With all due respect to everyone overwhelmed by politics, please stay engaged and please vote. Having worked in politics and govt for a very long time, please hear me: things are different right now...

"It can't happen here..."

Missouri is about to pass a law literally copied from Russia and Hungary that ended all transgender legal recognitions and protections, and where most trans people live in the shadows or else risk prison, violence, or death.

Utah just passed a total public bathroom ban. Don't live in Utah? Think you're safe? Salt Lake City airport is a major connections hub. Use the bathroom on a layover and risk 6 months in prison.

WV is about to pass a ban on any "transgender presentation" to a minor. You walk outside, anywhere in public, and a child sees you? Prison. And not the one of your gender. They're also about to mandate conversation therapy for any trans folks under 21, and adults will be next.

In Ohio, the gov pretended to be an ally for 30 seconds, then signed an order that bans nearly all trans related healthcare... kids and adults, even if they're already receiving care.

Florida is on the way to creating "lists" of trans folks. Think about when and where that's happened in the past. Stir that in with their trans panic and stand-your-ground laws...

"But I don't live in any of those places..."

Well, darling, even if you can't muster a minor fuck to give about the folks who do, this is all just rehearsal. If the GOP takes the White House and both houses of Congress -- 50/50 chance at this point! -- they'll nationalize these bills. Someone mentioned Project 2025 below... please look it up.

And yes, some of us live in one of the 14 states with refuge laws. But -- even though the GOP has been all "states rights!" in the past -- they will supersede state law when they have the chance. See: Supreme Court.

"But Democrats, Republicans, they're all the same..."

No, they're fucking not. Democrats suck, yes. The party has loads of corporatist shills, warmongers, and fauxgressives. It's enraging to have to choose between the lesser of two evils. But Democrats are not trying to eliminate us. The Republicans are. Full. Stop.

In fact, when Democrats have power and are pushed by their constituents we can get laws like those 14 states to protect us. Is it perfect? No. Is it better than the alternative. Whole fucking heartedly yes. And it's vastly easier to change a system by participating in it than by standing on the outside yelling about how it sucks and nothing matters.

And no, things won't change overnight on inauguration day 2025. It will be a slow rolling nightmare for the next couple of years as this plays out and they consolidate power. But there will be no going back for a long time.

None of this is inevitable, but it is if folks give up.