Gender & LGBTQ+ Legitimacy - The Battle Over Identity, Authority, and Existence

Legitimacy wars are not just about governance or economic power - they are also about who has the right to exist as they are, without having to conform to a predefined social order. Gender and sexuality have long been central to this struggle, with patriarchy serving as one of the oldest and most deeply entrenched hierarchy-based legitimacy systems.

For centuries, power has been explicitly gendered. Men were positioned as rulers, providers, and protectors, while women were expected to be subordinate, dependent, and obedient. The legitimacy of an individual was tied to how well they conformed to these roles.

The feminist movement, and later the LGBTQ+ rights movement, did not just seek inclusion or tolerance within existing systems. They challenged the very foundation of patriarchal legitimacy - the idea that power should be inherently tied to gender and that deviation from prescribed gender roles was inherently illegitimate or must be overcome.

This is why, today, anti-feminism, anti-LGBTQ+ policies, and the resurgence of patriarchal norms are not separate issues but part of the same legitimacy war.

Patriarchy as a System of Legitimacy

Patriarchy is not just a cultural preference or a social tradition - it is a legitimacy system designed to enforce hierarchy.

Men’s authority is positioned as natural, inevitable, and necessary.
Women’s legitimacy is contingent on their subordination, compliance, and relationship to men.
Queer and trans identities are inherently illegitimate because they challenge the very structure of gender as a fixed, binary system.

For most of history, legitimacy was explicitly tied to gender roles.

Women were denied political and economic power because they were considered physically, intellectually, or emotionally unfit for leadership.
Marriage was a transfer of legitimacy - a woman’s social standing moved from her father to her husband.
Reproduction was a source of legitimacy enforcement - women were expected to bear children, particularly male heirs, to maintain societal order.
Nonconforming gender and sexual identities were punished - queer relationships were criminalized, gender nonconformity was suppressed, and anything that deviated from heteronormativity was seen as a threat.

These structures ensured that legitimacy remained tied to male dominance and gender hierarchy.

The Feminist Challenge to Gender Legitimacy

Feminism was not just a call for equal rights - it was a direct challenge to the legitimacy of patriarchy itself.

First-wave feminism (suffrage movement) attacked the idea that politics and governance were inherently male domains.
Second-wave feminism (1960s-1980s) fought for reproductive rights, workplace equality, and the dismantling of legal structures that enforced male authority.
Third-wave feminism & intersectional feminism (1990s-present) expanded the fight to include racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and the deconstruction of rigid gender roles.

Each of these movements struck at the core of who was allowed to hold power, who had authority over their own body, and whether women could be full participants in public life.

The Backlash: Restoring Patriarchal Legitimacy

Every expansion of fairness-based gender legitimacy has been met with backlash from those who view legitimacy through a patriarchal lens.

The fight against birth control and abortion access is about who controls reproductive legitimacy - women themselves, or male-dominated institutions.
The demonization of working women and single mothers is about reinforcing the legitimacy of male-headed households.
The “tradwife” movement and Christian nationalism’s resurgence are about re-establishing a legitimacy structure where women’s power is derived from their submission to men.

This backlash is not just cultural - it has been aggressively legislated:

The overturning of Roe v. Wade reinstated state control over women’s bodies, reinforcing patriarchal legitimacy.
The rise of anti-feminist rhetoric in conservative politics seeks to reframe equality as an attack on “traditional values.”
The push to limit women’s participation in leadership, from corporate boards to government, is an effort to restore male-dominated legitimacy structures.

Much like racial legitimacy struggles, gender legitimacy is not just a matter of individual rights - it is a battle over the foundational structure of society.

LGBTQ+ Rights as a Direct Threat to Patriarchal Legitimacy

The LGBTQ+ rights movement posed an even greater challenge to patriarchal legitimacy than feminism alone. While feminism sought to expand women’s role in public life, LGBTQ+ activism attacked the very notion of fixed gender roles and heterosexual dominance.

Same-sex marriage was not just about legal rights - it was about dismantling marriage as a tool of patriarchal legitimacy. If marriage could exist outside of male-female hierarchy, it lost its role as an enforcer of gender norms.
Trans visibility is an existential threat to patriarchal legitimacy because it challenges the idea that gender is a fixed, biological reality rather than a social construct.
Nonbinary and gender-nonconforming identities disrupt the very concept of gender-based legitimacy, removing the assumption that authority is tied to being male and submission is tied to being female.

This is why anti-trans policies have become the new frontline of the legitimacy war.

Bathroom bans, sports bans, and attacks on gender-affirming care are not just about individual trans people - they are about reinforcing the idea that gender legitimacy is fixed, unchangeable, and enforced by the state.
Book bans and curriculum restrictions targeting LGBTQ+ topics are designed to prevent new generations from recognizing gender legitimacy as fluid.
Trans people are framed as a societal threat, much like gay people were during the Lavender Scare, because their existence undermines patriarchal authority structures.

The backlash against trans rights is not just about discomfort with gender nonconformity - it is about reasserting a world where legitimacy is biologically assigned and cannot be challenged.

If the feminist and LGBTQ+ movements challenged patriarchal legitimacy at its foundation, Trumpism and right-wing nationalism have mounted an aggressive counterattack. The modern legitimacy war is not just about preserving traditional gender roles - it is about actively erasing fairness-based legitimacy from institutions, law, and public discourse.

Trumpism’s Explicit Attack on Gender & LGBTQ+ Legitimacy

Donald Trump’s rise was, in many ways, a response to the perceived collapse of patriarchal legitimacy.

His campaign thrived on overt misogyny, from “grab them by the pussy” to personal attacks on female politicians.
His Supreme Court picks helped overturn Roe v. Wade, rolling back reproductive autonomy.
His movement has embraced anti-LGBTQ+ policies, from trans military bans to attacks on gender-affirming care.
His supporters, particularly within Christian nationalist circles, see him as a tool for restoring male authority and dismantling fairness-based gender legitimacy.

Trump’s appeal to hierarchy-based legitimacy was not accidental - it was strategic. By positioning himself as a warrior against feminism and LGBTQ+ rights, he created a powerful cultural battleground that extended far beyond policy debates.

His administration systematically rolled back protections for women and LGBTQ+ people:

Rescinded Title IX protections for sexual assault survivors, reinforcing the idea that men should not be held accountable.
Banned trans people from the military, rejecting their legitimacy as public servants.
Attempted to redefine gender as strictly biological, seeking to erase legal recognition for trans and nonbinary people.
Appointed anti-feminist and anti-LGBTQ+ judges, ensuring that hierarchy-based legitimacy remained legally reinforced.

This was not just about policy - it was about reasserting patriarchal and heteronormative legitimacy by stripping fairness-based legitimacy from institutions.

The Rise of the “Anti-Woke” Movement as a Legitimacy Counterattack

When Trump left office, the attack on gender and LGBTQ+ legitimacy did not end - it escalated. The right-wing movement rebranded fairness-based legitimacy as “woke” and launched an all-out war against it.

Anti-woke rhetoric became a cover for attacking fairness-based legitimacy in gender, race, and LGBTQ+ rights.
DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) rollbacks stripped fairness-based legitimacy from institutions, workplaces, and universities.
State-sponsored erasure of LGBTQ+ identity surged through book bans, “Don’t Say Gay” laws, and restrictions on trans healthcare.

Trump’s recent address to Congress made this war explicit:

“Our country will be woke no longer.”

He framed fairness-based legitimacy as an existential threat to American identity.

The anti-woke movement is not just a rejection of progressive policies - it is an effort to restore hierarchy-based legitimacy by eliminating fairness-based alternatives.

The Role of Christian Nationalism in Legitimacy Wars

Much of the gender and LGBTQ+ legitimacy war is driven by Christian nationalist ideology, which sees fairness-based legitimacy as a direct attack on God’s ordained order.

Christian conservatives frame legitimacy as divinely granted, not socially constructed.
Patriarchal hierarchy is seen as God-ordained, making feminism and LGBTQ+ rights inherently illegitimate.
Religious justifications are used to roll back rights, from abortion bans to attacks on same-sex marriage.

Christian nationalism does not just oppose fairness-based legitimacy - it seeks to erase it entirely by making hierarchy-based legitimacy the only legally recognized structure.

Hierarchy-Based Legitimacy’s Need for Rigid Gender Roles

The legitimacy war is not just about policy or religion - it is about the fundamental need for rigid gender roles in authoritarian systems.

Authoritarian movements require strict gender binaries because they reinforce hierarchy and obedience.
Fascist regimes throughout history have framed feminism and LGBTQ+ rights as threats, from Nazi Germany’s persecution of queer people to modern autocrats’ suppression of gender equality.
Trans panic and “groomer” accusations are used to justify repression, portraying fairness-based legitimacy as dangerous to children and society.

This is why trans people have become the central target of modern legitimacy battles - because their existence challenges the very foundation of hierarchy-based legitimacy.

The Stakes of the Gender & LGBTQ+ Legitimacy Battle

The legitimacy war over gender and LGBTQ+ rights is now at a turning point.

If fairness-based legitimacy prevails, gender and LGBTQ+ identities will continue to gain recognition, legal protection, and social acceptance.
If hierarchy-based legitimacy prevails, we will see increased repression, state control over gender identity, and forced adherence to traditional roles.

This is not just a cultural war - it is a battle over the right to self-determination, bodily autonomy, and existence itself.

The Legitimacy War