No One Left Behind: Why We Must Stand with Our Trans Siblings—and Call Out the Real Threat

Democrats and even the LGBTQIA+ community struggle answering this question, when the moral and political stand is crystal clear.

Old Glory and Queer Glory, BFF.

Yesterday I got a push poll phone call.

I almost didn’t answer, but I figured, sure, let’s see what some party or group thinks is so important that they’re spending money on polling.

It turns out, it was likely from a Democratic campaign, which, you know, cool, I’m down to help hone messaging.

But this was about Trans issues and Trans rights, and every “answer” they pushed at me was so weak and muddled and mealy-mouthed that it made me want to smash my phone.

Let’s be crystal clear.

Trans people are human beings. They are our siblings, our children, our friends, our coworkers, our neighbors. They are not an abstraction. They are not a debate. They are not a threat.

They are people. Full stop. And they deserve every single right that every American is supposed to be guaranteed.

The relentless attacks we’re seeing on trans lives right now—legislation banning health care, targeting kids, policing bathrooms, and fueling public vitriol—are not only cruel. They are a deliberate distraction. A smokescreen. A shameful tactic by a Republican Party that no longer even pretends to govern in good faith. This isn't about "protecting children" or "parental rights." It's about fear, control, and power. And while the right stokes outrage over drag shows and pronouns, they’re gutting democracy, ignoring the real crises facing our nation, and enabling a man who’s dragging us toward a full-blown Constitutional crisis.

Yes, I’m talking about Donald Trump. A man found liable for sexual assault. A man who incited an insurrection. A man facing dozens of felony charges and openly promising to use a second term to dismantle our institutions and punish his enemies. The fact that Republicans are focused on demonizing a tiny, vulnerable population instead of reckoning with that should tell you everything you need to know.

This moment demands clarity. It demands courage. And frankly, it demands that we stop mincing words.

There is no moral high ground in silence. No strategic value in being polite about injustice. You cannot "both sides" human rights. Either you believe all people deserve dignity, safety, and equality under the law—or you don’t. And if you’re not willing to say that trans people *deserve* to live fully and safely as themselves, then you’re part of the problem.

I don’t care if this offends someone’s politics. If your political ideology requires the erasure or subjugation of others, maybe your ideology is the problem. If you're more concerned with how “divisive” it feels to support your trans coworker than you are with actual kids being denied medical care and kicked out of schools, you need to ask yourself why your comfort is more important than someone else's survival.

I will not sit by and let the bad-faith actors on the right frame this moment. I will not concede rhetorical ground to people who have shown, time and again, that they are more interested in cruelty than solutions. We should call it what it is: performative outrage and naked political manipulation.

Why? Because when we’re fighting over bathrooms, we’re not talking about the fact that our democracy is hanging by a thread. When we’re wringing our hands over sports teams, we’re not talking about the fact that Trump and his allies are actively plotting to dismantle the federal government as we know it. When we let them frame trans people as a "problem," we are wasting precious time and energy while the real arsonists burn the house down.

We need to be better. We need to be braver.

Standing with our trans siblings isn’t just about allyship—it’s about reclaiming our shared humanity. It’s about reminding ourselves what kind of country we *say* we want to be. And it’s about refusing to let the most cynical, corrupt voices in American politics define who we are and what we care about.

I’ve heard people say they’re “tired” of this conversation. That it’s “too complicated.” That we should “focus on bigger issues.”

You know what’s exhausting? Living under constant attack for simply existing. You know what’s complicated? Navigating a society that politicizes your identity at every turn. You know what the bigger issue *actually is*? The rise of authoritarianism, the weakening of the rule of law, and the fact that while we bicker over trans kids playing soccer, our institutions are being hollowed out from the inside.

We cannot separate these struggles. They are the same. Dehumanization is always a prelude to bigger destruction. If they can erase the rights of one group, they can—and will—come for others. History has shown us this again and again.

So no, I will not “tone it down.” I will not pretend that this is just another policy disagreement. I will not throw anyone under the bus to make someone else feel more comfortable. No one gets left behind. That’s the deal. That’s the promise. And if we want to keep it, we have to start acting like it.

We need to show up louder, prouder, and more unapologetically than ever before—not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because the soul of this country is at stake.

Trans people are not a distraction. They are not the problem.

But Republicans sure are.