Democrats found a way to defend trans people?

Democrats have recently changed the way they market trans people. Is it enough? Is it effective?

Current State

Since the start of this administration, we knew it was going to be a full 4-year attack on trans people. From our rights, protections, access to healthcare, and even to the recent EEOC changes, and just downright slandering us. While you don’t need me to tell you here how awful the administration has been towards trans people, I am going to focus on the silver linings we have right now.

While they obviously haven’t been able to stop everything that has come down since the new administration, Democrats have been more successful than I thought they would be. Fundamentally, every change that has changed the government’s view and treatment of trans people comes down to EO 14168. Every agency, from the Department of Defense, Bureau of Prisons, EEOC, and everything in between, has had to change its policies in order to be compliant with EO 14168. Unfortunately, Congress doesn’t have much power to regulate independent agency policies.

Democrats, however, have been what I would call pretty successful in regards to not advancing bills that contained tons of anti trans riders. Mostly targeting those somewhere in the federal system and their dependents. The most notable thing that comes to my mind was their strong stance on the “Big Beautiful Bill” and a funding bill that later caused the longest government shutdown in American history.

Going Forward

Given the current environment and it being an election year, there has been a lot of new marketing on how Democrats are talking about trans people.

Snippet of James Talarico via The Texas Tribune

“We are all focused on the wrong 1%,” “Trans people aren’t taking away our healthcare. Undocumented people aren’t defunding our schools… It’s the billionaires and their puppet politicians. And so we need not only the media, but all of us, to focus on the real problem at hand.” - James Talarico.

AOC snippet via MS NOW

“Many of these disgusting and insinuating attacks on trans and LGBT people are actually projections of what predatory cisgender, and often straight, men do when left in the presence of women,” - AOC

JB Pritzker snippet via Britannica

“Those same do-nothing Democrats want to blame our losses on our defense of Black people, of trans kids, of immigrants—instead of their own lack of guts and gumption,” - JB Pritzker

Graham Platner snippet via The Intercept

“I think there are, like, two trans kids that compete in high school sports in Maine,” “There are 40,000 Mainers who are going to lose health care because of the lack of the Affordable Care Act extension. One of those things seems very important and real to me. One of them seems like an invented culture-war scare to keep people divided.” - Graham Platner

My Takeaway

While things have very obviously been bad for trans people in the last few years, I do see that there is a path forward for trans people as long as the current wave of allyship continues throughout not only democratic politicians but their political action as well.