Democrats' big election wins showed they don't need to hide their support for trans rights

The past 12 months have been the most difficult politically for trans people since Time magazine’s “Trans Tipping Point” cover story in 2015. Donald Trump returned to the White House after a campaign that featured millions of dollars of anti-trans ads. Since then, the Democratic Party and those paid to pontificate on party strategy have been in a tense standoff over whether they should give up the fight for trans rights and give in to the conservative lust to drive trans people out of society.

Tuesday’s election night was a resounding repudiation of those who insist that Democrats must cut their trans constituents loose in order to win elections.

In Virginia, over half of Republican ads fearmongered over trans acceptance in schools, but Democratic candidates weren’t afraid to respond to those attacks. The anti-trans ads from Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears were relentless, but Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger didn’t hesitate to respond, telling her story as a mother of three girls and how Earle-Sears’ concerns should be left to parents, not the government.

A similar story played out in the New Jersey governor’s race, in which Republicans again tried to distract from kitchen table issues by parading the alleged threat of trans people in front of voters. In countless local races, from the Virginia House of Delegates to local school board races in Texas, anti-trans candidates faced loss after loss. The Pennsylvania small town of Downingtown even elected the state’s first-ever openly trans mayor.



https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/democrats-election-winners-trans-rights-rcna242214