremely Rare Violence to Silence the Opposition
Shira Bank’s (z”l) horrible murder, at the hands of Yishai Shlissel (a released convict) has become a cudgel used to silence and stain the opposition, and to present any criticism as an incitement to murder.
7. Apply Treats and Pressure to Organizations and Companies
We all know about protection monies paid to Bedouin criminals. It turns out that LGBTQI+ groups have adopted the same tactics. They apply massive pressure, including threats of shaming and attacking the public image of large numbers of public companies and institutions, forcing them to get in line with the gay movement.
The results are unbelievable. Government offices and private companies compete to show who stands out more in the support they give to the LGBTQI+ movement, from media coverage for funding given to same sex couples for surrogate births, adding the rainbow logo to their logos and ads, to benefits to people who are part of the gay community.
8. Cancelling
We can add an eighth method to the above: cancelling (on Facebook) any opposition voices by reporting them as hate posts. That is exactly what happened to the words that you are now reading and that is why you will not find this article on Facebook. Within 24 hours of this article being posted on Facebook, Zuckerberg made sure to delete it. This cancelling ensures that you hear one opinion only: the “correct and enlightened” opinion of the LGBTQI+ organizations.
So what impact will this have on Israeli society?
It is too early to say. What is clear, though, is that a huge revolution is taking place right under our noses, over a very short period of time, one which is creating and designing a future that we never imagined.
The first step in being able to deal (with this revolution) is to understand the mechanisms being used. Realizing what is transpiring enables us to carefully consider the means to fight back, and help Am Yisrael free itself from the “LGBTQI+ Troll” that is so thoroughly confusing - and threatening us.
Rabbi Yoni Lavi is an educator, noted lecturer and author of the set of books "Hi, Rabbi." He is a Barkai rabbi, the Founder and Educational Director of the Chaverim Makshivim (friends who listen) English hotline for youth and a member of the Kehalim Organization.