This is a few random thoughts on the progression of women’s rights and following that gay rights to see if it makes any sense of this trans furore. Uranus Pluto aspects appear to play a significant part, either stirring up rebellion in advance of legislation or being at the centre of the action.
Pluto is about power and control – Uranus fights for freedom and tolerance.
In England, the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882 was a giant step forward since before then women were regarded as their husband’s subordinate, could not own property in their own right and had no legal identity. The Act was made law in England as Pluto just dipped a toe into Gemini having been square Uranus during the years of political lobbying.
Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Suffragette movement in 1903 which advocated direct action and civil disobedience as the Uranus in Sagittarius opposition Pluto in Gemini was in place.
She was born 15 July 1858 9.30 pm Manchester and was a matriarchal Sun Cancer trine a courageously and vengefully determined Mars in Scorpio. Her Virgo Moon opposed Neptune and was trine Uranus; and she had an unyielding Saturn square Pluto. It’s not as descriptive a chart as I might have expected though her get-it-together 5th Harmonic is powerfully talented and ruthless. And her leaving-a-legacy 17H is inspirational, healing and uber-ambitious.
Really it was World War 1 and astrologically speaking tr Pluto through Cancer (1914 to 1938) which made the difference to women getting the vote. Pluto transformed the family, domestic life and women’s lives putting them more on a par with men. Gradually most countries in dribs and drabs started to give women the vote – with France being a laggard, waiting till 1944 (typical).
The sexual revolution of the 1960s with the free-ing of women’s sexuality came in the midst of the febrile Uranus Pluto conjunction in Virgo. It had been spurred into existence by the earlier writings of anthropologist Margaret Mead (a Sun Uranus opposition Pluto) and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey. Oddly enough both their research was heavily questioned in later years but they managed to nonetheless to shift the zeitgeist.
The Sexual Offences Act in England in 1967, a surprisingly liberal piece of legislation decriminalising male homosexuality came with Uranus Pluto conjunction still in place.
The Stonewall Riots in 1969 New York which were a spontaneous and violent expression of protest against the USA’s attitudes towards gay rights, established a cohesive LGBT community for the first time. It broke out as Uranus just over the conjunction to Pluto put a toe into Libra, opening up a new view of relationship.
The Stonewall charity in the UK which campaigns for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and has been a vocal, some would argue divisive force in the trans debate was founded 24 May 1989 with the Uranus, Neptune, Saturn triple conjunction in Capricorn in place.
Bev Jackson, a co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front, said: “They [Stonewall] have chosen to prioritise trans people and have almost abandoned their original mission: protecting people who are same-sex attracted. “Almost 10,000 people have signed our petition – asking for calm, respectful discussion. Stonewall has stonewalled us every time.”
Academics have also accused Stonewall of censoring debate on gender identity and suppressing academic freedom. Many feminists believe hard-won rights for women should remain ring-fenced for those born into that gender, pitting former allies against each other in the battle for rights.
Which astrologically speaking takes us back to Uranus Neptune. See previous post on JK Rowling June 8 2020 below.
Mermaids, another UK charity, for parents of transgender children, was also set up in 1995 under the Uranus Neptune conjunction in Capricorn. It has been criticised for advocating that puberty blockers can be given to 12 year olds who say they are trans gender and that such hormones are reversible which scientists dispute. And there has also been disquiet about their view that any child who declares they are trans must be treated as such without examining any possible underlying issues, such as frequently undiagnosed autism, depression or sexual abuse.
The transgender debate was undoubtedly spurred on by the Uranus Pluto square of 2012 to 2016, but the undercurrent of vehement hostility to any other viewpoint is almost certainly rooted in Uranus Neptune. It tends to adhere to opinions with an almost fanatical zeal even in the face of incontrovertible evidence that they are wrong or at least open to interpretation. Those who were born with that chart marker – the Generation Zers, 1995 to 2003, are the non-binary advocates.
The trans war as a cultural phenomenon is puzzling and will no doubt at some point give way to more moderate and inclusive debate which allows for other viewpoints.
Any thoughts welcome – as long as they don’t rant and rave, in which case they’ll disappear.
Add on: Uranus Neptune like all astro-combinations has a positive and negative side. In the past it has been associated with religious art and enlightened civilizations. It can be inspirational with high ideals and soaring vision. What it can lack is common sense. With no Earth grounding and no limits, it can rise to magnificent achievements; or it can foster irrational fanatical thinking, so extreme that it misleads. Uranus can be uncompromising in its forceful push for change and breaking with the past.
Heresy is part of the rebellious Uranus story, but so is fanatical repression: the Spanish Inquisition was set up under a Uranus Neptune. In 1989 with Uranus Neptune together in Capricorn fervent beliefs leading to fanaticism were clear in the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa (death threat) against Salman Rushdie. It was still in place in 1993 and 1994 when two extremist cults hit the headlines: the David Koresh fundamentalist cult at Waco in Texas was besieged by the FBI, and deaths ensued; and there were multiple suicides and murders among Solar Temple cult members in Switzerland and Canada, who believed they would be reincarnated on Sirius.
Pluses and minuses – just depends how it plays out.