Do Californians just want to have fun? Not if they’re members of the state legislature that late last month showed how liberalism, once a defender of free speech, is doubling down on suppression of dissent and viewpoint diversity.

It’s gay pride parade time again, so this is a good time to read Christopher Yuan’s Holy Sexuality and the Gospel (Multnomah, 2018). When I interviewed him five years ago (“From gay to joyous,” Feb. 8, 2014), he had recently put into perspective his years of homosexuality, illicit drug use, drug dealing, and coming to Christ in prison. His new book poses good questions about gays and identity: “How did ‘This is how I am’ become ‘This is who I am’?”

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, signed a bill into law Wednesday that prohibits so-called “conversion therapy” for minors struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the case of a funeral home employee who sued because he said the Christian business owners would not let him dress as a woman at work. At the same time, the high court also will consider cases filed by individuals who claimed they were fired because of their sexual orientation.

A little over two years ago, I wrote an article about the growing push to affirm transgenderism in children and teenagers. National Geographic had just published an issue praising the movement, and featured a cover photo of a 9-year-old boy dressed like a girl.

Ken Zucker, a secular psychologist in Canada, had recently lost his longtime position at a mental health center in Toronto for suggesting parents should try to help confused children become secure with their birth sex.

A friend texted, “Mary Oliver died.” I looked up at my husband, “Do we know a Mary Oliver?” Shrug. I typed back, cagily: “How old was she?” No clue forthcoming there: “83,” she replied. Then, after a quick Google search on this end: 

“Did you know her personally?” “My aunt took her in when she was a teenager and she lived with her in Provincetown for a few years. … My aunt has all of her books personally signed by her. … [Mary] ventured into lesbian life later on. She was sexually abused at home. … Tell me if you write something about her.” 

On an online forum for parents concerned about their teenagers’ sudden change in sexuality, one mother confesses: “I am desperate. My 14-year-old daughter just told me that she is trans. These past weeks have felt like a hundred years.”