What Shade Does the Republican Party’s Transgender Panic Have in Putin’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Playbook
Trump campaign according to the report spent nearly 20% of its advertising budget—more than $37 million—on television programs addressing transgender issues. That coordinated spending, combined with the GOP’s campaign against transgender people — from sports bills to bathroom access and health care — has all the hallmarks of targeting on a small population to blame or litigate controversial issues in society. Such efforts against diverse and marginalized communities have effectively mobilized Democrats for decades. And yet, this time, some in the party — initially paralyzed by Republican attacks, and now reeling from defeat in the polls — have decided to implicitly throw out the diaspora. transgender under the bus. This is not the only option. Instead, Democrats can and should acknowledge that America is going through a period of enormous change — culturally and politically, medically and technologically, socially and sexually — without compromising their support for human rights and gingerly supporting Trump in creating the Trump administration. an internal enemy.
After the election, I called several Russian friends and acquaintances, all of whom were involved in various ways in opposing Putin’s return to power in 2012. I wanted to know if we could What learn from them. I didn’t expect the conversation to be so hopeful. Overall, these people demonstrated stronger faith in American institutions than I have heard in many years from people living in this country. They understand the power of an independent judiciary, of a legislature elected by American citizens, of the idea of checks and balances— are so absent from their country, despite the hollow insistence of their leaders that they must obey “the law.”
This week, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States v. Skrmetti, Challenge to Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. “This case has implications far beyond the courtroom,” wrote Go after Strangio of the ACLU, who became the first openly transgender attorney to argue before the Supreme Court when he brought his case.
The lawsuit was brought by three Tennessee teenagers, along with their parents, as well as civil rights groups, including the ACLU. It’s being supported by the Biden administration, which is important.
However, after oral arguments on Wednesday, it appears the court will likely uphold the state’s bans on gender-affirming care. The Republican Party has made clear its intention to target transgender rights—at least by following the Democratic Party’s rules. Nancy Mace, who wasted no time introducing the bathroom measure in Congress upon the arrival of the newly elected Sarah McBride, the body’s first openly transgender member. Democrats viewed that stunt as a distraction, following McBride’s own lead.
But there’s more here. After Trump’s shocking victory in 2016, most of the protest energy went to the Democratic Party. This time, the space for dissent seems much more fluid. The Democratic Party is now deciding who they want to be. And allowing the transition issue to divide them, as Republicans hope, would be a grave mistake.
When Putin launched his anti-LGBTQ+ campaign, his opponents did not try to find out whether he had a point. They stood up to him, in whatever ways they could. Many people have bravely stepped out into a society that does not fully understand them. Allies, like the legendary journalist Albat Yevgenia, began to address this issue prominently and sympathetically. “The notion that you have to protect your most vulnerable — it’s incredibly important, you have to do it,” she told me when we spoke last month.
Republicans are feeling empowered by Trump’s victory. That many Democrats are flirting with some of his most radical ideas undermines the very warnings they spent years telegraphing to the country about his authoritarian nature. Authoritarianism cannot thrive without creating internal enemies, whether they be transgender or migrants. Trump’s henchmen will hunt them all down; The Democratic Party should not help the cause.
