Over the past month, California Governor Gavin Newsom has been making headlines for all the right reasons: he's led an effort to respond to Texas Republicans' push to further gerrymander their state, used his profile to pressure Border Patrol and ICE, and found a very effective-and hilarious-way to get under Trump's skin through his Press Office's parodies of the president's writing style. All of these actions have catapulted him to national stardom, where he's taken on the role of leading the fight against the Trump administration.
However, to the trans community, his rise only brings fear. Because before these developments, he was trying to win over potential voters in a very different way: by abandoning the LGBTQ+ community.
In the United States, California has long had a reputation. And not just for its stereotyped sunny weather, surfer culture, and affluent, snobby culture, but for its liberal politics as well. California Democrats are synonymous-especially in more Republican-leaning areas-with the liberal style of politics conservatives detest. It's so difficult to overcome that despite California's large population and plethora of Democratic figures with a national profile, of the three presidents from California, none of them have been Democrats.
Evidently, Newsom is facing an uphill battle. So he's set off to appear more palatable to conservatives, starting with LGBTQ+ issues. Beginning in 2024, he started attempting to suppress pro-LGBTQ+ bills while they were still in the legislature in order to keep him from having to either veto them-losing progressives-or sign them-angering conservatives. Then, he went public with his new opinions during a conversation with Charlie Kirk on his podcast earlier this year, calling trans athletes' participation in girls' and women's sports 'deeply unfair.' And more recently, he signalled he changed his stance on gender-affirming care for minors as well.
I don't know of anyone that's asking for that. We're just asking for someone who isn't a monster. But the Dems aren't interested in running anyone unless they are a monster.
Lol? Newsom is a monster? Harris is a monster? Wtf are you talking about?
This is actually my point. Because they have one policy you don't like, they're a monster. This is what kept people home. This is why Trump is president. Congrats. Republicans will be united while we demonize politicians that are 90% great. No, I don't like Newsom's track record on trans rights. No, I don't like Harris' track record on Israel. Let's handle that after the fucking most terrible people are defeated. Let's defeat them so many times that they all have to move farther towards our goals.
Fuck, if they're even 50% good they're still 50% better than fucking fascist.
Yes, a monster:
Did you see him proudly destroy people's homes? https://www.newsweek.com/gavin-newsom-clears-homeless-encampment-1937018
He Veto'd a bill to cap insulin prices. He Veto bills to build social and LGBTQ+ teen housing. He veto'd a bill to provide hearing-aids to kids. He veto'd a bill to make the rich pay taxes. He ran on a single-payer healthcare system, then when he had the power to do so, immediately backed down (after his party conveniently recieved a large payment from health-care companies). He Veto'd a bill to let striking workers keep their insurance. He Veto'd a bill that banned employers from retalliating against picketers. I can keep going if you want.
So yes, I think the word "monster" is appropriate.
No, Trump is president because the supposedly "opposition party" does nothing for the voters they claim to represent. They spend their time supporting and backing the Republicans, and their rich donors. If you want people to stop staying home, then get the Democrats to push politicians that voters actually want, rather than shoving more neoliberal nonsense down our throats.
Queer people aren’t fucking stupid, we know rights don’t come from politely waiting for ‘our turn.’ It turns out there is always some new crises that make queer rights ‘impractical’ or ‘the wrong time’ for it.
If demanding trans people don’t get thrown under the bus is going to kill democracy forever then you better be on the ass of any Democratic candidate to not throw trans people to the wolves, or don’t be surprised when you can’t scream at queer people until they vote for a transphobe.
nevermind that i have ZERO faith in democrats to actually reverse anything that trump is doing.
we don't need a centrist candidate we need a populist who will burn down everything trump did and massively reset the government.
Keep doing what you're doing then. Seems like it's working!
The last time we had real progress in this country was when Democrats held power for over 30 years. The entire country moved to the left. It took the right 60 years to convince you that coalitions are bad and compromise is evil. They're winning and it's because they're united while convincing us not to be.
How has the Democrats strategy been working out? I find it curious that you think the best progress that we had was over 30 years ago, yet the Democratic party we have now is massively to the right of the Democrats back then. Maybe they should try what has been proven to work, rather than what is obviously not working.
Blaming the homos for the state of everything is nothing new, but congrats on finding a “progressive” spin for it.
Again, if the queer vote is world endingly important, then fucking act like it. Go scream at Newsom to suck less, not at queer people about how they should shut up and take it.
https://i.imgur.com/FjYcCCt.mp4
Not sure why you posted this in reply to me, and I’m left to guess since you didn’t say anything. It’s not news to any trans person that we’re politically targeted to drum up the Republican base, not because anti-trans policies are popular.
I shared it because I think it's important that we understand how the right organizes to weaponize our beliefs against us. Trans people may understand it intimately, but not everyone on the left does.
The republicans have been very effective in hiding what they truly believe to get votes. It's working extremely well for them, in fact, as we can see now. They read the room, then keep quiet about certain policies that would cause voters to shy away from them.
I'm not saying that's the tactic the left should take, but it's worth study and thought. If harm reduction and generational policy shifting is the goal, we may need to be a little more coy about messaging. If harm reduction isn't the goal, then I'm going to need to be brought up to speed on the plan for revolution.