i really, truly, don't want to hear "i refuse to vote dem because they aren't doing anything for trans people" ever again, especially from people who don't know they were quietly advancing trans rights at least as far back as the early 2000s, possibly longer (i was too young and not paying attention before then). and doing it quietly so that the GOP didn't latch on with culture war crap while changes were first starting and even more vulnerable to attack.
the good stuff rarely gets headlines, both because only negative stories get clicks, and because staying low-key until absolutely necessary throws off the GOP. pay attention. be active. and also vote.
the dems will always trail the movement, but that's how politics works. You make it politically embarrassing for the closest party with a critical mass to not do the thing, and then they can justify it to their own people.
Which, as amy says, has been working, if slow and covert.
I grew up during the 2000s/2010s and there was definitely progress made in the background. Learning more about trans history lately has been super eye opening, as all of the big conversations about it are recent, but there was clearly smaller conversations happening before. People need to still fight for trans rights as the conversation gets bigger. Ignoring the progress that has been made just because it wasn't loud is pointless and harmful.
also important to remember how much the dems accomplished by being quiet and careful about how they went about gay marriage. it was a very long term plan to slowly weaken bills limiting marriage while expanding civil partnerships. they were able to do a LOT, more than i really have the time to go into deeply here but it happened because it was subtle and wasn’t ruffling any feathers.
if you were paying attention to politics in 2004 you may remember how angry the dems were that then SF mayor Newsom started issuing marriage licenses. while it certainly felt good, it woke the sleeping bear of republican outrage and derailed multiple in flight laws that would have paved the way to a faster and more complete victory on gay marriage.
you’ll be hard pressed to find any direct quotes about this but as someone who was deep in politics at a time there was admission from the Newsom camp that he had erred on how quickly he went for it. if you talked to aides in the Pelosi circle you could tell how furious they were because he started the process immediately after being read in on the larger strategy and they all saw it as a betrayal to score personal points. now, i think there is plenty to break down and discuss on failures of incrementalism but the gay marriage strategy shifted public opinion faster than any other in the history of the US.
We are in a different time and our opponents are more vitriolic than ever before so quiet slow progress may not be possible but it’s fucking insane to me when trans/queer folk say shit like “it doesn’t matter, both sides are the same.” umm maybe in actual economics neolibs are basically proto-conservatives (thanks clintons) but in social issues?? what are you ON??
also to be clear i’m not defending the DCCC or similar orgs because boy have they made mistakes. but like one party wishes you didn’t exist and the other isn’t doing as much as you want the one is clearly better than the other.