In the face of ‘eradication’, one trans activist is preparing to fight – and she’s sick of silence and neglect from her supposed allies. Raquel Willis tells Io Dodds why Republican bathroom bans are everybody’s problem
You’re claiming the Democratic Party hasn’t supported the trans community?
I’m saying they’re willing to throw them under the bus as soon as it gets difficult. Being silent while a few members do so explicitly isn’t being an ally.
Infighting works to the GOPs advantage. If the DNC starts attacking the few members they have in office they will switch to the GOP. Giving the people who want to eradicate the trans community more power.
What difference does it make if they lose so hard anyway that they are politically impotent?
When the leading candidate avoids the issue, gives less representation to trans people than the preceding candidates, and says “states rights” in response to growing repression of trans people when pushed to say something in an interview, I think its fair to say the Dem leadership has abandoned us. Individual dems are better, but the leadership clearly doesn’t care.
If you want to turn on the Democratic Party you’ll get a stronger GOP. Your move.
The GOP just swept the nation. All three branches of government. Both houses. Seems to me supporting the Democratic Party made the GOP stronger already. Maybe we need a new party.
And here we go again, gaslighting people that they should lick the boots of the party elites as they kick them, because they kick them a bit less than the other party. This thinking has brought Trump not once, but twice now.
I would have thought after the second Trump win the “lesser evil hurr-durr” strategy would be reconsidered. US Liberals only use marginalized groups when they are deemed “useful” the moment they are not, they are abandoned. US Liberalism is white supremacy with colored-hair and a piercing and an arts degree instead of a business degree. But it is still white supremacy through and through.
And as the marginalized groups grew tired of this, they are now fiercely attacked, often in openly racist ways by the same people who claimed to want to prevent Trump for his racism and bigotry.
They really haven’t. They tend to take a neutral stance at best, rather than positively affirming trans rights. This was one of the things that killed them in the election. Despite being a decade in to the recent Republican war on trans people, Democrats have never bothered to develop a set of coherent talking points that they can defend trans rights around. When was the last time you heard a centrist Democrat say, “trans women are women, trans men are men. Their healthcare is medically necessary and life-saving. Trans women belong in women’s restrooms and trans men in men’s. Republicans are currently guilty of attempting a genocide.”
That’s the kind of talking points they should be using, a full-throated defense of trans rights that can directly stand up against Republican hate mongering. Instead, if they respond at all, they respond in a pathetic mincing way that tries to “both sides” the issue. Instead of vocally coming down firmly on the side of trans rights, they’ll say things like, “these are complex issues…” or “these issues are a distraction…” You would never see a Democrat say that antisemitism is “a distraction” or that defending abortion rights “are a complex issue.”
With some notable exceptions, Democrats have completely failed to actually have strong support for trans rights. Republicans are anti-trans and pro-trans genocide. Democrats are neutral. And this really hurt them in the election. Republicans supported full trans elimination. And Democrats could only respond with non-committal mealy-mouthed mumbling about the complexity of the issue. Voters saw that they really didn’t stand for anything. Kamala didn’t really believe in anything when it comes to trans rights, and the voters punished her for it. Voters want people who actually believe in something, not an empty suit that is just following polls and focus groups.
The fact of the matter is the majority of America doesn’t treat trans people properly. So to win elections they need the support of people that don’t treat trans people properly.
I hope that support for the trans community will continue to improve over time. But democrats need votes from more than just the trans community and allies to take power back from the GOP.
The Democrats are a coalition party. They need to be able to stand up for all of the members of that coalition. Do you know why Republicans chose to attack trans people? Because it is a wedge issue they can use to cleave off a portion of Democratic votes. If Democrats throw trans people under the bus and sit idly by to genocide, then they will lose the votes of trans people and their friends, relatives, and allies.
When has appeasing genocide ever worked for an opposition party? The problem Democrats have is that they’re embarrassed to be Democrats and try to run as Republican-lite. Then they look up surprised when people vote for the real deal or simply stay home out of disgust. The biggest appeal of Democrats among the electorate is that they’re willing to stand up for marginalized groups. And if one group gets thrown under the bus, every other group knows that they can also be thrown under the bus in the future if the political winds shift. Trans people are on the chopping block now, but after we’re exterminated, what other group will the Democrats willingly sacrifice? All Republicans have to do is run another demonization campaign against another group, and Democrats will again fold like a house of cards.
If Republicans can get Democrats to fruitlessly piss away 5-10% of their core electorate in a doomed attempt to appeal to moderate Republicans, then that is a strategy that Republicans can use again and again to cleave piece after piece off of the Democratic coalition.
Republicans chose trans people as a wedge. They gambled that, when push came to shove, Democrats would be too chicken shit to actually live up to their stated values and truly defend the rights of people that they’re always promising to defend. Democrats proved Republicans right, and that cost them the election. They were defeated by their own cowardice.
So to win elections they need the support of people that don’t treat trans people properly.
They don’t though, because they’re never going to get that voter either way.
