AOC has two words for Democrats who think defending trans rights is a losing issue
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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https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/10/aoc-has-two-words-for-democrats-who-thinks-defending-trans-rights-is-a-losing-issue/Open linkView original on lemmy.world
63 replies
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Rights to protections against hostile work conditions based on sexual characteristics
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
Rights to access bathroom facilities of their choice and not be barred or harrassed in bathrooms
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
I was hoping it was going to be a "fuck you".
"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.
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.
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 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 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 off
Thank you for your service.
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.
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.
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.
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).
Not the two words I was thinking of, but I'll take it.
Who else are they going to support though? Two parties have a stranglehold. Your options are between not good enough, horrible, and not participating at all. Not preventing Republicans also disempowers your voice in regard to all other issues and means revoking support for everyone elses issues. So why would those people keep supporting yours as much?
So where does it end? If you compromise on somebody's rights with the justification that you need to protect everybody else, where's the line you don't cross? There's no principle built in to that approach. Theoretically, you can justify throwing all people of color under the bus in order to protect white women, with that logic.
If Democrats abandon trans people now, the fascists won't be satisfied. Who's next?
Voting is mere harm reduction. Voting for a candidate doesn't mean I agree with them or that I'm compromising on anyone's rights -- I'm just ticking the box that will cause the least near-term harm.
The real decision whether to compromise or not happens in real life. In the streets, at your work or school, in your home.
Well said.
Yes, there is no good option. Everything is a risk. But everything is also at risk. We can't trust people will help after? Can one endure a disproportionate amount of sacrifice to fight for the entire progressive movement? This entire situation is not about any specific issue, its about the entire framework of law and governance. All rights. All of it.
If someone can't see anything beyond their own grievances, were they ever a progressive? Or were progressives the only option for trans? Are trans rights somehow more important than brown rights? Or immigrant rights? Women's? Everybody's rights?
This is not business as usual. This is potentially the end of democracy in America and if someone won't help because they're not getting enough attention, they an asshole. That is a level of selfishness that is cruelty, to anyone that was once called an ally. The safest spaces in American for trans are still the progressive side. So not supporting the best available option is wise?
There are no good options, so refuse to pick the best one? Insane to me. Massive strategic error. It ends wherever the left is capable of ending it and right now, nobody knows where that is but it isn't where it is now. You don't think the left is trying just because they haven't succeeded? Maybe more participation is what halts the Nazis marching as soon a possible. But disengage instead...that will help you...
Not sure how to parse this comment. The point here is that, as a practical matter, no one's rights are safe unless everybody's rights are safe, and AOC is correct that Democrats are wrong to disengage on trans rights, because it's ultimately abandoning everybody's rights, which is the end of democracy.
I disagree with that stance. Some rights are more safe than others and some are more costly to maintain. The only thing one can say is a ruler who doesn't respect some rights, may not respect others. Tons of rights have been abandoned, those of the poor vs the rich for instance, and it didn't erase all rights.
Not all at once, of course. But, reading the news, it sure looks to me like the erasure is proceeding apace.
But at a pace, over time, in steps. Failing to stop the first step doesn't mean failing to stop all of them. This is a battle, not a polite discourse. They are rounding up immigrants and putting them in camps, revoking their rights. The first step wasn't even trans and all rights are not gone because of it.
As you point out, the fascists are rounding up immigrants into concentration camps. We keep losing rights by the week. And it didn't start with trans people? Then why did it get as far as them? So far, we have failed to stop any step in the process. It's understandable, because when anybody's rights are contingent rather than inalienable, we can always rationalize why it's okay to abandon the next group.
I suspect that the majority of voters would prefer a policy of tolerance over the Republican party's performative cruelty, but "we should treat these harmless eccentrics with basic human dignity" is one thing while transgender participation in sports or permanent procedures done on children are another.
You do realize that they've done the research and Trans Women have no advantage after two years of hormone therapy right? FTMs already play in men's sports and no one complains about it, just when it's MTFs in women's sports.
And as for permanent procedures done on children, gender dysphoria is real and needs to be treated. You don't tell kids with cancer that they need to "learn to love their tumors" that chemotherapy is "too big a decision for someone your age."
Puberty is permanent, you nasty wad of shoe gum. The wrong puberty causes changes that, at best, have to be repaired with surgery, some changes are irreversible, and the worst result of the wrong puberty is suicidal ideation that some trans kids don't survive. Puberty blockers are the only non-permanent physical option for trans kids, and the years those kids spend waiting for the adults to let them go through the right puberty they're never getting back. And there's social and emotional consequences to delaying puberty. No teenager is just rolling up and getting HRT without an entire care team approving it and regret rates for kids who medically transition is vanishingly low - you're advocating for 100 trans kids to suffer and possibly die by suicide to protect maybe one cis kid from making a mistake.
Here's the thing: That's total bullshit. Just like my comment above, if you're willing to compromise a little bit on people's basic human dignity, where's the line?
(Also, gender-affirming, permanent surgery performed on children describes circumcision. People pretending to be concerned about it on principle are lying.)
What's the disagreement? He won the election, that was their ad campaign. Trump catered to his base to get the vote out, it's all pretty straightforward to me.
I don't think Trump personally cares, he just took the "easy mode" option for him that won't cost him any donors or voters.
Some Ds will use this issue to their benefit, some will distance themselves. it all depends on what their "market" is. If polling says drop _____________ to win, they will, ______________ being any issue. Trans is a popular issue in say New York City, not so much in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Democrats will drop trans if their donors say so, just like they abandoned labor. bOtH pArTiEs do what their "donors" want, they don't have any actual bedrock issues other than "money".
Democrats at the top-level did drop the trans issue and they lost the 2024 election.
They did?
I didn't watch all of her campaign, I'll take your word for it.
If so, that means
All I noticed was that she had the most Republican ad campaign that I've ever seen from a Democratic candidate. She tried to get R voters for some insane reason.
(everybody knows, D or R, that you need independent votes to win an election, basic math)
Who's shoving preferences in anyone's face??? Do you know anyone in the LGBTQ+ community? Are they shoving things in your face?
Also, communal showers/changing areas have been weird the entire time they've existed, and that's the ONLY way you'd even know what someone has under their clothes.
ALSO, WHY ARE YOU AFRAID OF OTHER PEOPLES BODIES?
"Common sense" is a dog whistle. People are complicated. Depending on who you talk to, you'll find things that people consider "common sense" that are only common to their local area...
Actual common sense is minding your own business. Bet 10 bucks this asshole doesn't even watch women's sports lol, they never do.
This reminds me of:
Why Do All These Homosexuals Keep Sucking My Cock?
My god, I'm saving this
Communal showers are weird yes.
Labeling common sense as dog whistle now will work against you. Society doesn't have the resources to adhere to every complicated person's needs and wants. Bringing those trans topics into the focus while a family struggles to care for their baby makes the family vote someone else. It's a niche topic, really.
I'm not running for office. I'm just a guy trying to highlight inconsistency.
You don't get to decide what is a dog whistle sadly. It already is one.
It really is a niche thing, so why is it such a big deal if they get treated no different than anyone else? You yourself said that they should be treated equally. It costs society NOTHING to treat them the same.
I believe there are a TON of other articles about affordability right now, you CHOSE to talk about the one highlighting Trans issues.
Edit: what is the "family" vote? Everyone has a family. Trans people have families. I have a family. My wife and I always vote in favor of Trans Rights. They are Human Rights.
Isn't it funny how reactionaries always target minorities and then act like it's the fault of the people who stand up to their persecution?
Not "ha ha" funny, more like "the rotten smell behind the dumpster" funny.
Topic here is, will it win her votes. I'd say no because overfocus on minority topics will drive all other people, not adjacent to that group, away. And comments going apeshit crazy only because there is one voice not following their line is not helping the acceptance.
I'm not playing your reactionary game.
Solidarity means solidarity. We don't chip away at people's rights so that bigots can feel superior.
the right of some people to exist in society isn't an important stance?! the size of the community determines its worth?! lots of dog whistles packed into this comment.
"common sense" is an extremely weak appeal. Many things that are today are considered unacceptable were considered "common sense" by many people for many years. Racism, patriarchy, absolute monarchy...
I don't need your shitty bigotry shoved in my face. Reported for transphobia. Hope you end up with a ban.