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this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2025
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Agree. LGBTQ and other issues are important, but they are fringe issues. Democrats should be focused on appealing to the average voter, whoever that is by focusing on issues that affect MOST people like wages, healthcare, housing, childcare, labor rights, etc. You only get to take care of the fringes if you have power and that means winning over the non-fringes.
Edit: the downvotes on here are frankly selfish as hell. What’s your response even? No one even has the guts to share, so here is my guess — “My niche political issue impacts 1-5% of the population, but politicians should focus on me. Even if it obviously won’t win an election and will instead usher in even more wins for the far right, politicians should focus on my issues rather than those common to all people. It’s better to sink the entire ship, if I can’t get my wins immediately rather than build a movement that incrementally makes progress.”
Despite the opposition, you are correct. We need to focus on issues that will win elections, not issues that affect a miniscule minority. The best help for those people is a government that will support them, so they have to understand that getting out of the way, and allowing their supporters to get elected is the best thing they can do.
If transgender people and their supporters want action, then stop demanding that the focus be on them, and support other Democratic issues that will lead to getting elected. THEN they can advocate for their rights with people who will actually listen.
Trans people want to blend into the woodwork. We don't want to be front and center. The only reason there's so much focus on us right now is because the Nazi right wants to exterminate us, but thanks for throwing us under the bus like a true neoliberal. Guess we'll just die then.
How is saying we are deserving of human rights demanding the focus be on us? The only fucking reason we have been so in the news is solely because of the right trying to make our very care and existence in public illegal? Should we just say "we shouldn't advocate for our rights until the Democrats win?" Because then what's to stop the Democrats from "winning" by throwing trans people under the bus and saying we deserve to be ostracized? The left-ish party won in the UK and they've been shitty to trans people too.
We shouldn't just stop fighting when people are literally trying to make us kill ourselves and to make our existence illegal. All democrats need to say is "Trans people are deserving of human rights, they should be treated like everyone else, should be allowed to have care and be accepted into society and do whatever anyone else can do. Now let's get back to how I want to make it cheaper to live".
We had a candidate in Harris who barely mentioned trans people and that allowed the right to go unchallenged in that area. You can't just abandon or ignore us, a simple heartfelt defense is all that is necessary, have it in your platform, and then move on to the other more impactful for the rest of the populace policies.
Edit: we've been around for forever and only just recently been so present in the news because of the right wing. That's not our want. We would rather be able to live and exist without the world looking on us as an "issue".
I am a straight white dude and the attack on trans people very much affects me. It affects all of us. They aren't going to stop there. I'm not willing to toss our friends and family to the wolves because we apparently have better things to focus on. We can speak to pocketbook issues while protecting people at the same time. It's not a binary choice.
I'm not saying those people aren't important, I'm saying they shouldn't be the highest priority when deciding which issues to highlight during a presidential campaign. Sure, transpeople need our support, but their issue personally affects a far smaller segment of the population than an issue like healthcare, which affects literally EVERYBODY.
The First Rule of Politics is Get Elected, and that means highlighting the issues that will bring you the most votes. Once elected, then you can do whatever you want to help whoever you want. If you are one of those people who needs that sort of support (not just transfolk), then focus more on what it will take to get your advocates into power, instead of just using the campaign to highlight your own personal issues. Get your people elected, and then pressure them to help you.
This is what politics is, and why it often gets smarmy in practice, but that's the game. If you want to win, you have to play it.