useapen
2024-11-17 09:57:56 UTC
ATLANTA (AP) After losing the White House and both houses of
Congress, Democrats are grappling with how to handle transgender
politics and policy following a campaign that featured withering and
often misleading GOP attacks on the issue.
There is plenty of second-guessing after President-elect Donald Trump
anchored his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris with sweeping
promises on the economy and immigration. But Democrats also will not
soon forget the punchline in anti-transgender Trump ads that became
ubiquitous by Election Day: Kamala is for they/them; President Trump
is for you.
Week by week when that ad hit and stuck and we didnt respond, I think
that was the beginning of the end, former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov.
Ed Rendell said of the 30-second spot that was part of $215 million in
anti-transgender advertising by Trump and Republicans, according to
tracking firm AdImpact.
They painted her as something I dont think she is, Rendell said.
They painted her as a far-left liberal.
The fallout leaves some progressive and moderate Democrats struggling
between the partys modern identity as a champion of civil rights and
its electoral fortunes across swaths of America with whom those attacks
resonated.
There are just a number of issues where were out of touch, Rep. Seth
Moulton, a moderate Massachusetts Democrat said in an interview, days
after he set off recriminations within his party for saying he didnt
want his daughters playing in sports against biological males. Critics
said Moulton echoed Trumps talking points about liberals allowing men
to compete in womens sports.
I think that Republicans have a hateful position on trans issues,
Moulton told The Associated Press, but insisted that Democrats still
lose voters because of the partys attitude.
Rather than talk down to you and tell you what to believe, he argued,
Democrats should listen to hard-working Americans.
LGBTQ+ advocates, meanwhile, are arguing that the 2024 election turned
more on economic issues than Trumps transgender rhetoric. Theyre
urging political leaders to counter misinformation that they say
threatens the health and safety of transgender Americans, who make up
less than 1% U.S. population.
Trans people have been existing and co-existing, receiving health
care and participating in society for years, said Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO
of GLAAD, a leading LGBTQ+ advocacy group. Nothing new happened,
Ellis said, other than Republicans singling them out in a presidential
campaign year.
It didnt change one vote, Ellis argued. But it did make the world
way more dangerous for trans people.
Another Democratic Massachusetts lawmaker, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, didnt
name Moulton, but said some reactions to the election scapegoated and
dehumanized transgender people. This Congresswoman sees you and loves
you, Pressley wrote on the social media platform X.
Certainly its difficult, if not impossible, to pinpoint single issues
that can tip a national election, and there are mixed findings on what
voters think about transgender rights.
According to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 people who cast
ballots this fall, more than half of voters said support for
transgender rights in government and society has gone too far. About 2
in 10 said support has not gone far enough and another 2 in 10 said
its about right. But among Trump voters, 85% said transgender support
had gone too far.
Still, slightly more than half of all voters oppose banning gender
affirming medical treatment such as hormone therapy and puberty
blockers, while slightly less than half support such proposals.
About one-quarter of Harris voters said support for transgender rights
in government and society has gone too far. About 4 in 10 said its
been about right and about 4 in 10 said it hasnt gone far enough.
Trump and Republicans were relentless in trying to capitalize on the
issue. They piled on transgender athletes, with Trump falsely labeling
two Olympic boxers as transgender women. They used Harris comments as
a presidential candidate in 2019 before she became vice president
effectively to blame her for laws granting transgender health care to
federal prisoners and detainees.
And Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that your kid goes to school
and comes home a few days later with an operation changing their sex.
In reality, the Biden administration has held that Title IX bars
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity but
Education Department rules do not explicitly address transgender
athletes. Federal law that Trump ads cited does require people in U.S.
government custody to have access to gender-affirming medical
treatments. Those policies were in place throughout Trumps 2017-21
term; they are not something Bidens administration instituted
specifically.
And it is not legal in any state for a school to determine and carry
out surgical treatment for minor students.
You gotta fight back with those explanations, Moulton said, adding
that the silence compounds the negative effects for transgender people.
What did we show about our willingness to stand up for trans people by
just being silent and ignoring the issue and ignoring the attack?
Still, Moulton said Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill and in
statehouses should give individual elected officials and voters the
space to take more conservative positions, and he defended his own
comments that he doesnt want his daughters competing in athletics
against men.
I dont want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or
formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat Im supposed to be afraid to
say that, Moulton told The New York Times last week.
Before he resigned his post as Texas Democratic chairman, Gilberto
Hinojosa said supporting transgender rights doesnt necessarily have to
include public funding for gender reassignment surgery.
We can say, OK, we respect peoples right to say, we dont want my
taxpayer money to be used for that, Hinojosa told Texas Public Radio.
Hinojosa later apologized via social media, saying LGBTQ Americans
deserve to feel seen, valued and safe in our state and our party.
Ellis, the CEO of GLAAD, pointed to Delaware voters choosing to make
state Sen. Sarah McBride the first transgender member of Congress as
evidence that Americans dont hate trans people.
For her part, McBride, a Democrat from Delaware, noted that she did not
run on her identity though it was not a secret and instead talked
to voters about affordable health care, housing and child care for
everyone.
The party that was focused on culture wars, the party that was focused
on trans people was the Republican Party, McBride told reporters on
Capitol Hill after her victory. It was Donald Trump, she added, who
was trying to divide and distract from the fact that he has absolutely
no policy solutions for the issues that are actually keeping voters up
at night.
https://apnews.com/article/transgender-rights-campaign-trump-kamala-
harris-democrats-republicans-bbae5660ef59110e5fc9c24f98b082d6
Congress, Democrats are grappling with how to handle transgender
politics and policy following a campaign that featured withering and
often misleading GOP attacks on the issue.
There is plenty of second-guessing after President-elect Donald Trump
anchored his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris with sweeping
promises on the economy and immigration. But Democrats also will not
soon forget the punchline in anti-transgender Trump ads that became
ubiquitous by Election Day: Kamala is for they/them; President Trump
is for you.
Week by week when that ad hit and stuck and we didnt respond, I think
that was the beginning of the end, former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov.
Ed Rendell said of the 30-second spot that was part of $215 million in
anti-transgender advertising by Trump and Republicans, according to
tracking firm AdImpact.
They painted her as something I dont think she is, Rendell said.
They painted her as a far-left liberal.
The fallout leaves some progressive and moderate Democrats struggling
between the partys modern identity as a champion of civil rights and
its electoral fortunes across swaths of America with whom those attacks
resonated.
There are just a number of issues where were out of touch, Rep. Seth
Moulton, a moderate Massachusetts Democrat said in an interview, days
after he set off recriminations within his party for saying he didnt
want his daughters playing in sports against biological males. Critics
said Moulton echoed Trumps talking points about liberals allowing men
to compete in womens sports.
I think that Republicans have a hateful position on trans issues,
Moulton told The Associated Press, but insisted that Democrats still
lose voters because of the partys attitude.
Rather than talk down to you and tell you what to believe, he argued,
Democrats should listen to hard-working Americans.
LGBTQ+ advocates, meanwhile, are arguing that the 2024 election turned
more on economic issues than Trumps transgender rhetoric. Theyre
urging political leaders to counter misinformation that they say
threatens the health and safety of transgender Americans, who make up
less than 1% U.S. population.
Trans people have been existing and co-existing, receiving health
care and participating in society for years, said Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO
of GLAAD, a leading LGBTQ+ advocacy group. Nothing new happened,
Ellis said, other than Republicans singling them out in a presidential
campaign year.
It didnt change one vote, Ellis argued. But it did make the world
way more dangerous for trans people.
Another Democratic Massachusetts lawmaker, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, didnt
name Moulton, but said some reactions to the election scapegoated and
dehumanized transgender people. This Congresswoman sees you and loves
you, Pressley wrote on the social media platform X.
Certainly its difficult, if not impossible, to pinpoint single issues
that can tip a national election, and there are mixed findings on what
voters think about transgender rights.
According to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 people who cast
ballots this fall, more than half of voters said support for
transgender rights in government and society has gone too far. About 2
in 10 said support has not gone far enough and another 2 in 10 said
its about right. But among Trump voters, 85% said transgender support
had gone too far.
Still, slightly more than half of all voters oppose banning gender
affirming medical treatment such as hormone therapy and puberty
blockers, while slightly less than half support such proposals.
About one-quarter of Harris voters said support for transgender rights
in government and society has gone too far. About 4 in 10 said its
been about right and about 4 in 10 said it hasnt gone far enough.
Trump and Republicans were relentless in trying to capitalize on the
issue. They piled on transgender athletes, with Trump falsely labeling
two Olympic boxers as transgender women. They used Harris comments as
a presidential candidate in 2019 before she became vice president
effectively to blame her for laws granting transgender health care to
federal prisoners and detainees.
And Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that your kid goes to school
and comes home a few days later with an operation changing their sex.
In reality, the Biden administration has held that Title IX bars
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity but
Education Department rules do not explicitly address transgender
athletes. Federal law that Trump ads cited does require people in U.S.
government custody to have access to gender-affirming medical
treatments. Those policies were in place throughout Trumps 2017-21
term; they are not something Bidens administration instituted
specifically.
And it is not legal in any state for a school to determine and carry
out surgical treatment for minor students.
You gotta fight back with those explanations, Moulton said, adding
that the silence compounds the negative effects for transgender people.
What did we show about our willingness to stand up for trans people by
just being silent and ignoring the issue and ignoring the attack?
Still, Moulton said Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill and in
statehouses should give individual elected officials and voters the
space to take more conservative positions, and he defended his own
comments that he doesnt want his daughters competing in athletics
against men.
I dont want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or
formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat Im supposed to be afraid to
say that, Moulton told The New York Times last week.
Before he resigned his post as Texas Democratic chairman, Gilberto
Hinojosa said supporting transgender rights doesnt necessarily have to
include public funding for gender reassignment surgery.
We can say, OK, we respect peoples right to say, we dont want my
taxpayer money to be used for that, Hinojosa told Texas Public Radio.
Hinojosa later apologized via social media, saying LGBTQ Americans
deserve to feel seen, valued and safe in our state and our party.
Ellis, the CEO of GLAAD, pointed to Delaware voters choosing to make
state Sen. Sarah McBride the first transgender member of Congress as
evidence that Americans dont hate trans people.
For her part, McBride, a Democrat from Delaware, noted that she did not
run on her identity though it was not a secret and instead talked
to voters about affordable health care, housing and child care for
everyone.
The party that was focused on culture wars, the party that was focused
on trans people was the Republican Party, McBride told reporters on
Capitol Hill after her victory. It was Donald Trump, she added, who
was trying to divide and distract from the fact that he has absolutely
no policy solutions for the issues that are actually keeping voters up
at night.
https://apnews.com/article/transgender-rights-campaign-trump-kamala-
harris-democrats-republicans-bbae5660ef59110e5fc9c24f98b082d6