I call BS. Suddenly, once again, Republicans have taken up an interest in people who are transgender or are seeking to become transgender. They’re whipping up bills to hinder transgender progress so the world doesn’t go to hell. Action required! This is one topic for which they seem to think thoughts and prayers are not enough.
Trans are targets. It’s not enough that so many face harassment and physical violence. Let the politicians wreak havoc, too. Picking on trans is easy pickings. According to a 2016 study by The Williams Institute of the UCLA School of Law, 0.6 % of Americans identify as trans. Passing legislation that interferes with this group and, more importantly these days, speaking to the media against trans progress, is a calculated, opportunistic decision. A savvy, heartless politician is willing to play with the lives of a paltry minority group—a piddly 0.6%; a group that’s historically not well organized—because talking trans pays big dividends.
Looking with a broader lens for a moment, this is part of the GOP playbook which has been in full view, particularly in the past six years, but has been around for as long as I can remember.
(1) Identify an issue that plays on conservatives’ religious beliefs and threatens to shake up the status quo.
(2) Make sure there is considerable ignorance on the particular issue. Ignorance is key.
(3) Misstate and distort facts to maximize a conservative uproar. Instilling fear is best. The conservative base will believe these “facts” (fact checking is tedious), whether they are of the Kellyanne Conway “alternative” variety, fabrications pulled from thin air (see Giuliani, Rudy or Powell, Sidney) or something that can be linked to a conspiracy theory—ooh, exciting!
(4) Document reactions from The Opposition, labeling them once again as [choose one]: liberals, the radical left, socialists, antifa or the woke police. Bonus if you can add a tweet from AOC/Ilhan Omar/Rashida Tlaib/Ayanna Pressley/Nancy Pelosi or an interview of one of them on an enemy-of-the-people fake news outlet, preferably CNN. [Did you notice all these politicians are women? Hmm.] Now it’s a battle!
(5) Introduce a bill or go straight to Fox News to further stir up the issue into an impressively frothy substance.
(6) Watch your social media followers grow. Block haters. (Dang liberals!) Count your retweets and likes.
(7) Claim you’re under attack from The Left. Add a hashtag about cancel culture. Reel in those followers!
(8) Now for the clincher. Since you’re being attacked, you MUST fight back. Fighting requires funding. Ask your supporters/followers to donate to your never-ending political campaign. Cha-ching! $$
(9) Implore your worked-up “fans” (this isn’t just politics anymore; as Trump proved, it’s an arena sport) to VOTE. America cannot lose on this token issue! Save the status quo! Protect your exclusive rights to American opportunities!
(10) Research the relative success from stirring up this issue. If it fires up your followers and significantly boosts your campaign funds, keep at it; otherwise, consult unhinged GOP darlings (e.g., Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert) for other “winning” issues.
The GOP knows its supporters. They’re not interested in platforms. There wasn’t even an attempt to have a platform in 2020. Remember that healthcare plan that was always just two weeks away from being announced? The campaign in a nutshell: Just go with Trump. And that same slogan, Make America Great Again. (Never mind that they already had four years to work on that. Doesn’t keeping the same slogan show it didn’t happen? To quote Winnie-the-Pooh—and that’s at the comfort level for comprehension: “Oh, bother.” Why be reflective?)
Republicans keep playing the frenzy-triggering issues. Save our statues! Masks violate civil rights! Stand for the national anthem! Don’t take away our guns! When all else fails, go back to tried and true snappy chants like “Build that wall!” and “Lock her up!” (Who care if Hillary isn’t a candidate? It’s fun to yell.)
There is a difference in how much people are motivated to vote on either side of these issues. Conservatives get more riled up. These issues are more digestible than headier topics such as the economy, environmental responsibility, transportation infrastructure, sexual harassment and systemic racism. Bah! It’s easier to rest on the oft-stated, patriotic contention that anyone can live the American dream if they just try. To fit in, just be like us. Assimilation trumps diversity. Understanding differences risks a pesky headache.
And these days, what’s more different than people wanting to change the gender they were born with? Their God-given gender! As I read on trans blog recently, their quest to become their "true" identity is shut down with "God makes no mistakes." How do you argue with that “logic”? (Surely, these are the same disciples of "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.")
Honestly, I'm willing to bet that many politicians seeking to deny trans rights don't care much about the subject at all. I even suspect that quite a few of them personally have no problem with trans people being in the military, getting gender-affirming treatment as teens with parental consent and using whatever public restroom feels right. I'm confident that many GOP politicians see the logic in allowing all of it. But trans rights are galvanizing. Trans people are too "foreign" in the eyes of their voters. Being as they represent only 0.6% of the population, chances are many people don't know an openly trans family member, neighbor, friend or coworker.
There is no genuine urgency to restrict or deny trans rights, but it’s quick and easy legislation, it greatly satisfies conservatives—Whew! Earth back in balance—and it’s a no-brainer based on even the most rudimentary cost-benefit analysis. Loss of conservative voters? Next to nil. Approval of conservatives—Look! We’re action oriented—and increase in campaign funding? Substantial. This is a classic case of playing politics, with transgendered people being the fall guys/gals/non-binary people. Trans people are mere pawns.
Spin the wheel and it’s bound to land on an (LGB)T issue quite often. (Other categories on the wheel include Immigration, Muslim terrorists, Antifa, (Socialized) Healthcare and Gun Control.)
Past issues LGBT issues that have stirred up conservatives:
Robert Mapplethorpe’s photography and
the National Endowment for the Arts
AIDS as retribution, and related hysteria
over toilet seats and doorknobs
Gays in the military
LGBT adoption
LGBT marriage
Bert and Ernie’s relationship
Gay wedding cakes
Keeping conversion therapy legal
I’m sensing that Republicans are easing up on lesbians, gays and bisexuals. Until recently, Ellen DeGeneres has been too aw-shucks likable. And “Modern Family” was kinda funny, Mitch and Cam being innocuous. With more people coming out over the past few decades, queer people are more familiar (See “contact hypothesis”) and, as it turns out, far more normal than those scandalous once-a-year photos from gay parade floats. It’s still okay to throw a gay or lesbian under the bus, but polls are showing a change in opinion and the bang for the buck has diminished.
Time to focus on trans people:
Bathroom invasions!
Trans in the military
Trans (MTF) competing in women’s sports
Trans-affirming treatments for minors
 |
| Quick! Spot the males. |
Decrying trans rights also creates a handy diversion from other matters. Forget the siege on the U.S. Capitol. Time to download a Squirrel Moment (as in the Pixar movie “Up”). Or another way to look at it, if you prefer: Time to follow drag queen Jada Essence Hall's diversionary tactic in a faux political debate on the twelfth season of "RuPaul's Drag Race." Can’t we all just move on from that hugfest with police on January 6? Let's spark an outcry over Potato Head going gender-less. Never mind that politicians were not behind calling a potato for what it is: a sexless vegetable; it was the decision of a corporation, Hasbro.
 |
Kevin McCarthy reading Green Eggs and Ham. News flash: This book remains in print, but viewers (like my Mom--sigh!) won't Google this. |
Forget any serious discussion of mass shootings. (Don't thoughts and prayers prove our compassion? And our deep faith?) “Squirrel!” Let’s rally behind Dr. Seuss instead. Let's shame the "woke" liberals! Never mind that virtually no one is familiar with the outdated content of the half dozen lesser-known Dr. Seuss books. Let's get incensed! The radical left is trying to take away beloved toys and censor an iconic children's author! (This was the decision of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the company that controls Theodor Geisel’s books and characters.)
Forget whatever it is that Matt Gaetz is accused of doing. (But keep talking about Andrew Cuomo and, just for good measure, Hunter Biden.) “Squirrel!” The video for the top song on Billboard includes its singer simulating sex with the devil! This is perfect fodder for inciting “The sky is falling” rhetoric. The singer is Black and queer so the indignation won’t alienate People Like Us. (Lil Nas X benefits, too. The controversy gets more attention for the song.)
Dear Lord, save us and the GOP! We're worked up and, here's the important part, we're willing to put money where our mouths are. Yes, we will donate to indignant Republican politicians' coffers. God save America! Protect us from change!
Trans rights represent an ongoing wedge issue. (A wedge issue, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary is, "a divisive political issue, especially one that is raised by a candidate for public office in hopes of attracting or alienating an opponent's supporters.") There are trans teens taking up girls' deserved spots on sports teams. (Oh, the indignation from people who've never followed women's sports and have never questioned the pay disparity and the TV/media coverage gap between men's and women's sports.)
No comments:
Post a Comment