Back when liberals started going all-in on trans rights, this was exactly what I was afraid of. I feared that liberals were walking into a right-wing trap. And I think my fears are coming to fruition. This election would be very different -- and Dems would be in a much better place -- if trans was not an issue.
I get that it's a really tough issue. Balancing political expedience and moral principle is hard, because both are important and so often in conflict. As LBJ said when signing the Civil Rights Act, "we're going to lose the South for a generation." And he did it, because it was the right thing to do -- in part because there were so many black people suffering so much from a cruel system.
But let's change the calculus a bit. Suppose Jim Crow wasn't aimed at black people, but rather albinos. That wouldn't make Jim Crow any less wrong. But I would think it should change the political calculus a bit. If we could end discrimination without cost, of course we would do it. But if someone told you, "if we sign this legislation protecting albinos, the result will be that the right to abortion will disappear and thousands upon thousands of women will suffer greatly," wouldn't that change how you think about that albino legislation?
Trans people are more common than albinos, but they are still a very small minority. Liberals are coming to the defense of a political pariah group. That's electorally unwise. If trans rights are what puts Trump back in the White House, was it a good idea to have taken on that fight in that way? It seems like the outcome is worse for everyone, except the MAGAs.
