'Trans People's Issues Alienate the Working Class,' Says Democrat Who's Never Met Either
'Trans People's Issues Alienate the Working Class,' Says Democrat Who's Never Met Either
Civil rights for black people alienate the working class
—same satirical headline in the 50s
You mean -probably real headline from the 50s
In less than ten years, I saw three of my cousins transition. This seemed to correspond neatly with trans-rights being mainstreamed as a social issue. Almost as though there are a lot of trans-people, many of whom were simply in the closet until the moment it became socially acceptable to be themselves.
There absolutely are a lot of them; it’s great that they finally feel comfortable to be themselves.
We saw the same thing with gay people. I’m an 80’s kid. When I was young, gay was something you saw on TV and in the movies. There ‘were no gay kids’ at the schools I attended. Because that was simply not something that you could admit to being.
Earlier this year I met a teen girl at work who casually mentioned her girlfriend. I was delighted that kids these days are comfortable enough in their own skin to just say that to someone they just met. That was not a thing when I was her age. It’s nice to see how far we’ve come.
Huh. I've met this guy on lemmy.
Hey! I know a trans person and I'm sure some of my acquintances are blue collar.
Why subtweet Hillary Clinton on this one? It’s almost an exact quote.
Link it homie!
It’s not as close to an exact quote as I thought, to be honest, but I stand by the sentiment that the statement was unsupportive of the trans community.
My espresso has arrived. Clinton asks for more iced tea. I cannot allow the lunch to end without questioning the direction of her party. I say that Democrats seem to be going out of their way to lose elections by elevating activist causes, notably the transgender debate, which are relevant only to a small minority. What sense does it make to depict JK Rowling as a fascist? To my surprise, Clinton shares the premise of my question.
“We are standing on the precipice of losing our democracy, and everything that everybody else cares about then goes out the window,” she says. “Look, the most important thing is to win the next election. The alternative is so frightening that whatever does not help you win should not be a priority.”
From an interview with the Financial Times
I’d note 4 things:
Trans rights are human rights, working class are human.
Yes I ate the onion but I know well meaning 'progressives' like this and they infuriate me
The ones I've met have all been centrists, eager to throw vulnerable minorities under the bus in their endless and fruitless quest to appease fascists.
Bold of you to call terminally online MLs democrats.
Before Stonewall: Queer liberation’s Communist Party roots
That might sound like a big claim to make, but it was Communist ideology and political strategy that provided the theoretical and practical architecture of the earliest effort to win gay equality in the United States—the Mattachine Society, a group whose ideas underpinned all the struggles and victories in the country that have been won over the past half century. Without them, there would no doubt have been a movement for queer equality in one form or another, as there were already stirrings elsewhere prior to Mattachine, especially in Europe. But without Mattachine, the movement that emerged would likely have looked a lot different than it does now.
I prefer Machetecine.
Republicans obviously think persecuting trans people is a winning issue. Should Democrats not put a comparable amount of effort into defending them?
Political strategists are there to make party win even if it hurts the feelings of a minority, more news at 6
Political strategists are there to make
party winthemselves money even if it hurts the feelings of a minority, more news at 6
So many of these consultants just exist to restate the bigotries and biases of the candidate, in hopes that they'll be hired on as Yes-Men in a doomed campaign. The GOP has been overplaying its hand on trans-politics since the Obama era. Candidates that run on this shit routinely get washed in all but the safest elections, because they sound like freaks when they run around town posting weird AI art with "IS THIS A WOMAN?!?! VOTE FOR ME!!!" next to it.
But because its become such a baked-in GOP strategy, we're now forced to treat "When can a mall cop grope your daughter's crotch to check if she's secretly a man?" as a serious campaign question.
Strategists don't care. They know their campaign is paid for by a bunch of bible-thumping neanderthals. So this kind of campaigning just won't stop. Because, paradoxically, the losing only makes people madder and more conspiracy-minded and more willing to throw good money after bad.
With friends like those, who needs enemas? (I know, Onion headline. Still, I'm sure there are plenty of people just like him all over the world. Try again ki- Moo hoo ha ha ha!)
Most working-class voters I know are alienated by phrasing, but rarely by pro-LGBT positions alone. Trans rights are very viable for working-class support, you just have to find the right phrasing for it.
It's not about being anti trans, it never was.
It's about being practical in the real world. Trans people rights are people rights are human rights, everyone should have the same rights.
However, Making this your primary issue will get you some voters but turn away more voters that you need to get elected. You can't help anyone if you don't get elected
These 'x issues are dividing the working class' lines is just trickle-down economics with race/ gender/ orientation etc.
I am so sick and tired about hearing about trans issues. Outrageously disproportionate to the real issues we need to focus on.
It wouldn't be a conversation if the alt right media would stop acting as if transgender people are causing all their problems.
It's best to just ignore the alt-right media.
That's not what is happening. It seems more like trans people are screaming constantly that we are trying to kill them and other insane shit.
Shit I got banned from steams Halls of Torment forums by a trans for saying I did not want identity politics in the games I play.
It's not the alt right that is the problem here. It's people being unable to relax the fuck out and just live life without making their sexuality an explicit part of everyone else's awareness.
why do you think they always pick minorities to attack? first they come for a tiny minority, so apathetic dickwads don't speak up because they're not part of that minority. wonder where i heard that before.
i mean, it's the right that's currently trying to make laws banning trans care. the left just wants them to be left alone. as soon as the right stops trying to ban them the left will stop having anything to complain about
I found the guy in the meme
I'm sorry but who do you think is next? We've seen this movie before. At the end of the day only loyal, God fearing, white, land owning people, in good community standing will be safe.
That's why we're fighting for the rights of less than 1 percent of the population. Because until we live in a country where everyone's rights are secure, no one's rights are secure.
And if you don't believe me go check out Christian Nationalism. It's not exactly subtle and it is driving the modern Republican party.
Outrageously disproportionate to the real issues
How often have I heard anti-trans rhetoric in the last few years? Why is it always used as a wedge issue to
Hell, I even see it worm its way into subjects like climate change reform, with the old Alex Jones "They're turning the frogs gay!" rhetoric intended to deflect from the impact rising temperatures has on the ecology by convincing people there's a Homosexual Agenda behind their ecological problems.
Yeah it's funny being told by leftwing media darlings that they're so much more in touch with working people than me, I'd love to see that satirical content creator come and live my life with me for a week then see if he still feels smug enough to say that.
It's a wedge issue designed to avoid talking about things that will actually help people, including trans people, to live decent lives. The left loves an excuse to call people bigots, racists, and whatever type of monster means that they can avoid actual meaningful change.
I mean I understand the point. The left does a great job of creating noise about issues that affect low numbers of people that end up galvanizing more opposition than it generates in votes. If the thing you advocate for ends up getting more votes against it rather than for it due to your advocacy, you just hurt your own cause.
Long term strategy is key.
Trans rights are human rights.
Advocating for human rights shouldn't require a mathematical calculation of how many humans are affected.
It shouldn't, but it does. We do not live in a perfect world.
When doctors at the emergency room have to make decisions about who to treat first, they follow guidelines like this one. Those help save lives, by making sure that those patients who need the most urgent care get it first.
In the same way, elevating LGBT issues above more pressing needs of the general population doesn't help anyone, not even LGBT people.
How does gender-affirming care help someone who is homeless and jobless with no healthcare? Is proper pronoun awareness really more important than environmental protection, or combating political corruption?
Just to be clear, I 100% agree that trans rights are human rights. It is an important issue, and deserves attention. But what about black lives matter? Isn't that important anymore? Are we still on that bandwagon, or did it get old? (I realize I'm getting snarky here, my apologies)
Addressing the unnecessary suffering of minority groups of all kinds is important. But putting them above issues that are critical to the survival of our society as a whole hurts everyone, even the people that these policies are designed to help.
Building a large working class movement is difficult when you have a bunch of socially conservative landmines that can divide people. The War on Queerness has always and forever been a war on the working class - often the youngest and most vulnerable, at that. The socio-economic benefits of this hostility only ever accrues to the entrenched establishment.
Fear of alienating the mainstream by withholding support for minority groups only empowers authoritarians who profit from a divided public.
Jews are a very small part of the population. If Republicans were passing laws specifically to persecute Jews, would you be making the same excuses for ignoring it? None of us are free until all of us are.
My understanding of the history of the fediverse, such as it is, is that it was initially used by marginalized groups. Specifically LGBTQ people who felt (and in fact were) persecuted on other platforms.
Trans rights are a core issue to many people here. This is likely why your take is being met with outright rejection by so many.
I understand. But all the down votes and hurt feelings in the world don't change the validity of my point. It is entirely possible to hurt a cause by generating more opposition than support.
Are we here to virtue signal or win?
No. The people affected by hateful policy are "creating noise." The Democrats are just the only ones willing to listen and try to help.
Takes 2 to tango.
I suspect the American left focused on LGBTQ+ issues because it was a "safe" mission.
Increasing official tolerance there was no threat to their donors or the wealthy in general. Nobody had to pay more in taxes or submit to meaningful government regulstion to enforce "don't explicitly fire/assault/refuse to marry someone for being gay/trans". Arguably those policies could have ecen come out of broader expectations for "stay out of people's personal lives" rather than making special cutouts and declaring a marginal group.
Looks impressive, accomplishes very little. Pretty much sums up the Democratic party for the last 50 years.
I don't know what "very little" means to you, but I have friends that are married with children, unlikely to face violence motivated by bigotry (location dependant, YMMV), and have legal protections from discrimination in housing and employment.
When I was a kid they could get fired or evicted with no recource, and if they had the temerity to poke their head out of the closet someone could kick their ass with impunity unless they were seriously injured or killed, and sometimes even then.
But sure, "very little," let's go with that.
Looks impressive, accomplishes very little.
I guess the real satire is in the comments. Do we blame the dems for having actual plans to help more than the ruling class, or do we blame the gopniks for locking down house and/or senate to block anything positive for us poors for 49.7 of the last 50 years?
Two things can be true at once. BOTH the right slipping in to fascism, and "big tent" Democrats being ineffectual losers.
Remember: It was the Dems who shoehorned Hillary in and brought us Trump... You can laud them all you want for having A plan, but if that plan is a pathetic cry for attention that got us Donald Drumpf for president...
Maybe you should consider that many, many Democrars ACTUALLY ARE fucking losers with a pathetically inept plan in the face of rising fascism.
That doesn't magically make the faecists the right choice, it just means we are yet again stuck with an outright terrible burning pile of trash on one side, and a freshly shit bed on the other.
You really hit a nerve there. lol.
I am working class. I have packed thousands of cases of avocados, boxed thousands of clothes in a factory, and only recently moved to teaching. Trans issues 100% do alienate everyone I work with. They are brought up by many different people to prove that white people are weak and perverted. This is coming from Sri Lankan garment workers, Vietnamese seamstresses and Mexican avocado packers.
They are brought up by many different people to prove that white people are weak and perverted
L-o-L. You mean they are brought up by transphobic people to prove they are transphobic? Who in their fucking right mind use trans people as an excuse for working class issues?
"white people are weak and perverted"
White people have enslaved races of people and nearly eradicated others and now half of them are trying to be accepting of others and you won't have it?
Are they really ok with a candidate who's going to try to deport them (at best) or kill them (at worst) for not being white enough, just because they can't get over their transphobia? If so, then we really are lost
Which is conservative propaganda. That's not intrinsic to the working class, it's intrinsic to watching fox news and listening to Russian state media call our military soft.
Sad but unsurprising to see a bona fide member of the working class downvoted for pointing out that some of the popular rhetoric is pointlessly divisive and does nothing to help the working class.
Many of todays activists seem to be doing anything but actually helping the various communities they are oh so eager to bully people on behalf of.
Hey these guys want you to have an actual standard of living. But they also want this thing completely irrelevant to you.
So fuck them right?
The folks I work with would never associate with the chronically online hexbear types you see here, the ones constantly blaming "crackers" for transphobia.
Yeah, people here don't want to hear it, but unfortunately it's the truth. You or I may care, the great majority of people have probably never even met a trans person, if they have they haven't realized, they don't see it as an important matter, not when we have the ecosystem on a destruction course and growing economic inequality (and they don't care much about those if not that they are facing growing difficulties in their daily lives).
OP: States the opinions of the people around him.
Lemmy: FUCK YOU!!!
The people around me think OP is an idiot. I guess I can just state that the people around me call OP a hateful bigot and leave it at that.
I didn't say it, the people I work with think it, so I don't actually have to defend or take responsibility for posting it.
The political satire doesn’t make me laugh so much as it crushes my spirit.
It's not even satire anymore.
how can it even be nowadays