IN THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT, I have spoken repeatedly about the profound harms inflicted by gender ideology on women and children. I have highlighted the erosion of sex-based rights, the medicalisation of confused young people, and the invasion of women’s spaces.
Yet what many courageous women fighting these battles may not fully see is that gender ideology is not an isolated issue. It forms part of a much larger ideological assault: critical social justice, often branded as “radical progressivism,” “wokeism,” or “cultural socialism”. At its core, this is Marxism repackaged for the 21st century.
Marxism’s classic oppressor/oppressed dialectic has been updated. Instead of purely economic classes, it now weaponises identity groups: race, gender, sexuality, and more. This fuels identity politics, demands for compelled speech such as preferred pronouns, and the capture of academia, media, and public institutions by radical left ideas. Universal liberal values such as individual merit, free speech and colour-blind fairness are discarded in favour of group grievance and power struggles. It operates under the innocuous banner of DEI – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – but delivers the opposite.
This new secular religion celebrates every form of diversity except diversity of thought. “Equity” no longer means equal opportunity but engineered equal outcomes, enforced through discrimination. “Inclusion” frequently means excluding dissenters. The result is stifling groupthink that weakens institutions and sows division.
Nowhere is the damage more insidious than in its effect on young men, particularly white working-class boys. Positive action and diversity quotas have morphed into outright discrimination. Talented young men are told their “face doesn’t fit” the new targets.
Masculinity itself is labelled “toxic”
A stark example is the Royal Air Force’s recruitment drive. An official inquiry revealed unlawful positive discrimination against white men as the service prioritised women and ethnic minorities to meet diversity goals. White male candidates were held back, with some courses effectively closed to them. The RAF later admitted its mistakes and apologised, but the pattern persists across public institutions.
Similar issues plague police forces, where recruitment and promotion practices have bypassed merit in favour of demographic checkboxes. White British officers have successfully claimed direct race discrimination when forces fast-tracked ethnic minority candidates without open competition.
This is not equality. It is racism and sexism dressed up as justice.
Young men absorb the message that they are inherently problematic – the root of all society’s ills. Masculinity itself is labelled “toxic”. The prescribed solution? Feminise and emasculate boys to make them less threatening.
The outcomes are devastating. Men account for around three-quarters of suicides in the UK, with male suicide rates roughly three times higher than female rates. Depression and hopelessness among young men have surged as society tells them their natural traits are dangerous and their ambitions suspect.
This ideology drives an artificial wedge between men and women. We are not enemies but complementary – two sides of the same coin. When one sex is demonised or held back, everyone suffers. Women complain of a shortage of strong, reliable men, yet are simultaneously taught that masculine traits are oppressive.
Marx himself viewed the traditional family as oppressive. He saw marriage and parental roles through the lens of power dynamics. The goal was to supplant the father and husband with the state – a tactic attempted by Stalin and Mao. Confucius understood better: “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of its home”. The family is society’s foundation. By subverting it, the state weakens the very structures that built Western success.
Acknowledging men and women’s differences is not bigotry; denying them is lunacy. Pretending otherwise leads to unfairness, inefficiency and resentment.
DEI initiatives breed division and incompetence
We are failing our young men by denying them purpose, honour and positive role models. Men do not risk their lives in dangerous jobs or war primarily for the state – they do it for their families, wives and children. Restoring that sense of purpose is essential.
Women, too, are being lied to. The freedoms and choices of modern life are precious, but they cannot replace the deep fulfilment of family and community. Our civilisation rests on Christian principles: the inherent worth of the individual, equality and ordered liberty. Regardless of your personal beliefs, forgetting this foundation endangers everything we hold dear.
The time has come to dismantle DEI initiatives in all Scottish and UK public institutions. They do not produce fairness; they breed division and incompetence. Our politics must prioritise merit, fairness and national unity over grievance and identity.
If we want our boys to become the strong men who build, defend and advance civilisations, we must give them more than the current diet of shame and emasculation.
Men and women thrive when we acknowledge our differences and work together. Do not let the ideologues divide us – that is precisely what they intend. Stand firm against the Marxist infiltration hidden in gender ideology and DEI. Support policies that value individuals on merit. Champion the family. And recognise that a healthy society requires good, strong men alongside good, strong women.
Reform’s mission – family, community, country – offers the antidote.
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Wholeheartedly agree with the views shared in this well-written article. The distorted approach to social justice we are witnessing rests on self-loathing and a loss of understanding of human nature and all that has made Western Civilisation great. Those who wear the virtue- signalling badges in support of this warped ideology are not showing compassion but ignorance and cowardice.