When I was a child, my parents made it very clear that you do not, under any circumstances, talk about religion or politics with other people. It was taboo and could lead to hurt feelings or embarrassment. They did what they thought was best, of course, but the reality is this: not talking about controversial subjects — and treating them as a faux pas — is part of why we're where we are today.
Look at Michigan, where Haley Stevens made the decision to endorse Republican Mike Rogers. No one has any interest in discussing why she made this choice. They've kicked her out of the supposed big tent that is the Democrat Party, James Carville referred to her as a "used condom," and the Left wants to destroy her.
The same issue keeps rearing its ugly head with any topic. The Left doesn't want to debate or discuss. They want to silence and intimidate. An El-Sayed reporter attacked a Jewish woman at the University of Michigan; when she was arrested the insane woman said she should have killed the Jewish woman when she had the chance.
Then, as always, there's the trans debate, where women like me and other so-called TERFs (trans exclusionary radical feminists) have tried to express our concerns, only to face threats of job loss, arrest, physical violence, assault, and even death.
A lot of us were very willing to have a debate without heat, @stonewalluk, and the reason that never happened wasn't because gender critical feminists didn't want one.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) November 1, 2026
While we were trying to get you to listen to our concerns, your former CEO was telling a BBC boss that gay… pic.twitter.com/Wp1HlVTW5j
"While we were trying to get you to listen to our concerns, your former CEO was telling a BBC boss that gay people not wanting to include the opposite sex in their dating pool was 'sexual racism'. While we were pointing out the homophobia inherent in gender ideology, Stonewall ambassador Alex Drummond (a bearded, heterosexual man who'd had no surgery and taken no cross-sex hormones but liked wearing skirts), was going into schools to talk to students about his 'lesbian' identity," Rowling wrote. "In short, you took a maximalist position on gender identity ideology, which you attempted to enforce by diktat. You refused to acknowledge that you'd hitched your wagon to a cause that, unlike civil rights, gay rights or women's rights, sought to strip rights from others. You sought to curtail everyone's right to freedom of speech and belief by controlling what it was permissible to think and say, through the management and political class."
"There was once a debate to be had, but until you acknowledge the direct harm you've caused, it is no more possible to debate you than to persuade a person in the throes of a drug-induced psychosis that they are not, in fact, the reincarnated Christ," she added at the end.
Charlie Kirk made his life's work to debate and discuss issues. He always did so articulately, openly, and with grace. For that, he was shot and killed. And the Left celebrated.
Now that we're a day away from the midterm, the Democrats are devising ways to punish Republicans and their supporters to silence us, discourage us, and remove us from the public political sphere.
I'll have more thoughts on that, later, but for now, suffice to say that the death of debate has led nowhere good. Like Rowling, I am willing to have those debates, provided the Left — with its violent, bullying, fascistic tendencies — is also willing to do so. But I won't hold my breath on that.
