Dear friends,
One of the things I find heartening is that in spite of the turbulent shitstorm of insane rhetoric and terrifying state legislation, the masses of Americans are on the side of human rights and democratic policies.
This seems to be true whether we are talking about guns or climate or abortion or health care or basic human rights for trans people.
It is hard to find up-to-date polling on attitudes toward trans people. Nonetheless, as Masha Gessen points out in a recent interview, the hysterical anti-trans legislation is galvanizing for Republicans because it’s
the essence of past-oriented politics. It’s a really convenient signal because some of the most recent and most rapid social change concerns LGBT rights in general, and trans rights and trans visibility in particular.
Promising to take that fear and anxiety away is truly powerful.
Gessen goes on to talk about the value of social acceptance and social transition as greater than — but not unconnected to — access to various kinds of gender-affirming health care. Theirs is a nuanced view, something important and notably hard to find.
I’ll leave you with one more hopeful quote, in which Gessen describes a moment of recognition — what it felt like to experience social acceptance:
I remember getting on my bike in Manhattan, maybe four or five years ago, and suddenly realizing that this sense that I am unrecognizable, unintelligible to the world in which I live, was gone. I would bike down the Hudson River Greenway, and people would see a transgender, or gender-nonconforming, person, riding down the Hudson River Greenway. And maybe there would still be children tugging their parents’ sleeves and saying, Is that a man or a woman? But fewer. And the parent would probably be able to say, “Well, that’s probably a transgender person.”
I know that New York is not the whole nation, nor the whole world. And I also know that Gessen is correct that we are seeing a backlash to a change in society that is well underway.
Read the interview with Masha Gessen: What We Talk About When We Talk About Trans Rights.
Here is a sampling of headlines that demonstrate where the public stands:
The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Own Poll Found Most New Yorkers Support a Gas Ban in New Buildings
88 percent in new poll support background checks on all gun sales
Public opinion is not the same thing as policy and it is also deeply significant. The president seems to be readying an executive order to create universal background checks for gun purchases.
This isn’t a headline, but it’s a key point, as we battle bad legislation:
Even in Florida — which I’ve started to think of as a malignant growth we need to see someone about — supporters of Trump and DeSantis are not supportive of many of their bone-headed policies.
When asked about a potential open carry concealed weapon law, 62 percent of state Republican respondents said they oppose the proposed bill, while 36 percent of those surveyed said they support the passing of the bill.
Sixty-one percent of state Republican respondents said they oppose another proposed bill that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, and 34 percent of those surveyed said they support passing of the bill.
I’m not going to wring my hands about Florida. I am going to point out that when the public wants to defend our rights, we may face uphill battles AND we can win. Another headline:
Abortion rights amendment clears another hurdle in Ohio. Now the signature gathering begins
Wisconsin is in the midst of a super-consequential Supreme Court election.
Phonebank to get out the vote in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election!
If you hate to phone bank and have more money than time, pull out your credit card:
Help support the Building for Women in Duluth, the ONLY abortion provider serving Northeastern Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and beyond.
None of this is easy. We are in an environment in which lies — repeated on the ‘news’ and by official sources — can obfuscate the truth and shape the public discourse.
You may recall having heard that Tortuguita — the environmental activist who was shot and killed by police while protesting Cop City — had fired first. This lie came from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which said that officers fired on Tortuguita in self defense.
"Both [Tortuguita’s] left and right hands show exit wounds in both palms. The autopsy further reveals that [they were] most probably in a seated position, cross-legged when killed," lawyers said in a press release.
Last month, Tortuguita's family said they were shot at least a dozen times.
The state trooper — whom the Georgia BOI claimed that Tortuguita shot — seems to have been killed by ‘friendly fire’ from other law enforcement.
The public is not as easily fooled as we may fear. Portraying environmental activists and those who oppose excessive police power as fringe elements doesn’t play well in many precincts. Another headline:
Resistance to Atlanta’s Cop City Ramps Up
Add your voice to Stop Cop City. It’s a quick action!
In Burlington, VT, voters turned out in support of police oversight board. Although the ballot measure didn’t pass, it made a strong showing. People for Police Accountability had a little over $1600 from small individual donations, while the opposition was funded by over $12,700, mainly from local landlords.
It’s Burlington, so the dollar amounts are quaintly small, but the disproportional impact of deep-pocketed donors is the same everywhere. With about one-eighth of the budget, the People for Police Accountability got 37 percent of the vote. It is a reminder that we have to put our money — even in small amounts — to work.
Yesterday, I felt very out-of-sorts. Today, I am feeling more hopeful. The good news installments are a reminder that we keep on moving forward. Thanks for taking action!
with love,
L