Liberals will lie to you and tell you to “just vote in the primary,” but in reality they simply don’t care about trans rights and do not believe there is ever a right time to challenge transphobic Democrats.

First primary: the transphobes hide their colors so you can’t vote against them.

First general election: the snakes reveal their colors, but you can’t vote against the traitors because “blue no matter who.” They tell you to just vote in the next primary.

Second primary: the same people who tell you now “save it for the primary” shift their tune to “we can’t give up an incumbent seat in a purple district!”

Trans people can see through these bad-faith lies. Yet of course, mansplaining trolls will be sure to breathlessly explain “lesser of two evil” math, as if that’s not an argument we haven’t heard a thousand times and already rejected due to its obvious flaws. There’s never a shortage of arrogant cis people who think they know more about trans issues than actual trans people.

Liberals want your votes, not your voices. Be a good little minority and sit down. Shut up. Support the party. You owe the party your support. The party owes you nothing.

  • Daftydux@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    60 minutes ago

    Ugh, I will vote Democrat but I havent abandoned any trans people. I understand the party is jist grasping for anything at this point and they think cowering away from speaking with their chest is the only way but I already consider them feckless busy bodies. Its all fucked and let it collapse but I wont sentence anyone to life under a republican white nationalist regime.

  • dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works
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    You know what. You’re right. Vote red. Pick a Republican. That will teach the Democrats to notice trans people. Or don’t vote, that will surely help.

    At the risk of sounding extremely dismissive, because it is, the world is literally on fire and you might not get to win your issue of choice in the next 5 or even 10 elections. Of course every person regardless of majority of minority status deserves to have their basic rights met and to be treated with a modicum of decency and acceptance. Of course. When it comes to elections though, R will come together for any one of no abortion, more guns, less taxes, go church!

    The far left doesn’t win in the US, and won’t win, because, son of a bitch, there is not enough fundamental support for Mediterranean furry vegans with one eye who use glow in the dark blowy wheelchairs. And wouldnt you know it, all 900 trans people on Lemmy and their vegan allies cannot storm the palace by themselves no matter how hard you rage post.

    Yes it sucks. Conservatives are a bloc. The left is not, and each of the 347 extreme minorities can’t play nice together unless their issue is at the forefront which makes a fundamentally impossible purity test for every candidate. Fuck people who are transphobic and good on people who are good allies, but there just isn’t a competitive counter block because the left isn’t full of group-thinking neanderthals.

    I understand that you are mad, but you can’t win shit with 10 people. So do you want the lesser evil or would you rather deal with the obviously worse door number two?

    Your last paragraph is functionally right. You can make your own choice and it sucks no matter what you do. Nobody is winning here. That’s how it is. Fuck.

    The right is full of brainwashable morons and the left is all full of vibrant and unique non-teaming, purity testing assholes with stupid long Linux socks.

    • trashgirlfriend@lemmy.world
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      17 minutes ago

      You are an awful person and I hope you experience half of the pain we do, you bootlicking piece of human trash.

      There is a trans genocide happening in the US, telling us to suck it up while we die, while we are killed is so fucking awful.

      It’s really amazing how you expect absolutely nothing from the democratic party, how you paint basic support for the rights of trans people as “far left” and how you then expect us to still support you.

  • DebraBucket@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage” - Barack Obama, 2008

    The same Barack Obama that helped achieve the following during his time as President of the United States:

    Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act adding perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability to the existing hate crime law.

    Lifted the ban on travel to the United States by those infected with HIV

    Signed into law the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010

    Under his presidency, the Pentagon ended the policy that barred transgender people from serving openly in the military.

    I was certainly disappointed when I heard him say what he said, but I also could read between the lines. I was disappointed it took him so long to finally become a vocal advocate of marriage equality (thank you Joe Biden for opening your big mouth, I mean this sincerely), but I none-the-less voted for him and in the end I am so glad he was in that office instead of McCain or Romney.

    Can we please not fall for the bait. Look at not only their actions but also the situation they are in. Yes, Bill Clinton signed DOMA into law, but it also passed with veto-proof majorities, making a vote against it only performative. Yes, Clinton instituted Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but this was a time when homophobia was absolutely ingrained throughout the US. My own parents said some pretty horrible things about queer people, and now they are (mostly) accepting of the multiple queer people we have in our family.

    If you’re going to be upset at anyone, be upset at your family, friends and neighbors not doing shit (even I could be doing more). Supporting trans rights arguably is less risk to us than someone vying for political office who could end up extending protections for trans people. It took a wave of challenging conversations within families as well as increased positive visibility in the media (and arguably the passing on of a generation) to get to a situation where politicians could openly support any kind of queer family without facing immense backlash.

  • IndustryStandard@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    Keep voting lesser evil TM. Surely they will move left after the elections and not sell out to right wing donors…

    The DNC should have been purged of centrists but you all wanted to stick with them. Now this is what you get.

    • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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      31 minutes ago

      Voting for the lesser evil is how we ended up with legalized gay marriage.

      “Lesser evil” can be rephrased as “greater good”

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    6 hours ago

    Dem centrists already abandoned students, medical professionals, the poor, immigrants, anyone needing civili rights, or free speech. The wonder is that trans people ever thought such a fairwether friend would be at their side for more than a single election cycle. The republicans are fascsists and the dems are donation whores who stand for nothing except cashing checks from their corporate Johns.

    If I’m wrong please explain to me what the dems will run on in the midterm election. What are the issues they are caring deeply about and championing? Does anyone know?

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      Even if you can’t be an empathetic human who accepts that everyone should be safe and allowed to exist as who and what they are, you can still be selfish and recognize that attacking transgender rights is also attacking YOUR rights.

      • DebraBucket@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        If you are referring to the commenter, I think their point is that the fear is irrational in large part because it’s such a small group of people.

        I would add to that, there’s no evidence that being trans itself has caused anyone any harm. Even studies of gender affirming treatment shows that an overwhelming number of people treated see an increased quality of life afterwards (98% or more, with the reduce quality being attributed mainly to increased transphobia from others, not regret of the treatment itself).

      • Cheebus@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        ya know, i’ve been an ally for a long fucking time

        but simply pointing out it sure looks like this is the exact same playbook that put trump in office again and sparked this nightmare leads to downvote brigade

        this is the fucking stupid ass shit that causes divide and leads to bad people gaining power, that’s all i’m trying to fucking say in here

  • Pratai@piefed.ca
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    18 hours ago

    At this point, I’m still with the vote blue crowd. We’re in serious damage control and voting for our lives. When the option is this vs. Nazi authoritarianism. You vote for this!

    In other words, If the chemo sucks, we’ll deal with it to survive the cancer. Because then we can live and fight another day. Give in and opt-out, and you’ve no place to complain that the cancer is killing you.

    Vote like lives depend on it- because they do. We can fix this kind of stupid, we CANNOT fix MAGA stupid.

    VOTE.

    • wpb@lemmy.world
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      54 minutes ago

      I agree, we must at all costs keep doing what we’ve always done. How else are are we ever going to turn this ship around?

      • Pratai@piefed.ca
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        46 minutes ago

        … or you could be like this person- and not vote and see how much change happens.

    • fodor@lemmy.zip
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      14 hours ago

      Right right but you can’t stop there. Voting is the easy part. It’s everything else that makes a real difference.

      • DebraBucket@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        Exactly. It doesn’t even have to be that complex, spending some time educating self and then sharing that education with friends and family can make a huge difference.

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    24 hours ago

    My take has been: Vote for what’s right in the primaries. Vote for what’s practical in the general. Rinse & repeat. It’s either that, or give us some sort of ranking option so we can do some semblance of risk mitigation between the two corporate parties.

    I voted for candidates in the primary. And for the most part, I’ll sadly be voting against the more-bad candidates in the general to ensure the greatest likelihood of defeat for the more-bad candidates that I can accomplish with my one little vote.

    Edit to add: the timing of the article smells weird to me, as if to suppress Democratic turnout in November.

    • pack@sh.itjust.works
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      24 hours ago

      Suppressing turnout is always the point. Telling you the gov’t can’t fix things and that you should check the fuck out is the point. The status quo is what they want*, its the game they have rigged and control. If voting didnt matter they wouldnt put so much effort in keeping people from doing it or convincing you to stay home.

      The dems are 99% ass, but the GOP would imprison trans people as groomers for taking a dump in the girls room. Its not even close and I’m tired of people’s suggesting staying at home will get them better choices next time.

      • WoodScientist@lemmy.worldOP
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        23 hours ago

        Can always count on there being a cis person that thinks they know trans issues better than actual trans people.

        Remember, trans people are apparently numerous enough to owe our votes to Democrats, but we’re not numerous enough to have our issues be included as basic litmus tests of party candidate eligibility.

        Maybe you should have some humility and stop acting like minorities owe you anything after you betray them.

        • boydster@sh.itjust.works
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          22 hours ago

          You don’t represent all of us, slow your role. Jesus Christ can we at least keep the actual real fascists out of office while working on making things better at the same time?

          • SwingingTheLamp@piefed.zip
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            21 hours ago

            Why didn’t the “working on making things better” start in 2020? We could’ve kept actual fascists out of power, if we’d started then, instead of breathing a sigh of relief and acting like everything was fixed forever.

            • boydster@sh.itjust.works
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              21 hours ago

              I don’t know about you but I don’t have a time machine. I’m stuck in the present timeline. If you’ve got a way back to try and fix this mess, believe me when I say try it and don’t worry of it destroys the current timeline.

              • SwingingTheLamp@piefed.zip
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                21 hours ago

                Even though I recognized the trajectory toward authoritarianism back in 1996 with Pres. Clinton’s Third Way triangulation, and have been saying, guys, we need to start making things better sooner rather than later since then, the past is indeed the past. So, what’s the plan? What are we doing beyond “vote blue” right now to ensure that we don’t have to vote for anti-trans Democrats next time, too?

                • boydster@sh.itjust.works
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                  20 hours ago

                  I love this question, because the answer can be so many things depending on your set, setting, and availability. Engage in local politics and community support.

                  Show up for meetings and listen. Share your thoughts and opinions as you become informed or find you have questions. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Join a local committee. Run for a local office or go further if that’s your path.

                  Get acquainted with your local town office, rec center, senior center, etc. Start volunteering. Serve meals, maybe deliver some. Support a food bank - donations, pickup from local business donors. Promote Progressive voices that are supporting workers’ and people’s rights. Support people doing everything described in the previous paragraph.

                  Gogol Bordello said it first: Think global, act local. Installing a president with true progressive values isn’t a path to success unless there is wider congressional support, so start developing grass roots support or support those that are developing such.

                  Conservatives have spent 50+ years slowly and steadily doing this and fucking over progressive voices all along the way with exuberant neoliberal support on embracing corporate money and influence. It’s a long road back. We need to stop accelerating towards stupidity and it’s the right wing authoritarian cultists that have their foot stuck on the gas pedal so keeping them out of power would be super neato as far as I’m concerned.

        • just_another_person@lemmy.world
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          16 hours ago

          Hol’up…

          Where did you get the idea that “trans people are numerous enough”? Numerous in what, exactly? To swing an election?

          I’m so confused by all the stuff you’re posting around here. It seems you are VERY misinformed about your position in society as a member of a group, and how that affects US elections at large.

          I’m not saying to hold back on your swings or anything, but the crazy vitriol you’re spouting off just seems to say you’re making some wild assumptions that will not play out…

          • Ryanmiller70@lemmy.zip
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            6 hours ago

            It comes from every time a trans person says they will never support a Democrat that stands against them, BlueMAGA comes out yelling at them saying they’re the reason Harris lost and will be blamed when any other Dem loses.

        • pack@sh.itjust.works
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          20 hours ago

          I’m not claiming the trans folk owe the dems shit. I am say the least I can do for marginalized groups is hold my nose and vote for the people who currently aren’t executing policy to harm those groups.

    • Boomer Humor Doomergod@lemmy.world
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      That doesn’t really work unless the candidate is honest in the primary. So you vote for someone thinking they’re one way and they double cross you.

      Yes this is also about Fetterman

      Bottom line: Everything sucks and will forever. Because people suck and always will.

      Vote out of spite.

    • jimmy90@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      man if pro pally or trans folks think the dems have abandoned them, they need to fucking check themselves

      anti dem propoganda like this is bullshit

    • WoodScientist@lemmy.worldOP
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      23 hours ago

      You can always count on two things when a trans person points out how trans people are being taken for a ride by the democrats:

      1. There will be a cis person there to haughtily explain “lesser of evil” math, as if you’re just a stupid tr#nny who is too dumb to understand it, rather than someone who is fully aware of the argument and recognizes that it’s complete bullshit.

      2. There will be a cis person there calling the trans person a foreign agent or Republican plant. Remember, liberals want your vote, not your voice.

      Thank you for proving me right.

      • boydster@sh.itjust.works
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        22 hours ago

        Lol you are so wildly off base it’s actually hilarious

        Edit: I’m trans, ya big ole goofball

      • Pratai@piefed.ca
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        18 hours ago

        So glad the upvote/downvote ratio trends toward rational thought on this one. There is hope for lemmy after all.

      • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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        23 hours ago

        It’s realpolitiks and it’s nasty but frankly speaking not much can be done within the current political system and the actions that can be done without said system most folks don’t have the taste for and the police state makes it pretty damned hard to enact and get away with it. Personally I wish we could just murder and string up every politically powerful transphobe and transphobe enabler but that’s how you suicide by cop as of right now and would be politically damaging.

        It’s a well known issue amongst those of us who are more traditional rednecks, sure you could just shoot the anti-worker pissrag but that by itself is ineffective unless you keep doing it and with modern forensics and surveillance the old ways simply are ineffective.

        But I’ll also admit that my baseline reaction to any authoritarians is basically to just want to kill them. Can’t really see past that but in this case I can’t really theorize how to get politicians to just shut the fuck up beyond putting a knife to their throat and asking about their life insurance policy so FUBAR.

  • zoloftt@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    OP didn’t even read the article they posted before providing commentary as if they did…

    What’s the point of including an article if you didn’t even read it???

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    19 hours ago

    Perfection is unachievable, but go ahead and either don’t vote, vote independent or even vote for the open hatred party. It’s your foot your shooting.

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    24 hours ago

    With FPTP, a candidate from one of the two major parties will win. You’re voting against the greater evil. Primaries are where you vote your conscience and hopefully get the candidate you want on the ballot.

    Thats how it works in practical terms. When you protest vote against the lesser of two evils, you are throwing support to the greater evil.

    • SwingingTheLamp@piefed.zip
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      21 hours ago

      As I keep pointing out, the problem with this argument is that it presumes that the United States is a law of nature, eternal and unshakable, simply the backdrop for our political battles. It is not. That much should be obvious with how much the fascists have managed to dismantle in such a short time.

      Yes, FPTP means that a candidate from one of the two major parties will win. But also, every time a candidate from one of the two major parties wins, we get closer to authoritarianism (slowly with Team Blue, directly with Team Red), and the destruction of the United States. Both things can be true. There’s not always a solution to our problems, or a correct course of action.

      We have to do something other than FPTP with the two, current major parties. Well, no, actually, we don’t have to. It’s only if we want to save the United States (and protect vulnerable minorities) that we do.

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        19 hours ago

        Either you work with the current ‘legal’ democratic system, and vote for the lesser of two evils, and then work within the system to push for what you want with media, lobbying and peaceful protests; or you go with some sort of violent illegal acts - which will probably just get you in jail. If you don’t vote for the better candidate who can win, and just sit on your arse complaining, you won’t get much respect.

        • SwingingTheLamp@piefed.zip
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          10 hours ago

          Yes, those are the options. I chose to advocate for peaceful-as-possible legal reforms of the current system, e.g. the big cities should ‘secede’ from state control, while remaining part of the Union, not unlike the free imperial cities of the Holy Roman Empire. The point here is that voting in the “respectable” way for the lesser-evil party has not, and will not, save us from eventual authoritarianism, any more than the right configuration of deck chairs will keep the ship from foundering. (Well,a better analogy is that one party wants to rip the hull open more, while the other wants to run the pumps even if they can’t keep up with the flooding, and repairing the hole isn’t an option under the regulations.)

          • CannonFodder@lemmy.world
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            5 hours ago

            Maybe it won’t save us, but voting the lesser of two evils will reduce the immediate damage. Better to have someone adjusting the deck chairs than stabbing people and throwing them into the water.
            And we can push in other angles of reform at the same time.

            • SwingingTheLamp@piefed.zip
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              1 hour ago

              When is this pushing other angles of reform ever gonna start? If it didn’t in 2020, I have to wonder. I’m just not satisfied with “everybody gets stabbed, but a few years later” as the best possible outcome.

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    23 hours ago

    Just what the world needs. Attacks on the left wing to help justify Republicans again…

    It’s bullshit posts like this which is why Trump won the last election.

    Left wingers made such a huge deal about a single issue, that they didn’t vote, and allowed a convicted sex offender to win, who has LITERALLY now personally authorised direct war crimes

    There’s a billion fucking reasons to vote for Dems regardless. I’m in Australia, but visited America recently, and I realised, many American’s don’t even realise half of the shit thats happening caused by Trump in and outside their country.

    Trump is attacking Trans people on a daily basis, whereas, democrats aren’t. There is a huge difference, even for trans people. The idea that every single person in the party, needs to support EVERY single request by select communities to approve of them is crazy.

    Its one reason also why compulsory voting (and preferential voting) works so well here in Australia. Because it forces people to pick the BEST candidate and it also allows them to pick the one they want (because, your preferences get prioritised)

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        21 hours ago

        Absolutely.

        It’s like writing articles "Hitlers opposition sucks because they blocked the building of 3 synagogues. Never mind the other 150 they approved, its those 3 that are important…

        Oh, but they’re still better than the others, so vote for them, but complain about it until the election, which totally won’t discourage them in a country where voting isn’t mandatory

        Also, just remember, the personal opinion of 2 senators is what matters.

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    19 hours ago

    Look…just going to be super honest here and say a Super Minority group of maybe 1-2% making electoral threats doesn’t math out, and in the bigger picture of things happening right now only amounts to extortion, and the Gay Community at large can explain to you why this doesn’t work in great detail.

    The words you posted don’t even match the tenor of the article you’ve linked, so I’m feeling this is just a misguided way of putting some bluster out there. At best, you need to side with the people trying to protect you, but in the realm of all logic you’ve apparently decided to make a threat towards them if you don’t get exactly all the things you want on your checklist.

    It’s like yelling “You better give me the money, or I’m going to rob this bank here” to the cops, but you’re standing in a Wendy’s parking lot, and you have no weapons.