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Our essays reflect only their author's point of view. We ask only that they respect our Principles.← Back to all essays | Author's essays Against gender libertarianism
by Local Gay Communist - LGC
Published: 2025-10-20 (last update: 2025-10-20)
1-10 minutes
This essay discusses and expands on the ideas of comrade Sanserifseraphim and seeks to serve as a critique of gender libertarianism as presented by her.
Author: LGC
Chapter 1: what is gender libertarianism?
Let us open this essay by examining the source material I'm pulling from, namely, the last section of the essay "The Two Perspectives on the Transgender Question" by comrade Sanserifseraphim (linked here). Here, she talks about the idea of what she calls "social libertarianism", I will be calling it "gender libertarianism" for the sake of simplicity, and I encourage a general move towards calling it as such to avoid confusion with the broader concept of "social libertarianism", which is a much broader subject than just gender. In the essay she notes on gender libertarianism the following:
"A less reactionary tendency of the social pathology view, social libertarianism is the view commonly held by liberals, social democrats, much of the left, and some center leaning conservatives. This view generally argues for people to ‘do as they please.’ As opposed to complete denial this view relies on “shame-faced agnosticism,” (to borrow a phrase from Engels). Rather than basing the protection of trans rights on a materialist analysis of gender diversity and transsexuality, it argues for the rights of transgender people on the basis of bourgeois liberty. This leads to a focus on protecting linguistic and aesthetic rights (pronouns, name changes, clothing, etc.) as opposed to changing the material conditions capitalism imposes on transgender people. This view neither fully affirms nor rejects trans existence and therefore stands on uncertain grounds that will inevitably collapse into social pathology or social revolution as contradictions intensify. It tends to be reformist because it relies on changing the existing patriarchal capitalist system to incorporate reforms for trans people rather than changing the system to a socialist one which accepts gender diversity and transsexuality as really existing phenomena and organizes society accordingly"
According to comrade Sanserifseraphim, gender libertarianism is an ideological approach grounded in liberal conceptions about individual liberty, and seeks to take a neutral stance on gender as a sort of "meh" concept. It refuses to analyze gender materially, instead relying on idealist conceptions about the 'choice of gender', leading it to focus on the aesthetics of gender rather than the primary aspect therein. It refuses to acknowledge reality while also refusing to follow the concepts it upholds to their natural conclusions (but we'll get to that in a bit). She correctly ascertains that it naturally collapses
" [...] into social pathology or social revolution as contradictions intensify."
but in my opinion, fails to recognize the tendencies of said collapse. All in all we can understand this trend as somewhat analogous to a laissez-faire approach to gender, in that it upholds the seemingly baseless liberty of the individual above any sort of dialectical analysis.
Chapter 2: the issue with gender libertarianism
The reader may now be asking: "why is gender libertarianism bad? isn't it totally fine to just let people be who they want to be?" and this is, for all intents and purposes, a mischaracterization of the thesis at hand. The gender libertarian argument is problematic in that it cannot possibly uphold the interests of the non-cis, as it has no real ground on which it stands, because of this lack of structure, it will crumble under the pressure of reactionary political advance and inevitably, the majority of it's adherents will fall to gender pathology.[1]
It is further important to note that gender libertarianism is not a trans ideology, but rather a cis ideology, created by the cis structures to uphold cis culture while diminishing trans rights as a mere "lifestyle" or "personal choice" ignoring the reality of the material contradictions at play. It is fundamentally a part of the capitalist superstructure and seeks to reproduce it by introducing an artificial animosity of the lived experience of the trans individual, in-so-doing it acts as a more acceptable form of the gender pathology argument for the moderate liberal.
Per this analysis it is obvious the antagonistic nature of the contradiction at play between gender pathology and gender revolution[2] and the role of gender libertarianism as a false synthesis of these two opposing thesis. Therefor, we can conclude that the gender libertarian is but a gender pathologist in denial, or a potential naive future gender revolutionary.
Chapter 2.2: the natural conclusion of gender libertarianism
Now that we understand the dialectical nature of gender libertarianism, we must understand it's root. Is it a deviation of gender revolution? or is it a moderation of gender pathology?
I assert it to be a moderation of gender pathology, as, while to the lay-man it may seem more "left-wing" than gender pathology ever could be, it still relies on the same roots: those of capitalism. It seeks to accomplish the same goal as gender pathology (the reproduction of the capitalist superstructure) just via different means (that of individual liberty). In this we see mirrored the dichotomy of liberalism and fascism, two approaches, one goal, and just as fascism is inevitable in the development of liberal capitalism, gender pathology is inevitable in the development of gender libertarianism, as gender pathology is rooted in fascist ideology, and gender libertarianism is rooted in liberal ideology.
Chapter 3: the alternative
Now we have concisely demonstrated the flaws of gender libertarianism and it's consequences, it's base and it's future, we must look for an alternative, this alternative is of course gender revolution. As we have demonstrated the futility of the gender struggle in capitalist structures, we must look towards a fundamental shift in the relations which uphold gender pathology and it's extensions. Only through socialist revolution can we lay the grounds of the emancipation of trans people and women, as the oppression of these groups is inherently linked to the reproduction of capitalist superstructure and the reactionary tendency of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
We must view gender revolution not as a separate thing, but a definitely proletarian tendency which must follow in socialist revolution as part of the emancipation and dominance of the proletariat, as it is part of the broader deconstruction of bourgeois superstructure society in the building of communism.