75
How the GOP weaponized trans issues and left Democrats searching for a strategy (www.latimes.com)
submitted 19 hours ago by to c/politics@lemmy.world
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

For the second election cycle in a row, the rights of transgender people have taken center stage politically, despite their accounting for only about 1% of the U.S. population and many voters identifying other issues as far more important — splitting Republicans and Democrats, but also Democrats among themselves and putting the party on the defensive.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 15 points 18 hours ago (4 children)

WHY did the Republicans HAVE to Make us Support EVERYONE?

-LITERALLY Democrats!

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 12 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

    I think most Democratic politicians support everyone as well, however, the Republicans keep hitting on sports, since that's like an 80/20 thing, and they fucking well know it. It is the only reason we are talking about something that likely affects so few people in an already marginalized group.

    They desperately want Democrats talking about something only 20% of the country supports, because on virtually every other issue, Republicans are in the red.

    Most Democrats should not even take the bait on sports. Say they support human rights for all, and pivot to hitting Republicans not supporting rights and asking why they are so obsessed with children and sports, while they are fucking up everything else: forever wars, everything is expensive, our health care is getting ripped away, data centers, AI, future of jobs, kidnapping and disappearing people, attacking democracy, attacking free speech and the media, etc....

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 10 points 14 hours ago (1 child)

    It's an 80/20 thing precisely because Democrats have been so dogshit at defending trans issues. Most dems are deeply uncomfortable with trans people and find us weird and strange. So they don't bother learning how to speak plainly and supportively on trans issues.

    For example, a simple retort on sports is, "trans girls have performance more like cis girls than cis boys. Anyone telling you otherwise is fucking liar."

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 2 points 13 hours ago

    Eh, I don't think an 80/20 thing like this has anything to do with what Democrats do or don't do. It's a cultural thing, and it's going to take a while before that needle moves.

    There may be a lot of things Democrats are doing badly, could do better, are dropping the ball on, etc., but it's not like they can change the culture overnight. It wasn't really the Democrats that moved the needle on things like gay marriage, either. Probably very similar breakdown on that as there is on sports. You'd hear stuff like "well, we shouldn't arrest them for what two adults do, but why do they want to call it marriage? Why not create a separate but equal institution and call it 'civil union'? The term "marriage" belongs to xtians, etc. (LOL, are they not merciful)". But eventually the culture generally shifted.

    You hear things like that now on trans - people that understand it's a human rights thing. But are not all the way there on sports. And specifically on that. It's not exactly the same, but it does rhyme.

    That's why I don't think it's worth Democratic politicians' time to play the Republican gotcha game on this. They should acknowledge their values - human rights are to be upheld, why are the freaks in the Republican Party so obsessed with the genitals of children anyway? How do sports even make the top 50 of the list of concerns for the American people? Mock the conservatives for their trivial and hateful obsessions, and move right on to issues (affordability, Iran war, assaults on human rights across the board, AI and AI data centers) that they have a clear lead on. Talking about "men in women's sports" is just accepting the Republican framing on it as well.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent