From Liberty to Theocracy: A Transgender Veteran's Warning on Christian Nationalism

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🇺🇸 From Liberty to Theocracy: A Transgender Veteran's Warning on Christian Nationalism

Cassandra Williamson

21 July 2025, Monday

When the Supreme Court affirmed marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges, I stood with thousands of LGBTQ+ Americans who finally saw their love recognized under law. But nearly a decade later, a different kind of reckoning has arrived—one that twists faith into ideology, and morality into governance. The Heritage Foundation’s recent denunciation of Obergefell doesn’t merely challenge judicial reasoning—it signals a deeper movement toward Christian Nationalism. And as a transgender veteran, I’ve seen what happens when religion is weaponized by the state.

👁️ A Veteran's View from the Margins   I fought for a nation that promised freedom—not selective freedom. My service spanned both the Navy and Marines, alongside comrades of every faith, identity, and background. We didn’t defend a Bible. We defended a Constitution. And yet today, political leaders and cultural institutions are rallying around a theology that elevates Christian supremacy over pluralism. It's a tide that doesn't stop at same-sex marriage—it reaches into the lives of trans youth, reproductive rights, and our very right to exist.

🕌 Echoes of Khomeinism   The parallels to Iran’s Shia theocracy are chilling. Like Khomeini’s rise after the 1979 revolution, Christian Nationalism in America is fueled by perceived cultural loss—a belief that tradition has been trampled, and divine order must be restored. In both cases, dissent is reframed as heresy. Families like mine become threats to social cohesion, not contributors to it.

The goal isn’t just policy. It’s purification.

🧭 Faith Should Inspire, Not Govern   I honor faith. I’ve marched beside pastors demanding justice and sat with chaplains who supported LGBTQ+ troops long before it was safe to do so. But faith should be a wellspring of compassion—not a mechanism of exclusion. When political actors declare a divine mandate, they don’t just challenge laws—they redefine citizenship itself.

🛡️ Obergefell Wasn't the End—It Was the Beginning   For those of us who’ve been told our families are dangerous, our bodies unworthy, our patriotism suspect—Obergefell was more than a legal milestone. It was a declaration that love and liberty are not mutually exclusive. The attacks on it today aren’t about jurisprudence. They’re about erasure.

🌈 What We Must Defend   To every American watching this unfold, I say this: pluralism isn’t chaos. It's the miracle of democracy. The rise of Christian Nationalism is not just a policy shift—it’s a cultural coup. And like Khomeinism, its endgame is the consolidation of power around a narrow moral vision.

But we are more than that vision. We are veterans, parents, believers and non-believers alike. We are trans elders and the young people we mentor. And we will not let this country trade liberty for liturgy.

Click here to read a more in-depth analysis of what the attack on Obergefell means for freedom in America.

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