At a summit hosted by far-right anti-LGBTQ group Moms for Liberty, former President and current Republican presidential hopeful Donald J. Trump uttered the following, "But the transgender thing is incredible. Think of it. Your kid goes to school and comes home a few days later with an operation. The school decides what's going to happen with your child and you know many of these childs [sic] 15 years later say, what the hell happened? Who did this to me? They say, who did this to me? It's incredible."
I feel like I should not need to state how false this is. It should be obvious. No one is giving kids transgender-related surgeries at school. Nor were they giving them 15 years ago, as this paragraph seems to imply. The whole thing is utter hogwash.
Trump's comments are just the latest ramping up in an anti-trans culture war stoked by falsehoods.
Consider the narratives around trans issues in the last few years. Transgender women are going to assault you in the restroom. Transgender women are transitioning just to get a clever advantage in women's sports, such as swimming, or, oh, chess. Trans people, the LGBTQ community, and your schools want to transition children for deviant purposes. Drag queens are performing sex acts in front of children.
Each of these are fearmongering nonsense, at the same level as drugs in the Halloween candy, or migrant caravans coming to your hometown. No one is transitioning to assault anyone in a restroom when putting on a coverall and holding a mop will guarantee easier access. Likewise, no one is going to go through the onerous process of transition for a "sports advantage" that quickly vanishes once you start hormonal treatments anyway. Drag queen story times are akin to — and I mean this entirely complimentary, I promise — having a clown or other costumed character read a book. It is only as sexual as you, an adult, might impress upon the proceedings.
Oh, and as for people wanting to transition children, no, we don't wish to do that — but we do hope that a trans child gets to survive to adulthood in a fairly hostile world, and expect to see them supported.
No one, however, cares about the truth right now. The mainstream media isn't reporting on Trump's blatant lies, including those around trans lives. An Associated Press story appearing in the Los Angeles Times and other outlets, for example, did not include that above-mentioned quote in its coverage, providing a headline that read, "Trump questions acceptance of transgender people during Moms for Liberty gathering." (The article did note that Trump is opposed to trans women playing sports on women's teams and said access to gender-affirming care should be restricted.)
Meanwhile, states continue to push bills against trans lives, courts continue to allow those bills to go into effect, diminishing the rights of transgender people nationwide, and pundits continue to spew lies about trans lives.
As a trans person, it makes these very anxious times to live in. If you spend some time in trans community spaces right now, you'll see many pushing hard to get their medical needs attended to before November, while others do all they can to get their birth certificates and other documents updated in advance of a potential Trump victory. We lived through that before, and we are not, quite frankly, sure if we'll make it through again.
We've never lived a very privileged existence. When Time magazine declared the "transgender tipping point" back in 2014, it was due more for our appearance in popular culture and TV shows like "Orange is the New Black," rather than any far-reaching political gains. We still lack some pretty fundamental rights, even as state after state removes our ability to update our identity documents or prevent us from accessing health care.
We have had some allies who have stood behind us in the past, but those are now becoming thinner on the ground. Companies, pressed by the right, are scaling back diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) efforts around race, gender, and sexuality, in many cases thanks to the vaguest threats against their bottom lines. I'd call it the "Bud Light" or "Target" effect, after those brands were rocked by violent protests for even the weakest attempts to show support for trans and LGBTQ lives.
This brings us to the Democratic Party. With the presidential nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, we have seen a sea change in messaging from Democrats. The party is electrified, and a supercharged Democratic National Convention showed delegates and officials fired up and ready to back Harris and her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
But besides a few trans faces in the ceremonial roll call, and a handful of messages that included the phrase LGBT, transgender issues went unspoken. In an election that will likely see the first trans person elected to Congress, Sarah McBride, a current Delaware state senator, was not asked to speak. In a year where trans issues have been all over the lying lips of the GOP's candidates, the Democrats have chosen to lie by omission, leaving trans rights forgotten in a time of crises.
I'm sure this is deliberate, with the idea that avoiding controversial topics will help ensure a victory.
Yet, when one of the two people who might be president is more than happy to lie about your local elementary school providing gender surgeries, we need the other candidate to push back against that blatant falsehood.
We crave honest — and vocal — representation amid an ocean of lies.
Gwen Smith is waiting on one last piece of documentation. You can find her at www.gwensmith.com
Never miss a story! Keep up to date on the latest news, arts, politics, entertainment, and nightlife.
Sign up for the Bay Area Reporter's free weekday email newsletter. You'll receive our newsletters and special offers from our community partners.
Support California's largest LGBTQ newsroom. Your one-time, monthly, or annual contribution advocates for LGBTQ communities. Amplify a trusted voice providing news, information, and cultural coverage to all members of our community, regardless of their ability to pay -- Donate today!