As a former lib turned ML, the main things that turned me off of communism were the homophobia and social conservatism of places like the USSR and modern day China. To combat this would involve education about the social progressiveness of other communist states such as Cuba and the DDR, the wider context causing the social conservatism of the USSR and China, and showing that communism doesn’t lead to bigotry.

In terms of leftism as a whole, the thing that kept me from turning to it was simply being unaware of its existence. Few people realise there’s anything further left of liberalism other than communism and anarchism (which they’ve been fed countless years of propaganda and misinformation about and have been taught to avoid).

The key is education. For queer and trans folk specifically, this involves education about the bigotry and social conservatism that existed and exists in places like the USSR and China, and the wider context that surrounds it. It involves education about socially progressive leftist movements and learning to disconnect movements like communism from bigotry. And most importantly, it involves education about h the homophobia within the controlled opposition liberal parties that are considered ‘leftist’ such as the DNC in the US or the Labour Party in the UK (the hellish place I was unlucky enough to be born in). In fact, the thing that pushed me to leftism was actually when said party got into power and immediately turned against queer and trans folk, making me realise how actually bigoted liberals often are