A hate-filled tsunami made landfall following Donald Trump’s election victory—this one directed at ladies, transgender individuals, and, principally, anybody who isn’t cisgender and white.
Floods of “your body, my choice” echoed throughout social media whereas violent race-targeted textual content messages had been despatched to Black college students in excessive colleges and faculties across the nation.
And the bigoted rest room bans that concentrate on transgender individuals have popped up in Ohio and within the halls of Congress.
Following the felon-elect’s win, Ohio grew to become the most recent state to enact anti-trans laws banning Okay-12 college students from utilizing loos that align with their gender identities.
This ban is the biggest of its kind thus far, because it additionally applies to personal faculties and universities.
Moreover, the invoice mandates that colleges can’t have “all-gender” restrooms or locker rooms apart from single-occupancy or household services.
Nonetheless, Ohio’s new invoice, handed by the Republican-controlled legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine the day earlier than Thanksgiving, doesn’t stand alone.
As NBC Information reported, a number of different states have handed related payments since 2022, together with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah.
Republican lawmakers, together with in Ohio, usually cite baseless studies that permitting transgender individuals to make use of loos of their alternative places individuals at bodily threat and will increase violence. However as NBC Information famous, there’s no proof to assist such claims.
In different phrases, it’s simply hate-filled rhetoric to justify bigotry.
The Trump crew closely campaigned on this transphobia, spending greater than $21 million within the final month of the marketing campaign on TV advertisements to faucet into this bigotry.
“Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you,” Trump’s advert proclaimed.
The advert, which featured chopped and misconstrued clips from an previous Kamala Harris interview, attacked a coverage that assisted imprisoned transgender individuals with gender-affirming care.
What Trump’s advert didn’t embrace, nevertheless, was the a part of Harris’ interview through which she factors out that Trump adopted the identical regulation throughout his first time period within the White Home.
Jail insurance policies apart, Trump has traditionally gone after transgender people even in his first time period — together with reinstating a decades-old transgender navy ban.
The incoming president and his Vice President JD Vance have additionally closely campaigned on rolling again transgender rights after they take workplace.
On Trump’s web site, he vows to “signal a brand new government order instructing each federal company to stop all applications that promote the idea of intercourse and gender transition at any age.”
Trump’s actions appear to have given the inexperienced mild for different transphobic officers, together with Ohio’s governor, to create hate and fear-based laws.
Republicans as a complete dropped $215 million on anti-trans promoting in 2024, in accordance with knowledge obtained by AdImpact and reported on by Washington Submit reporter Casey Parks.
In the meantime, MAGA crony Nancy Mace, the congresswoman from South Carolina, has devoted her time for the reason that election to focusing on the primary overtly transgender member of Congress, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride of Delaware. She launched a invoice that will particularly ban McBride from utilizing the toilet that matches her gender identification within the U.S. Capitol.
GOP Home Speaker Mike Johnson instantly gave his assist for the invoice.
“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,” the Louisiana Republican mentioned in a press release.
Regardless of calling herself “pro-transgender rights” simply final yr, Mace has devoted herself to her new anti-trans assaults and has repeatedly attacked “mentally ill” transgender individuals on her social media accounts.
Responding to the laws seemingly directed at her, McBride mentioned, “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families. Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.”
