53 Comments

Now more than ever, we must stand together defending the most vulnerable amongst us.

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I hope other blue states follow this lead. We have to take a stand

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I hope so too! The people of New York passed Prop 1 Nov 5th 2024 entrenching equality, and anti-discrimination law in the state. We got to keep it going in a positive direction wherever we can.

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My 16 year old daughter is trans and we live in LA. I emailed Newsom and Bonta this morning. What else can I do?

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Being an ally means doing whatever you can to speak loudly and support your daughter and all other trans people as best you can. Write to your representatives. Support the ACLU and other orgs fighting for trans rights. What your daughter needs most of all is your love and support.

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Another thing they could, and should, do is to put an embargo on all states that target trans people. No purchases from companies in those states, no reimbursing travel for government employees to those states.

They could also offer economic incentives for companies in those states that wanted to relocate.

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Potentially including refusal to do anything but constitutionally mandated business with states and businesses in states, which are afoul of what standards CA sets. The Constitution does genuinely demand Cali (any sanctuary state) honor writs of extradition. Should a (red) state make being transgender (or something to do with it) illegal in that state, the state so doing can legitimately legally demand the return of a person fleeing from that (red) state for persecution/prosecution. Potentially, the same flavor and near the same mechanism as was used to nullify (by Northern juries) the Fugitive Slave Act could effectually prevent sanctuary states from rendering protected poeple from return?

https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artIV-S2-C2-1/ALDE_00013632/#ALDF_00027060

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He plans to do away with the Constitution & Democracy (this Republic). Who knows what that will look like when all is said and done. Starting with us, this could spark a civil war. I just knew it was coming, and nobody listened to moi. Everybody underestimates these people, him, and everything about them. We're headed straight into Nazi Germany during the 1930's. Yup.

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I’m afraid you are correct. This article lays it all out… civil rights and transgender rights; gone.

https://bylinetimes.com/2024/11/04/donald-trump-us-presidential-electionon-2024-analysis/

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Wherever did you find that article? I possess the same thing that US insider possesses without the data & statistics. I've been telling people these things since the first time asshole took his place on the throne of the highest position in this land.

NOBODY would listen, they gaslight me still, and everybody's going to get caught with their pants down around their ankles when shit hits the fan. Messy indeed.

We are in for the darkest period of our lifetimes. I no longer believe people who say, "It's going to be alright." Alright for WHO? Why are they saying that anyway? To appease themselves? I'm a spiritual man, but I'm not stupid.

His intentions are clear. The Heritage Foundation's intentions are clear and not the first time they tried this. His ass-kisser's intentions are clear. His cult's intentions are clear. The bloody rich people's intentions are clear. His administration's intentions are clear.

Why are people brushing it all aside? Evidently not learning their lesson of underestimating that jerk the first time. They're doing it again? Why? Denial isn't just a river in Egypt. Listen, I don't blame first-time teenage voters, because they are young and weren't adult enough to see what a mess dude made in 2016-2020. SMFH

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Truly though, California and other sanctuary states could simply call their bluff. Refuse to honor such writs. The laws they would be citing are not in accordance with the Constitution in the first place.

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That’s exactly what Texas threatened (and is doing?): simply ignore laws they don’t like. How is that going?

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Pro tip: not all laws have the same moral valence, and ignoring them means different things depending on what they are and on the context

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Totally agree. I am worried about the stacked courts all the way to SCOTUS, and a repub notion the Constitution can be discarded by supremely immune leader. That was a serious question—is Texas actually carrying out those things and if so, is anything coming down on them? Does anyone know actual data on that? (Of course, that could change now the the new regime is coming in…)

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I'm sorry, I misread your tone. ❤️

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Oh, no worries (I realized my wording was a bit ambiguous and just didn’t try to rewrite it). I appreciate seeing your point made explicit here. I got to watch Newsome’s resistance before as a CA voter, and I’m not there now but he’s making me damn proud of California. And I hope like hell we get an immediate and strong coalition of all blue states to resist and block every point on repubs’ hideous agenda.

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Nov 9Edited

People are already working to create - in essence - an underground railroad for trans people. Whether that's to literally escape their state, or to access banned healthcare. I encourage all transpeople to do 2 things immediately: 1) get as much of your documentation in order as possible (it may not be enough for what's about to come down, but it might be enough to keep you safe in certain situations); and 2) start talking to friends and allies now, and get their commitments to not only be your ally in this, but to literally help you access gender affirming care (e.g. transmen - find older cis-dudes who would get T for you; transwomen - find older cis-women who would help get you estrogen). HRT wasn't created for this community, it was created for older cis-people problems and just happened to benefit trans people as well. So while our direct access to care may be (or is already, in some states) cut off, the care is out there.

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One thing to add to the bit about documents- get your passport, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 because you haven't been able to amend your other documents. I did this earlier in the year myself, to hedge my bets, and it sucked just filling out the paperwork... but in hindsight I'm glad I did. It's a tool that unlocks options you will not have without it.

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Agreed.

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Do you have any links handy for trans Underground Railroad programs available? Thank you.

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Personally, I don't. But you may try reaching out to the National Transgender Law Center to talk to someone about options and resources.

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It would have to be strong enough to blow across the country, because I lived in CA for almost 20 years and no way can I live in that high cost-of-living state again. Nobody I know could either. That would be like moving to Hawaii or Alaska. I left because of that and I was making bank. Now I live on a fixed-income. Loved it and I do miss it from time-to-time. I've been gone since about 1995.

That'll be awesome for the residents of Cali.

Update: they'll run out of HRT very quickly. That isn't enough, considering all the various forms of it.

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Elon Musk has said that attacking trans rights will offer him a win in the culture wars. Because of his daughter, he has motivation. He and the orange one are brodos. I put nothing past him.

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The way that asswipe has treated his child is unbelievable, except that it's from his bastard self, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised in the least. That image he posted, a year or two ago, with all the empty caffeine-free Diet Coke cans (have you tried the "caffeine free" version ...) and the gun, what a piece of work. Just a stupid fuckface, but dangerous, because of his wealth and willingness to exploit ownership of Twitter.

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I don't believe DJT will actually do anything *at the federal level* to make good on his TV ads in the campaign - but a lot will come down to the states, as with Dobbs, having more direct authority. For Cali, it sounds not so bad. But I am concerned about unfriendly states having a friendly U.S. Supreme Court, to allow their treachery. I don't wanna call for civil war, but, ya know ...

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Federal funding bills don’t take 60 votes, just 50. At least effectively, unless Dems want to shut down the government, which I doubt they will do. Most of what I posted here will be done through federal funding and federal rule changes.

Last year they had 50 anti-lgbtq riders that only failed narrowly because Dems held the senate and President.

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Without more context, I can't compare that to what I wrote, I mean they can even change the rule if they wish to, I think it'd be a mistaken judgment on their part, and they can also use the technique you describe, but to what end is kind of a mystery, it's not as if they can stop friendly states from being protective of their own residents. But if there were specific federal policies that would harm the nationwide communities of LGBTQ, it's only their funeral, whether in 2026/2028 or a weapon in their face, we're not going back even if KDH and TJW lost one election, even if the Repuglicans/MAGA took the congress, even if they hallucinate Project 2025 makes sense. At best, they'd be starting a revolution where they're the losers. However, I appreciate you taking the time to reply, and I don't dispute your essential point, that there are limited ways of attacking us legislatively at the federal level, I just think that ultimately it's "red" states which I'm most fearful of, because they have the authority to make a living hell for their, irrationally unpopular, residents.

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I'm positive he will at least expel transgender people from the military -- he did already once before. How much Executive Orders can change what Medicare/Medicaid can do may be far more limited, and actually passing laws about it may take support which he can't get. I do believe he will stay within the bounds of what he can colorably claim is legal, even if he also thinks he will be overruled by a court later.

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Would the cuts to federal funding for gender affirming care require 60 votes in the senate or just a majority?

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The filibuster is over. Republicans now have the ability to remove the last check on their power at the federal level, and they absolutely will do that.

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Good question, I assume unless the rules were more officially modified, it would take 60 votes, but there are exceptions.

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One of the current exceptions to the 60 vote filibuster is the annual budget reconciliation bill. Senate rules allow for one reconciliation bill per year, and it only requires a majority vote. Funding for gender affirming care could be cut off as part of a budget reconciliation bill. Not everything that the Senate does can be put in a budget reconciliation bill, but a funding cut off would certainly qualify.

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I think most are mandated in law. Didn't one of the Pelosi Congresses say only 50 are needed for passage of a budget? (in which they could insist to all federal employees, do what was say or get no pay)

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You may well be right about barring trans in the military, although sometimes I wonder if he's not saving them the hassle, of being in our redneck war machine, but yeah it's wrong AF, and we're not going to put up with it for long. If I were him, I'd just drop that, but he doesn't always act in particularly rational ways. But nevertheless, I appreciate your reply, I hadn't specifically remembered the military issue.

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I disagree - Trump has often carried though on his threats to vulnerable groups, much to their dismay, and there’s no reason not to expect him to do it again. I’d take him at his word.

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He already has done it by stacking the Supreme Court, they can't stop CA or another friendly state from being friendly, but they can make it easy for bitch-ass states to be bitch asses. His power as president just doesn't directly do this, except as another person mentioned in the military, or in avoiding new pro-trans legislation, but it's not like the Democrats at the federal level have done that much; going back to same-sex marriage, Obama supposedly thought it was a state issue, until the Supreme Court said otherwise, then he put rainbow lighting on the White House, they're all over the place, because their hands are tied. Then again, you could still be right, because it could be Trump is going to turn us into a dictatorship, meaning everything would be uncertain, he has the kind of power to attempt such a thing, if it would backfire spectacularly. Only he really knows his plans, but based on the system as it exists, I don't see how there's a lot he could do at the federal level.

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Good on Newsom, getting the wheels in motion while there's still some time to prepare. It won't be enough, not by a long shot- all of the blue states need to be making similar moves, right fucking now, and even that won't be enough- but it's at least a start.

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New York should be the East coast anchor for similar support as well.

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I kind of wonder does trans community would want to know what God’s real plan for trans community is. It is the knowledge of this plan for why I have no fear even when it looks so dark for us right now. I have known of this plan since 2015. I have a different filter than the rest of you. I see every attack against us in light of it. I can promise you it is not all this anti-trans rhetoric and it is all good. Republicans will be found fighting God when it is over with their anti-trans stance. They will be a party with no platform since they put all their eggs into the anti-trans basket. I probably need a Substack post to explain all the details. I am not out to my own family so I don’t need the media chasing me either. Maybe later but not now. Other thing is it sounds so wild most people be quick to dismiss it. That is always the case when God does something new.

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I would add a personal anecdote, in fact: long, long ago, when I was probably about 14 years old, Montel Williams did an ep of his show with a post-op, very beautiful "transsexual" woman. I knew from that moment I could be into such a person, but it would be a long time before I knew one personally (that I was aware of, at least). As most know, today I've had intimate relationships with trans women, and am in one currently, but it's something that has taken time to grow as a public matter, and we see the reactionary backlash, not too surprisingly, but sadly, because it reflects some people's inability to keep evolving, as life goes on. Gen Z is, of course, fairly pro-trans, and cool people of any generation are, but not everyone's so cool. We have work to do - but as you mention, we have God working with us. 😀

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I'm with you, Yahweh designed gender identity to be complex, and it is a troll, at some point, to expose the hate and ignorance of certain types of people. You caught on early.

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I’ve adapted this article into a form letter to CA state representatives. If you have a California address, text SIGN PKIAAH to 50409!

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Would the cuts to federal funding for gender affirming care require 60 votes in the senate or just a majority?

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Effectively 50. The minority COULD filibuster the budget bill but then we will get a government shutdown, which I don’t think Dems will want to do.

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Depends on how quickly the Republican majority acts to kill the filibuster. My guess is the filibuster will be dead within six months, and if the GQP gets the House as well, we can expect the onslaught to begin roughly five seconds later.

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Mitch McConnell famously supports keeping the filibuster because that's the only way the repubs have managed to keep the Equality Act from passing

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McConnell's brain is turning into a baked potato, and he isn't going to be the political powerhouse he once was, in the coming years. He's an evil bastard, but was an intelligent one, capable of long-term thinking- none of the other Republicans who might step into his shoes have his foresight. They would throw it out in a heartbeat to achieve any short-term goal, even if it came back to bite them in the ass later on.

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McConnell is a fascinating one, I see through his act a bit, that he does at least have a soul, but what he's done in exploiting Trump, to railroad and steal judicial appointments, including on the highest court, is hard to forgive. I think he wouldn't be especially keen on killing the filibuster on principle, but if there were a tempting reward, he still might, and the people, who will be in charge now, almost definitely would. We'll see, but it scares me to think of the consequences of a one-party rule of literally every federal thing, doing whatever comes to their demented minds, would lead directly to violence, civil war. Maybe I should just say "good, then, see you in the streets", but it's unfortunate we'd need to think that way. I just don't know, anymore, but I'm trying to keep my head up.

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No longer a problem for Mitch. The SCOTUS will take out any objectionable legislation that squeaks through.

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Filibuster is dead day 1 of the session if Republicans win the house. They only need 50 votes plus vp to change rules and they're sitting on 53 seats as of now.

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Of course; they’ll suddenly discover that they don’t like state’s rights.

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I will also be contacting my state reps and governor's office to ask that they legislate that for psychiatric inpatient care, they house trans folks by the correct gender, not AGAB. Have a friend who was affected by this, seems it has been overlooked, seems doable since there's precedent.

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