Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has earned praise for her response to a question on trans rights during a town hall hosted by the progressive campus group More Perfect University.
At the organization’s Students vs. Billionaires town hall in Maine on Thursday, a trans student from the University of Southern Maine asked for Ocasio-Cortez’s response to the fact that “a lot of trans people in America feel that we have been abandoned by the Democratic Party, that we are a losing issue, that it’s not worth defending us.”
The woman was referring to the fact that many trans advocates feel some Democrats have missed the mark on trans issues, or in some cases have actively made decisions that hurt the trans community in an attempt to defend themselves against Republican attacks. Since the 2024 election, Democrats have disagreed on the effect of the GOP’s anti-trans ads, with some suggesting the need to throw trans people under the bus in order to win future elections.
Without hesitation, Ocasio-Cortez responded, “They’re wrong.”
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Dems have to keep a few AOCs or Bernies around or they’d lose what little credit they have.
Proud to have voted (fuck) no on an initiative today to “ban children who were born male from playing girls sports” because I live in a (sane) state that allows people to
changecorrect their birth certificates this law said it would be on the girls wanting to play to undergo physical inspection, genetic or hormonal testing, and their expense of course. Disenfranchising transgirls and adding scary, invasive or expensive bars to girls sports, everyone loses, even the people who support this, living in a less free state where girls are denied opportunities isn’t good for anyoneThere is a difference between politics that’s aimed at getting elected and politics aimed at improving things. You can absolutely throw trans people under the bus (so to speak) before the elections and then after winning the elections use your power to improve their position.
You don’t have to be blatant about it. You don’t have to say “fuck them”, just answer those questions quickly and shift focus to the things people care about.
Don’t be weird.
Unfortunately, when they do get into office they barely use their power to do anything, let alone help the trans community.
I don’t want them “defending trans rights” though.
I want them enforcing the protection of trans rights through legislative action and enforcement of those laws.
“Defending trans rights” is when Republicans go on the offensive about transgender issues so we have to go from being on the offensive on issues like affordability, healthcare and a strong working class to “defending” trans rights. Look at the pamphlets in Texas, they’re no longer talking about gas and grocery prices in Texas, it’s all about who sent the pamphlets.
I don’t want to discount trans issues but also I feel like engaging the republicans with anything more than a “why are you talking about this when people can’t afford anything you stupid fucks?” is a waste of time. Even if every trans person was as evil as they say they are there are far bigger problems to focus on. Like why do we need fucking legislation to dictate how trans people are medically treated or if they can play sports? Leave that to the doctors and sports organizations to determine. There should be protections against discrimination and if they’re not already included in those they should be, but other than that I can’t really think of anything that requires legislation. It pisses me off so much every time I hear one of those ads from these idiots.
What is the offensive for trans rights though l? Like what needs to be codified into law that is not?
Off the top of the dome
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Creating a sensible universal policy that creates standardized guidelines on what medical requirements allow prisoners to be housed in the prison matching their sex. At present you can be fully physically transitioned with a vagina, fully sterile from having ones testicles removed and on feminizing horomones and still be forced to be housed in mens prisons creating the conditions for guaranteed rape and endemic exploitation by both guards and inmates.
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Rights that protects trans prisoners from forced de-transition. Removing horonone treatments from prisoners is effectively creating situations where trans prisoners are effectively put into menopause or face issues like bone loss.
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Rights that allow trans people to change their legal documents to reflect their chosen sex. This allows for less discrimination as employers and law enforcement individuals should not be privy to someone’s medical history and often being forcibly outed causes potential harassment from bigoted people in a position of power.
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Rights to protections against hostile work conditions based on sexual characteristics
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Rights to be protected from having the children of trans people either removed by the state OR trans kids themselves remanded into foster care on the basis they or their parent is trans
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Rights to access bathroom facilities of their choice and not be barred or harrassed in bathrooms
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Rights to bodily autonomy, in the case of adults to be able make the choice to medically transition. In the case of minors to allow the guardians of the minor, a panel of doctors, social workers and psychiatric professionals to prescribe blockers and hormone interventions once appropriate signs of proof that the transition is in the best interest of the minor with veto of continuity of treatment from all parties if signs of distress or incongruence are shown
Honestly very solid list.
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I was hoping it was going to be a “fuck you”.
Or “fuck off” alternatively
“Get Bent” is how i auto completed it
…"The focus is strategic… It’s not just about trans girls in sports; it’s about all girls in education,” she said, emphasizing that it’s about attacking Title IX and trying “to get everyone on board with supporting defunding their own civil rights.”
She explained that Title IX is also the mechanism through which women report campus assaults and that while the Trump administration is distracting everyone with anti-trans fearmongering, it “quietly defunded the civil rights division of enforcement in the administration on Title IX.”
yep, exactly. they say they’re protecting women as a screen to harm women.
Because as soon as they ban trans women from something, ‘transvestigations’ and genital inspections will be happening the very next day.
Any woman who doesn’t perfectly conform to their idea of what a woman should be will become a target.
The definition of “transgender” will simply expand to include any cis woman that doesn’t conform to conservative standards of appropriate female dress, behavior, and career choice.
Oh, you’re a woman who wants to study engineering? Sorry, we can’t allow that at this school. We don’t support transgender people here.
I think they would do “genital inspections”, as an excuse to violate women. For fun.
And children, of course.
Every day more nazi things are happening. everyday.
I feel like im going insane. 20 years ago, if you said “the Tvs and phones are all listening to us” youd be thrown in the grippy sock hotel. But today, it is truth, and each day, our low trust society grows.
I cant even leave the house without eyeing some people up wondering if theyre a fucking nazi or not. I cant trust a man who dont have a beard. I see young, clean shaven, buzz cut men with crosses around thier neck… and I just, worry. Yesterday I saw a latino man with that nazi looking eagle on his sweater.
Im glad for sane, smart voices. But, its so real out here. I live by a small airport, and the back hawks and shinooks normally run drills 3 days outta a month. Theyve been running drills everyday, all day, for over a week now. I feel paranoid. Just saw an article they fired a woman for supporting trans healthcare in the military :(
Im just a dumb dumb, but this is seriously some frog boiling in the pot of water shit. It is so terrifying to see.
I cant trust a man who dont have a beard.
And even then, goatees are somehow worse.
I know how you feel and it’s not wrong to be worried - stay safe out there. But I would be careful reading too much into that appearance. Beards to me indicate more often right-wing men, but in truth, it’s just a bad heuristic. It’s hard to tell for most people and being suspicious of too many in the gray area is just tiring.
Anyway, all us sane people are all in this together, remind yourself that we’ll eventually reach bottom. Nothing lasts forever, including the bad times. And if you’re in the US, please vote.
For what it’s worth, I appear every bit the stereotype of dumb old conservative. I can lean into it even harder if necessary. I am fully prepared to use this ability to thwart fascism. I’m also a firearm owner, and I know I’m going to have to make some difficult choices in the near future.
The other day I stopped at a coffee shop I rarely go to and was accused of being a cop. That was kinda funny.
Though, in retrospect, I do happen to look like I stepped off a nazi propaganda poster, and instead of spending money on sunglasses I just wear the UV safety goggles my lab buys by the crate, which look kinda similar to the wraparound Oakleys that populate…specific…profile pictures.
Now imagine if you were black and were seeing this.
The one blackish friend I had (immigrant at 14 from Trinidad) believes in evangelical christianty and is a maga supporter.
I tried to talk to them, but they hate trans people and anyone not from thier specific carribean island.
I live near a lot of folks from puerto rico. I befriended a few over the the last few years, who I was chill with until politics came up. 3/3 maga supporters. Fucking makes me very sad. Its the same, they hate trans people and anyone not from thier island.
Or LGBT+
I think a reasonable argument for people to use is that they care about trans rights at this point in time because they are under threat, but what they actually care about is everybody’s human rights. Start from empathy, respect, and dignity, then look for what supports that.
People shouldn’t need to grovel for medical care, they should be able to access it. People shouldn’t have to jump through hoops for gender affirming care, cis men with erectile dysfunction should be able to access medical support. People shouldn’t have to prove their mental health is impacted to modify their body, women should be able to get whatever tattoos or piercings they like. It doesn’t matter who you are, you should be able to access reasonable levels of care and support from the society you are a part of.
Right now trans people are the most under threat, but at some point that will be a historical fact and a different group will the current target, at which point they become the focus of defence and support. Ideally being trans would be like getting tattoos, something that is your business, nobody else’s, and something people feel impolite for asking too much about.
It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing. Fighting a “losing issue” is exactly how you persuade people you’re right about the issue. That’s called “leadership”.
This is exactly it. It’s what politics is supposed to be about. AOC gets it. For clear moral issues like this, you can’t back down.
It’s a big reason why Democrats are so weak. Most, especially those in leadership, have given up trying to persuade people by doing the right thing. We need to persuade especially on issues that are inspiring violence and hate on the other side. Taking the other side’s stance, particularly when it’s so clearly on the wrong side of morality/history/humanity, never made sense as a strategy to me. It’s disgusting.
I constantly rail against the “Both sides” thing because, well, both side are NOT the same. Even establishment Dems are radically different than Republicans.
However.
I am also firmly of the opinion that establishment Dems are corrupted and taking money from our oligarchs, and that they try to use things like “but we have to compromise and not scare off the centrists” as a smokescreen for their corruption.
The fact of the matter is that we are largely fucked. That we have any hope at all from folks like AOC and other true progressives seems on a slight upswing since Trump and the fascists have mangled things so visibly in the last couple of years, but midterms always swing the other way, so I’m scared that this is another temporary swingback and come 2028, we’ll be fucked again.
But maybe those associated with the DSA and those like AOC and Mamdani are finding ways of breaking through some of the fascist propaganda. I sure hope so, because the only other way out will cost lots of blood and isn’t a sure thing by any stretch of the imagination.
This could be a temporary swing back, or the left wing version of thr tea party
I’ve never seen anyone say they’re the same. I have seen a lot of people being accused of "both sides"ing if they dare to criticize the Democrats. Two things can be bad in different ways. Losing a finger and losing a leg aren’t the same. I don’t want to lose either.
I’d have said ‘get fucked’, but ‘they’re wrong’ is good, too.
“They’re wrong” is three words though. Only partly why I like “get fucked” better.
Defending attack ads in general is a losing strategy. Focus on the issues and ignore attacks, more people are likely to listen to what you have to say that way. As for trans issues, it’s not a good look to bully suicidal kids for political clout.
Good to hear her stance hasn’t budged in the years since the Donkey Kong incident.
That’s three words.
That is technically correct and part of learning English (for non native speakers).
If you guys are shocked these Republican morons fall for this shit, look at this https://youtu.be/MrehpxfLNrg
These people are literarily brain dead it’s genuinely insane how stupid they are.
I don’t think most democrats have an issue with defending trans rights. The issue is instead of dealing with issues that affect the majority, they only deal with issues that affect the minority. Worry about people not getting killed and abducted to concentration camps at the border. Then maybe we can talk about trans rights.
nobody told you to fuck off in 10 hours so i’m a bit disappointed, and also
fuck offThank you for your service.
