Everyone has a favorite fad. The '80s gave us crimped hair and jelly shoes. The '90s, acid-wash jeans and AOL Instant Messenger. And the 2000s, Angry Birds, yoga pants, and the LGBT agenda.

Study after study has shown that LGBT identification has skyrocketed over the past decade or so. A new report released by the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology this week is no different: Between 2008 and 2021, the study found, the percentage of young people who identify as LGBT tripled to 21%. Transgender and nonbinary identification has increased as much as 1,000%. :meow-bounce: And while LGBT activists have claimed this increase is the result of organic destigmatization and the secularization of America’s culture, CSPI found that the open celebration and political embrace of the LGBT community have had an undeniable effect as well.

For example, the study found that while LGBT identification has risen among people under 30 by 11 percentage points since 2008, less than half of them reported actually having a same-sex partner or engaging in same-sex behavior. In other words, there are a lot of people claiming to share the LGBT label who simply are not gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. :kombucha-disgust: “The majority of the increase in LGBT identity can be traced to how those who only engage in heterosexual behavior describe themselves,” the report reads. “It seems that an underlying psychological disposition is inclining people with heterosexual behavior to identify both as LGBT and very liberal.” :very-smart:

But why? Why are so many people being drawn under the LGBT umbrella who have no business being there in the first place? The answer is simple: Queerness, in any one of its forms, has become a fad — both politically and culturally. :capitalist-woke: It is associated with progress, leftism, and, most importantly, a rejection of the heteronormative values forced upon us by straight, white men. :yes-sicko: It’s cool, important, even necessary to be a part of such a movement — even if your sexual preferences don’t exactly align with it.

There’s a way to get around this disconnect, of course. You could do what transgender professor Grace Lavery (who is a man don’t be fuckin rude) did and claim to be a woman and marry a woman who claims to be a man, so that you can have a normal heterosexual relationship and be considered queer. It’s the best of both worlds, apparently. :sicko-fem:

There’s another important factor at play, though. Not only has the LGBT agenda :hexbear-gay-pride: become tied to liberal politics in recent years, attracting a good number of people for that reason alone, but it has also become a community for those who think of themselves as different. :yes-comm: A decade ago, angsty young adults in search of an identity would dye their hair black or maybe chop it all off and play punk rock a little too loud. Nowadays, they’re coming out as pansexual and demanding that everyone refer to them as xe/xem/xir. :grill-broke:

The desire remains the same: They want to stand out and express their dissatisfaction with the culture in which they’ve been raised. The way they’re going about doing it, however, is different — alarmingly so. :Bwaaa:

Whether this fad fades out like the ones we grew up with is another question entirely. Unlike low-rise denim, the LGBT movement has powerful political advocates who are determined to make the gender spectrum and fluid sexuality the law of the land. :sicko-hyper: This is why no one, especially those who identify as LGBT, is allowed to question anything about it, including absurd situations like the Laverys. It just is what it is. There is no judgment, no need for justification — only acceptance. Unless, of course, you’re a gay man or a lesbian woman who thinks transgenderism has gone too far. Then, you can kick rocks and join the other self-loathing TERFs in all their anti-trans bigotry. :meow-knife-trans:

However, there are some who are beginning to recognize what is happening. Late-night host Bill Maher, for example, recently argued that we should be asking questions about LGBT identification and whether it’s more of a social than a biological trend. And with that, he has joined the growing list of public figures, which includes author J.K. Rowling and Caitlyn Jenner, who have somehow kept their wits about them and are now on the Left’s hit list as a result.

But he’s right: We should be asking whether increased LGBT identification is really as organic as the Left likes to claim or whether it has been, in part, manufactured. And if it has been manufactured, the question becomes: Why? :why-shouldnt-i: