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Demonstrators call for the repeal of HB2 in Raleigh, North Carolina, on April 25, 2016.Demonstrators call for the repeal of HB2 in Raleigh, North Carolina, on April 25, 2016.that the party is attempting to adjust its tone on trans issues following its crushing losses in the 2024 election, instead seeking a sort of middle ground that won’t “inflame” voters.
The myth that Democrats were too radical on trans issues has been echoed by various mainstream pundits in the wake of Donald Trump’s return to the White House. In reality, moderate Democrats largely declined to speak out about trans rights on the campaign trail. The Democratic National Convention, for instance, didhost Bret Baier asked Vice President Kamala Harris whether she would support gender-affirming care for people incarcerated in federal prisons if elected president — a central focus of one of the Trump campaign’s major attack ads.. “And it’s a law that Donald Trump actually followed.” Her response was emblematic of the Democrats’ preferred line: pivot to focus on the law, but avoid defending trans people specifically. The right-wing attacks on trans people are so vicious and pervasive — and Democrats’ response so milquetoast — that it can be easy to forget recent history. Not that long ago, legislation targeting trans people was quite rare. And when it was implemented, it faced widespread pushback.Nine years ago, North Carolina Republicans passed the state’s infamous “bathroom bill,” or HB 2. The first law of its kind in the country, HB 2 mandated that trans people use the bathroom matching the sex on their birth certificate and banned municipalities from passing local nondiscrimination ordinances. I was a senior in high school at the time, and I, like many other North Carolinians, remember the controversy well. It triggered a massive boycott,Republican Gov. Pat McCrory reelection. North Carolina has had a Democratic governor ever since, despite swinging red for Trump in each of the presidential elections. Looking back from the vantage point of 2025, it’s pretty shocking to see how full-throated the opposition was to HB 2’s attack on trans people. The law’s passagethe National Collegiate Athletic Association to pull nearly two dozen championships from North Carolina in 2016 — a massive blow to a state known for its love of college sports. The National Basketball Association also moved its all-star game from Charlotte, North Carolina, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Major corporations, from Coca-Cola to Apple to Ralph Lauren,it would cancel its multimillion-dollar expansion in Charlotte, and Google’s venture capital wing said it wouldn’t invest in any North Carolina start-ups until the law was repealed. Major television and film production studios, including Lionsgate and thePerhaps even more striking were the travel bans. Cities and states implemented policies prohibiting government employees from taking publicly funded trips to North Carolina. Thesethe states of Washington, Connecticut, New York, Vermont and Minnesota, as well as the cities of Santa Fe, Salt Lake City and San Francisco, among others. “As long as there is a law in North Carolina that creates the grounds for discrimination against LGBT people, I am barring non-essential state travel to that state,”Of course, that was the era of peak corporate pride. The companies speaking out against HB 2 did so because defending LGBTQ rights was in vogue, and they wanted to help their bottom lines. This is abundantly obvious in 2025, as companies now’s critics were right all along. How far we have strayed from the days when public opinion at least leaned in the direction of “discrimination is bad.” Less than three months into this year, 40 anti-trans bills haveThis current blitz of anti-trans legislation, when held against the far-reaching, multisector boycott of HB 2 in 2016, shows how far right this country’s politics have swung. But this history also underscores the axiom that progress isn’t linear. We are in a reactionary moment, yes, but the average U.S. voter’s alleged antipathy toward trans people is far from a settled fact. In light of the unpopularity of abortion bans, Republicans have chosen trans people as their newest wedge issue, scapegoating the LGBTQ community through fearmongering and lies.eradicated from public life. We must continue to defend the rights of the trans community, not because it is sometimes popular, but because it is always right.As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate. Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit. As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models., we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws.and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keepThe Intercept, The Baffler, Labor Notes, Los Angeles MagazineAs we rise to confront Trump’s fascism, Truthout appeals for your support. We just fell short of our fundraising goals, and any contribution you can make is a tangible act of resistance. Will you make a one-time or monthly donation today?
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