I think I previously agreed with the idea that GCs are cultish in some ways but if I did I honestly feel really uncomfortable with all this talk about it because it's more of a destructive ideology than a cult.

And I feel like framing it like that is maybe a little off target.

I grew up in an *actual* cult. Like, leader who was the only reliable conduit to God, 150ish people, last bastion against the forces of Hell, etc.

And there *are* a lot of similes that can be drawn: it's an ideology, they love-bomb recruit and demonize people who leave.

But the thing is that cults tend to pull away from the world. They don't want to fuck it up for other people: they usually just want to get away from all those crazy unenlightened people so they can feel special out in the woods, or whatever.

GCs aren't interested in feeling special. They're interested in convincing the world that all women everywhere are perma-victims and that the most viscious and terrifying criminals are trans women, whose dysphoria comes second to their sexual need for accessing women's spaces.

Like a cult, they're convinced they're right and uninterested or skeptical of information that might prove them wrong, but like, when was the last time you met someone who *wasn't*?

They're not a cult. They're just a paranoia group that's focused on trans people.

Also, calling them a cult actually underplays the amount of political power they actually wield, which is considerable.

So anyhow, something to consider.