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.
Elections won't end capitalism but when it comes to civil rights voting really is a matter of "who would you rather be shouting at" and the professed progressives will always be easier to push even if we still have to push and push
the CIA has a longstanding tradition of spreading messaging, in countries it wishes to disrupt, to the effect that voting is pointless
when you hear messaging that voting in the US is pointless you should consider it with that in mind
academics who study authoritarianism have been clear: cling to every shred of democracy, fight for every single bit of process and procedure. yes the system as a whole is bullshit and will not save us, but still, there is a party that openly advocates for killing us all and a party that does not specifically have that as a goal, and sometimes even helps slightly. we should be voting for the latter.
voting by itself will not save us, we may very well all die horribly at the hands of the state, but we still need to vote. we just shouldn't let our activism stop there, we need to do more.
vote every year for every ballot measure. if a vote is coming up for local office, see who's running. know who's running.
also, primaries. vote in the primaries. either side. now, this one can get tricky - thanks to the partisan regulations, you cannot usually vote in more than one primary, and in some jurisdictions (New York for instance), you must only vote in the primary of the party you are registered in. And register party affiliation months ahead of election time, with crooked deadlines. But be aware of that bullshit, if it pertains to your jurisdiction, and work through it.
pay attention to all of the candidates running, in both of major parties - democrat and republican. weigh them out - is this democrat fighting for trans lives, or for oil? is this republican a noted broiling fascist and/or a jan. 6 co-conspirator?
go in and look at the party you're not on. if they're about to get another fash governor or senator or president, and they're running in the primary, switch your party affiliation if you have to, to their party, swallow the indignity of "being a republican", and vote against them. nobody has to know you're registering republican except the election commission, and you can always vote outside your party in the general elections.
if you're in a "comfortably blue" state, know what districts are red. is it only blue in the big city? you're in trouble. has there been Big Redistricting with a lot of controversy? you're in trouble. Are you in New York? Suffolk County? Brookhaven? You're in Trouble.
just to be clear - New York State, often called a "blue" state, is deep red outside of the immediate NYC and college town areas. A bunch of districts got gerrymandered and shuffled this past midterm season. We nearly got Lee Zeldin for governor - a man who gives DeSantis a run for his money on the fash scale.
We already have fascist state governors in a sizeable minority of states. adding any one more is losing the game, and leads to people being unable to survive.
