In the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, even into the 00s, we (generally meaning people aligned in some way with the mainstream feminist ethos) were trying to undermine the power of gender roles and gender stereotypes. Men could be nurses. Women could be CEOs. Look at rock stars of the 70s and all their glorious gender-bending. Then a strange counter-movement arose whereby a new wave of gender theorists started coming up with a whole new set of gender boxes into which to arrange and categorize people.

We were fighting against gender; they are fighting for it. The two efforts are antithetical.

The new gender movement can be traced fairly easily back to Judith Butler's work and its adaptation in a more popular and accessible form by Riki Wilchins, someone who doesn't get enough credit (or blame) for spreading these ideas. Wilchins was involved in the Camp Trans protests against MichFest, is well-connected in tech, and is partly responsible for aligning trans ideology with critical race theory, which is one reason you so often hear "racist and transphobic" these days and rarely hear the word 'homophobic.'