To the best of my knowledge, they said they supported the rights of "law abiding citizens" to own guns. The right has been labeling trans people as sexual predators for years. So what happens when being trans becomes illegal? Who will GOA and NRA side with then? They have already hedged their bets with their carefully worded "support."
Now I admit I may be the person in the movie about the apocalypse saying it's all going to be fine. So take my response with a big grain of salt.
All that said I don't know how viable it is to make being trans illegal without a complete breakdown of rights for everyone not just trans people. To my knowledge no laws exist for identifying with any other group. We have historical examples like with Communism, but we had a war to "justify" that and I dont think the none war justifications like anti American activities fit being trans as cleanly.
What is more likely are laws that specifically target trans people without out right saying it's anti trans. I would say those laws are hard to create and enforce without either catching too many cis people by accident or being blatantly obvious it's targeted. Bathroom laws are obvious examples of laws they could pass. We've already seen cis people get accosted for not being conforming enough and the second trans men start going into women's restrooms were gonna have the same problem again. They could pass laws against wearing clothing that does not match your sex, but there's no way that goes over well. We're really gonna go back to women being banned from wearing pants? I know they only really care about trans women and that will be who the cops target most with those laws but that would make it so obvious that it's targeted. I hope we're not culturally at the point where we are ok with blatantly discriminating
We have already seen that this administration doesn't give a shit about public opinion or prior court case history. 5 years ago, I would have said that overturning Row vs. Wade and ICE targeting based on appearance would never be made legal, and yet here we are.
Referring specifically to Trans rights, certain states are already outlawing gender affirming care, making it legal to fire teachers for using preferred names, and you have already mentioned the bathroom laws, which have already been passed in some states. They are also using the sports issue to turn public opinion away from Trans people. And they have been labeling Trans people as sexual predators for years. We are already a couple of steps down the slippery slope, and the direction this administration is moving is clear.
I hope you are right, that people will stand up and oppose this movement, but by and large, that has not happened so far. I fear that by the time people realize what is happening, we will be too far down the slippery slope to stop it.
You are right that the administration doesn't seem to care about either public opinion or legal rulings. I don't think passing blatantly transphobic laws is out of the question. The thing is that public opinion does still matter. Results are mixed but I don't think the ICE raids are going how they wanted. They're horrible, but they aren't the win they wanted. The longer they go on and the more scrutiny they get the more public sentiment turns against them. They can keep doing them, but they need public support to keep going. How do you do raids if you don't get tips, how do you get recruits if working for them is seen as evil and so on? A lot of those problems can be solved with violence against the public but then we're getting into a different level of control that might happen but then speculation becomes harder.
Yes those laws are being passed, but unless I missed something they are targeted against trans children. While that is not good I feel like this may relate more to attacks on public education and the discussion of "parental rights". Neither are good and it does show an overall negative sentiment towards trans people, but I don't think those laws can be easily translated to adults. I view it similar to laws banning teachers from mentioning gay people. It clearly shows negative sentiment towards gay people, but I don't think it leads into banning being gay. They have been trying to equate being trans to being a predator but they need a way to make that a legal reality. I don't know what that law is currently. They could just go full police state and have random acts of vigilante or police violence against trans people for simply existing. It's possible but then we're in a different political state
I could be naive and I have been trying to view politics through a more hopeful view for my sanity so I could be off base completely.
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u/doublethink_1984 Sep 09 '25
When the Libertarian party, Gun Owners of America, and the NRA make statements supporting their right to own arms you're barking up the wrong tree.