The Tyranny of Exception: Identity, Obligation, and the Collapse of Common Ground

There are infinite ways to live a life. But the insistence that every variation demands special treatment, affirmation, and institutional accommodation has hollowed out the core of civic culture. We’ve replaced shared consequence with curated fragility. Gender dysphoria, historically classified as a mental health condition, has been rebranded as sacred identity. The shift wasn’t medical—it was ideological. And with it came a new mandate: not just tolerance, but celebration. Not just rights, but reverence. This isn’t about compassion. It’s about control. The new orthodoxy demands that every citizen become a participant in someone else’s self-concept. Pronouns, flags, rituals, and language codes—all enforced under the banner of inclusion. But inclusion without boundaries is not civic virtue. It’s civic erosion. There are two sexes. There are two reproductive roles. That’s not ideology—it’s biology. What follows from that can be lived in infinite ways. But when a culture insists that subjective identity overrides objective reality, it ceases to be a culture. It becomes a performance. And performances demand an audience. That’s where the coercion begins. I reject the culture of curated exception. I reject the demand to treat identity as sacred and dissent as violence. I affirm the right to live freely—but not the right to compel others to participate in your narrative. Civic restoration begins with consequence. And consequence begins with clarity.