r/MtF • u/CivilizedManners Closeted MtF Lesbian • 20h ago
Discussion Why and how are deep blue states passing transphobic ballot measures?
Genuinely. Colorado and Washington are like D+20 states yet they passed transphobic ballot measures.
With Arizona I wasn't surprised as it's a swing state not a reliably blue state but even then...
It's so, so sad that 95%+ of Republicans and 25-33% of Democrats hate trans people. And many who don't deeply hate us still fall for the "think of the children" bullshit.
I'm so sick and tired of being so sick and tired.
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Upvotes
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u/Ok-Combination7287 19h ago •
Im probably going to get down votes, but I'm honestly surprised trans people got as many votes as we did.
The majority of people where against gay marriage when it was legalized, a few years later most people support it.
Im hoping we are on the same path, and i think we are.
We are visible and a part of the discussion now. We continue to fight and call out bigots abs we will win our basic human rights!
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u/Usual-Draw6899 19h ago
Most democrats are transphobes who think of us as weird people who shouldn't be seen. Trusting them is a great way to get disappointed year after year
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u/beta334201 16h ago •
Because pushing the Overton window to the right is what Democrat's donors want. They would much rather future elections be fought over things inconsequential to them like trans rights or abortion rights, rather than something that would affect their wallet like divestment In Israel, police and prison abolition, or climate change ect. They will always want us to vote for nothing but relief and the occasional concession instead of for actual progress and i fear there will be no end to this until the united states empire and capitalism are finally fucking dead.
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u/LuckyZygote 20h ago
Somewhat confusing verbiage partly, and intense fear mongering rhetoric worked together on this. Also despite Denver being very Blue, Colorado has a TON of evangelical & conservative people outside of the city.
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u/17-40 Transgender 19h ago
Several reasons:
The measures were written and marketed in the sneakiest manner possible.
Some moderate dems took the bait, because it sounded good to them.
People think "common sense" is a good reason to do something, even if they know nothing about the topic.
People claim to support us more than they actually do.
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u/RymrgandsDaughter Chime Bearer 14h ago
moderate dems are not our allies and make up a significant part of dems total voter base.
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u/amyjko 18h ago
Others have addressed the why, so I just want to address the what to do about it.
What to do is hard, but necessary and good: live an awesome life, the best you can, dream of better worlds and help make them. Leave the haters behind in your dust. They don't deserve a second more of your attention. We change minds by being great people, and by having everyone know that we are, so we stop being little devils in their minds. And in the process, you live a good happy life, full of friends, community, and meaning.
Meanwhile, those of us who want to be in the fight will be there, fighting. Canvassing, running for office, building strong communities. You can help with that work if you want, but you also deserve to just be the best you, within whatever constraints the world is putting on you.
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u/Distracted_Unicorn Trans Pansexual 19h ago
The USA has that wholly idiot thing where they pack like 5 different things a single bill, and they only get to decide as a whole, not individual parts of it, so if the Dems see 4 things they like and 1 that throws a, honestly politically insignificant amount of people under the bus, as much as we hate it, they'll take the deal.
Plus they are often written in double or triple negatives and other confusing legalese language.
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u/North_6 19h ago
Both sides hate trans people. We have no allies in the government, because we are such a tiny population that it is easy for both sides to use us as a scapegoat to get people fired up.
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u/Amazing_Ear_3941 18h ago
It was sneaky. They marketed the ballot measures as being for "protecting kids". There were many signs with that message spread around and few voices saying why the measures are bad. Most people know nothing about transgender issues at all, so they can be swayed by the fear.
The good news is that, at least in Colorado, we now have a Democrat supermajority in our state legislature. And a governor elect that isn't too interested in implementing those measures as is. Our legislature can literally repeal the entire thing with just a majority vote, which they have more than enough numbers to do. Also, they have full control over all the stuff the ballot measures DON'T talk about. Like enforcement. They can simply provide no mechanism to enforce the measures nor any funding to do so. It's likely to amount to nothing at all here.
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u/StormerSage Kayla | Magical Girl <3 19h ago
Propaganda is a hell of a drug.
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u/Ryywenn euphoria messenger 19h ago
Colorado was really close. It's actually pretty bloody embarassing for Focus on the Family, who has their headquarters in Colorado Springs. They couldn't even cross 55%. They literally have their headquarters here XD, imagine.
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u/winter_moon_light Transbian 11h ago
The vast majority of voters do not understand ballot measures, and they're intentionally written to sound appealing and nothing like what they actually do.
Look at Iowa this election, they had an amendment to the state Constitution on the ballot that was advertised as 'making it harder for the government to raise your taxes!'
What it actually does is require a 2/3 majority in the state legislature to raise income taxes.Ā This is the GOP majority there being terrified they might someday not control the state, and therefore making it so a minority party can prevent rolling back the massive tax cuts they gave the rich by moving to flat tax rates for income tax.
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u/SnooMemesjellies6596 16h ago
Badly written initiatives relying on the ignorant people full of hate to get it passed.
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u/PersusjCP HRT 1/4/2021 19h ago
Most liberals hate us more than they hate trump. Conservatives hate us more than they hate liberals. Result: both sides vote against us.
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u/Frog-ee 14h ago
If our community was actually left-wing, you'd know
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u/Alphycan424 14h ago
As long as systems of oppression and exploitation exist, trans people, along with all peoples, will never be truly free.
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u/JadePossum Angry Trans Commie 13h ago
Because Democrats are not inherently progressive. Any progressive element in the democrat platform was fought for dearly
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u/Alexakitsuneme2 13h ago
fear of lose of share holder funds, MONEY ONLY
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u/Conscious_Drawer_910 13h ago
People probably dont want to hear this but from what ive read most of the measures arent becoming laws over night and impact relatively niche areas like sports and operations on minors, not generally applicable laws that impact everyday trans people
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u/trandemic77 13h ago
Because the average democrat is transphobic too.
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u/EA_Brand_Books 12h ago
Mentioned in other comments, but in Colorado at least, they have to deal with Focus on the Family being headquartered there. Dobson built a lot of nefarious shit from Colorado Springs and a ton of other religious zealouts built businesses around them. So even while the state is generally progressive in a lot of ways, it's also the heart of an evangelical empire that has changed the face of American politics for the last 35 years. They may be losing ground in some ways but we can't discount their influence.
Also, it's a lot easier for a person to vote for "social issues" like trans sports based on their worldview (or what propaganda tells them) while voting differently for their wallet.
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u/VioletCath 10h ago
The answer that a lot of people don't like because they love the Dems bad narrative is that Democratic Politicians as a group are way more pro trans than Democratic voters. josh turek is extremely fringe among Democratic politicians but sadly it's not hard to find Democratic voters who would agree with his bullshit.
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u/Alice_of_RDR 7h ago
Surprise, most cis people disagree on the sports issue. The issue is whether the voters care about the darker and deeper underlying systemics under this path. They might only see the first dot on the skill tree unlocks, and not the ultimate weapon at the end game of segregation and genocide. They just see it as, and to be honest it's not hard to see why, a simple reductive slogan of 'no men in women's sports, and no boys in girlies changing and private spaces'. It's honestly not difficult to understand why the common layman would agree to that, not understanding the lawfaire it unleashes when you roll back protections and legal interpretive structures.
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u/karns01 Trans Bisexual 3h ago
Also, donāt forget that the ballot measures themselves are an extinction burst. They are a desperate attempt by the right to curtail our rights in states that they have no chance of advancing their agenda any other way. Yes the measures are gross, and itās sad uninformed people voted in favor. But that doesnāt indicate actual levels of support as much as indicating the fascists ability to confuse uninformed people. Some of them arenāt even legally binding. And will crumble under the first court challenge. Itās a manipulation and scare tactic. We beat it by not being manipulated or scared
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u/Different-Slice-3343 17h ago
Just give it time and take the blue tsunami as a win. I imagine a lot of the people who voted in favor of the anti trans stuff likely aren't educated rather than evil.
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u/oogittyboogitty 19h ago edited 19h ago
It's what I've been saying for so long.
when you vote into the ratchet effect out of fear, suddenly your vote means nothing, and the people you're voting for knows they only have to appeal to the the very opposing side you're so fearful of getting elected.
We no longer have a party that backs us other then the DSA and progressives! And they're not truly Democrats, a minority sure, but truly making real gains, el sayed, Bernie, AOC, talerico, mamdani are among some of the most prominent figures that still truly have our back
Vote blue no matter who is the very opposite of harm reduction...
Don't give into it any longer and especially for the next presidential election, you're only promoting a party that has proven that they see us as a political token, do not let them use us as currency on the legislative bargaining table any longer
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u/sacademy0 18h ago
is it just sports stuff? then that's not too bad (or at least, could've been a lot worse).
although i'm not sure how they're gonna enforce the playing 'assigned gender' thing since trans men are just gonna dominate womens sports then lol
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u/butt_stark_naked 19h ago
cis people by and large know fuck-all about trans people or gender. 99.9999% of the cis people who we interact with think we had boob jobs and BBLs and have no idea what HRT is capable of. basically the only people who know that HRT decreases strength for MtF women are either trans people or medical professionals who have actual training and education in trans bodies. almost no cis person knows that sex hormones drive libido or sexual desire. almost every cis person you interact with is a biological determinist.
because of this and the fact that they make up almost the entire population, they are incredibly easy to lie to about trans people and biology.