Any waffling on trans rights just adds more fuel to the fire. Voters see the backpedaling as validation of the original attack ad, leading to it increasing in effectiveness.
That's how the Nazis did it too btw. Fascism isn't new. You can never compromise with it.
Indeed, this is the first step fascists always use: dehumanize an "other", double down on that "other" being disgusting, rinse, repeat. No matter how small, powerless, or marginalized the "other" might be, they can use this script over and over and over ad nauseum. Tell the big lie over and over and over...til few people question it, til it becomes axiomatic. You're right: no compromising with fascists. My parents' generation (in the 1930s/40s) knew that. We have to relearn that lesson, teach it to the next generations. And we have to hold compromising politicians accountable, always.
I would love to see a TV ad as a mock strategy session of Republicans saying, "We have no solution for inflation, we run the whole government yet we cannot solve affordability, we refuse to stop this war that is making gas so expensive, so how can we distract voters from these real issues?" Then cut to their anti-trans ads.
I firmly believe that these ads only succeed because so few voters actually know one of us. I think it is imperative (for our actual survival) that the general population comes in contact with us doing all the things they consider normal (grocery shopping, restaurants, Walmart, walking the dog, home improvement centers, etc.) It would be far harder to convince folks of "the evils of transgenderism", if the audience could actually point to one of us and say "She's NOT like that at all". Bigots are only able to paint us as a threat because we are essentially an "unknown". If you've never actually met one of us in the ladies room, it is easy to be swayed and panicked by images of a burly bearded linebacker sharing your daughter's locker room. Yes, we need to be ever mindful of our environment and the threats it poses, but we need to be ready to manage those threats and get out there regardless. The current political landscape shows us that allies can be intimidated into turning their backs on us. Gays and lesbians have gained fairly widespread acceptance because they refused to hide in the closet. We need to show that same courage. At least that's MY opinion.
Back in the day, when nobody had a clue what a trans person was, and when we were first trying to persuade people on our civil rights issues, we would have "Transgender 101" presentations, usually with a panel of a few trans people." These were usually held at college campuses, often sponsored by gay/lesbian student groups, or sometimes in welcoming churches. They were very effective in achieving a baseline public understanding.
We stopped doing that along the way, I suppose when everyone started becoming aware of trans people. Now hate propaganda has overpowered our original educational efforts. IMO, we start doing "Transgender 101" outreach again. Perhaps it is easier to do it, now, in this age of social media and virtual meeting spaces.
Forty years ago it was “scary GAY people want to molest you in the bathroom!” Same BS, different decade. Dem candidates must face and defang these lies head on.
I am wondering if we as a community and a class can sue to get these removed. We should have standing, and I think we are still a class, if not a protected class like we should be. And we are definitely being harmed by this.
Question to every one of those fair weather friends among Democratic candidates backpedaling on and dancing and dodging around trans rights: When has giving into a bully ever satisfied them?
This is what you get for throwing red meat to the face-eating leopards, Democrats. All you did was show them that some of their prey won't fight back. So... how's that leopard-tooth facial treating ya?
I will be so glad when Musk is gone. If people spent as much time on improving the country as they do on trying to control others bodies we would not be in this mess.
The future senator from Michigan has a point, it's perfectly legal for a parent to have an infant boy's penis permanently altered, I happen to like mine being "cut" (circumcised), but how did my parents know that when I was zero years old? At least the very rare 16-17 year-old trans people, who have been through the processes, are *choosing* to have surgery, for themselves. They're old enough to consent to sex, they're old enough to drive a motor vehicle, I think they, given they've been through counseling etc., have the right to choose this. Trying to scare the public with these broad allegations of "minors having sex changes" is political stunting, not serious discourse, and Fox News should be called out for engaging in politicking, as a supposedly "fair and balanced" "news" source.
A lot of the online ads can be avoided by installing the free uBlock Origin & Privacy Badger browser extensions, using a VPN (choose a Canadian location), and dumping FB.
AdGuard and NoScript are also good ones- although NoScript can be a little finicky, because you have to whitelist scripts individually to make pages work, and that takes a little bit of trial-and-error sometimes.
There's another plugin called Facebook Container which will let you access FB and its affiliates without them tracking your comings and goings.
You can also disable cookies when you visit any unfamiliar website, or one you know you don't need a login for, and disable any and all AI and data collection features in your browser.
That’s fine, and nothing new. We will weather all this and return to our fight for our rights later. For now at least, I woild ask them why it is that trans people can’t even defend their country in the military?
We need to understand that anti-trans political ads now being pushed by the reactionaries are not issue ads, they are image ads. That is, they're not about legislation of any kind or even candidate positions - except as a means of transmission of the actual end of creating FUD ("Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt")
As Erin notes, the ads "paint transgender people as predatory and disgusting." The intent is not to move people to say "I won't vote for (for example) Talarico because of his stand on trans rights" but to say "I won't vote for Talarico because, I dunno, I just don't like him. There's something creepy about him. I don't trust him."
FAIW, my perspective on these turncoat Democrats has changed. We now face a bigger threat than hatred discrimination, and even genocide. We now face the threat of global human extinction. We have a moron for president who thinks his brilliance will give us all the protection we need. We're going to go pedal to the metal, because some greedy folks want to get rich, even if it means they will die along with the rest of the planet. Stupid, stupid people!
I don't think we'll ever have equality before our species goes extinct. The best we can hope for is that the common existential enemy of AI will bring people together, and maybe everyone will drop the culture war crap.
Democrats are probably going to be more helpful than Republicans in fighting and regulating the AI, because they aren't owned as much by the oligarch class. I think we should continue fighting for our dignity by calling out the turncoat Democrats. However, I now think we should vote blue, no matter who. And then we should support primary challenges to these Democratic lawmakers going forward.
And if we're still alive in 2028, which we probably will be, we need to fight like hell to get the GOP out of the White House. The survival of our species depends on it.
Of course all this sucks bigly, but I'm a pragmatist. I hope that by some miracle of international diplomacy, my children and grandchildren might live to grow old.
That’s a lot of money spent on hating us rather than putting it in toward healthcare, social security, housing, and food insecurity.
Yes, Arthur, it is. And if Musk wasn’t a trillionaire, we wouldn’t have to put up with hearing about what’s in essence is, his family feud!
It musk it wouldn't go to things that help anyone but him.
I'm in Michigan and I'm voting for Abdul
Musk is just doing it because he's been infected with the macho brain worm and he hates his daughter.
Any waffling on trans rights just adds more fuel to the fire. Voters see the backpedaling as validation of the original attack ad, leading to it increasing in effectiveness.
That's how the Nazis did it too btw. Fascism isn't new. You can never compromise with it.
Indeed, this is the first step fascists always use: dehumanize an "other", double down on that "other" being disgusting, rinse, repeat. No matter how small, powerless, or marginalized the "other" might be, they can use this script over and over and over ad nauseum. Tell the big lie over and over and over...til few people question it, til it becomes axiomatic. You're right: no compromising with fascists. My parents' generation (in the 1930s/40s) knew that. We have to relearn that lesson, teach it to the next generations. And we have to hold compromising politicians accountable, always.
I would love to see a TV ad as a mock strategy session of Republicans saying, "We have no solution for inflation, we run the whole government yet we cannot solve affordability, we refuse to stop this war that is making gas so expensive, so how can we distract voters from these real issues?" Then cut to their anti-trans ads.
Mock ad about having to share a bathroom with Trump, JD Vance, and RFK Jr
I firmly believe that these ads only succeed because so few voters actually know one of us. I think it is imperative (for our actual survival) that the general population comes in contact with us doing all the things they consider normal (grocery shopping, restaurants, Walmart, walking the dog, home improvement centers, etc.) It would be far harder to convince folks of "the evils of transgenderism", if the audience could actually point to one of us and say "She's NOT like that at all". Bigots are only able to paint us as a threat because we are essentially an "unknown". If you've never actually met one of us in the ladies room, it is easy to be swayed and panicked by images of a burly bearded linebacker sharing your daughter's locker room. Yes, we need to be ever mindful of our environment and the threats it poses, but we need to be ready to manage those threats and get out there regardless. The current political landscape shows us that allies can be intimidated into turning their backs on us. Gays and lesbians have gained fairly widespread acceptance because they refused to hide in the closet. We need to show that same courage. At least that's MY opinion.
Back in the day, when nobody had a clue what a trans person was, and when we were first trying to persuade people on our civil rights issues, we would have "Transgender 101" presentations, usually with a panel of a few trans people." These were usually held at college campuses, often sponsored by gay/lesbian student groups, or sometimes in welcoming churches. They were very effective in achieving a baseline public understanding.
We stopped doing that along the way, I suppose when everyone started becoming aware of trans people. Now hate propaganda has overpowered our original educational efforts. IMO, we start doing "Transgender 101" outreach again. Perhaps it is easier to do it, now, in this age of social media and virtual meeting spaces.
Sarah, Thank you for your reply. I agree that it has to start somewhere.
Forty years ago it was “scary GAY people want to molest you in the bathroom!” Same BS, different decade. Dem candidates must face and defang these lies head on.
Precisely.
I am wondering if we as a community and a class can sue to get these removed. We should have standing, and I think we are still a class, if not a protected class like we should be. And we are definitely being harmed by this.
Question to every one of those fair weather friends among Democratic candidates backpedaling on and dancing and dodging around trans rights: When has giving into a bully ever satisfied them?
NEVER my kids to share a bathroom or locker room with a MAGA or a ’centrist’. Vile violent rapists… and their apologists…
I will always support people who Never capitulate & Never compromise!
This is what you get for throwing red meat to the face-eating leopards, Democrats. All you did was show them that some of their prey won't fight back. So... how's that leopard-tooth facial treating ya?
I would like to think that seeing that capitulating gets them nothing, they will learn to do the opposite . . .
. . . Are nominated Democrats smarter than a flatworm?
Thank you, Mrs. Reed.
I will be so glad when Musk is gone. If people spent as much time on improving the country as they do on trying to control others bodies we would not be in this mess.
Any time he wants to board that one-way rocket to Mars it will be a good day.
The future senator from Michigan has a point, it's perfectly legal for a parent to have an infant boy's penis permanently altered, I happen to like mine being "cut" (circumcised), but how did my parents know that when I was zero years old? At least the very rare 16-17 year-old trans people, who have been through the processes, are *choosing* to have surgery, for themselves. They're old enough to consent to sex, they're old enough to drive a motor vehicle, I think they, given they've been through counseling etc., have the right to choose this. Trying to scare the public with these broad allegations of "minors having sex changes" is political stunting, not serious discourse, and Fox News should be called out for engaging in politicking, as a supposedly "fair and balanced" "news" source.
A lot of the online ads can be avoided by installing the free uBlock Origin & Privacy Badger browser extensions, using a VPN (choose a Canadian location), and dumping FB.
AdGuard and NoScript are also good ones- although NoScript can be a little finicky, because you have to whitelist scripts individually to make pages work, and that takes a little bit of trial-and-error sometimes.
There's another plugin called Facebook Container which will let you access FB and its affiliates without them tracking your comings and goings.
You can also disable cookies when you visit any unfamiliar website, or one you know you don't need a login for, and disable any and all AI and data collection features in your browser.
Oh yeah I forgot about FB container that's a good one thanks! There are also plugins that block ads in webmail
That’s fine, and nothing new. We will weather all this and return to our fight for our rights later. For now at least, I woild ask them why it is that trans people can’t even defend their country in the military?
We need to understand that anti-trans political ads now being pushed by the reactionaries are not issue ads, they are image ads. That is, they're not about legislation of any kind or even candidate positions - except as a means of transmission of the actual end of creating FUD ("Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt")
As Erin notes, the ads "paint transgender people as predatory and disgusting." The intent is not to move people to say "I won't vote for (for example) Talarico because of his stand on trans rights" but to say "I won't vote for Talarico because, I dunno, I just don't like him. There's something creepy about him. I don't trust him."
FAIW, my perspective on these turncoat Democrats has changed. We now face a bigger threat than hatred discrimination, and even genocide. We now face the threat of global human extinction. We have a moron for president who thinks his brilliance will give us all the protection we need. We're going to go pedal to the metal, because some greedy folks want to get rich, even if it means they will die along with the rest of the planet. Stupid, stupid people!
I don't think we'll ever have equality before our species goes extinct. The best we can hope for is that the common existential enemy of AI will bring people together, and maybe everyone will drop the culture war crap.
Democrats are probably going to be more helpful than Republicans in fighting and regulating the AI, because they aren't owned as much by the oligarch class. I think we should continue fighting for our dignity by calling out the turncoat Democrats. However, I now think we should vote blue, no matter who. And then we should support primary challenges to these Democratic lawmakers going forward.
And if we're still alive in 2028, which we probably will be, we need to fight like hell to get the GOP out of the White House. The survival of our species depends on it.
Of course all this sucks bigly, but I'm a pragmatist. I hope that by some miracle of international diplomacy, my children and grandchildren might live to grow old.