Dianics, Evolve or Perish

Over the course of the last couple of years the community has witnessed the evolution of belief among mainstream Dianics towards an ever-widening view of inclusivity, equality and developing a tradition that will continue to empower women to find their voices.

These changes however have not included individuals who are acknowledged as national voices within the Dianic community. Increasingly this isolated group of so called “leaders” have begun to engage in power over, patriarchal and escalatory tactics and language in order to promote an extreme view of the community that promotes discrimination, exclusivity and hate towards the transgender community.

Their arguments boil down to the same old tactic taken by all those that have opposed civil rights advances; namely, granting rights to others infringes on our rights. This is the same argument that the women’s movement opposed in establishing the rights of women. Essentially, the former leadership of the movement has become the very thing they have opposed for over 40 years.

On the other side of the equation are the vast majority of Dianics who are caring loving individuals who support the traditional values of the movement and are able to embrace weaving a new thread into the diverse fabric of social justice. Individuals such as YsheRabbit Matthews and Devin Hunter are great examples of this ethic manifested. These individuals and groups represent the real leadership of the Dianic movement. With time their voices will be acknowledged as representing the future of this important tradition within the Pagan community.

The larger community has begun to speak about Dianics in defamatory terms, citing their beliefs as hateful and archaic.  Such statements should be viewed with caution. Painting an entire tradition with the brush of bigotry only embraces the idea that all Dianics hold discriminatory beliefs and ignores the evidence that many Dianics no longer consider the traditional leading voices as relevant to the direction of the Dianic community.

Yes, the traditional national leadership is going to evolve or perish.  All evidence seems to indicate that they have chosen the path of self-destruction. These individuals can be now be viewed as a sub group within the Dianic community who some are now calling Z-Dianics.  While labels are often not helpful, in this case there is a clear need to differentiate between those beliefs that represent discrimination and those that embrace inclusivity.

Lets return to a place where we respect the Dianic community for all they have achieved. It follows that it is also time to view the minority of Z-Dianics who have become what they have traditionally fought against as a sad relic of great ideas corrupted by extremism and power over patriarchal leadership structures.

As someone who has been partnered to a Dianic Witch for more than a dozen years, I am saddened by current events.  I know most Dianics to be loving and supportive of social Justice to include finding a place for transgender inclusion. It is time to embrace these individuals in dialogue and ignore those who refuse to evolve. After many conversations with members of the Dianic community it is clear an evolution is taking place: Lets embrace those who will move the community forward. 

Note:

To those within the community who believe that reasonable and open discussion and accommodation will lead to inclusiveness and equality for the transgender community please feel free to comment here. Your concerns are important, weaving threads into the fabric of social justice is hard and requires open and respectful communication.

To those who wish to engage this post with name-calling, hate or accusations. I have no more interest in providing a platform for you than any other hate group and your comments will be deleted.