“Picture it,” Roem, now a groundbreaking politician who also was a journalist back then, wrote later about that time: “a five-foot- eleven, long-haired brunette metal-head trans lady reporter wearing a rainbow bandana, an A-line skirt, and a black hoodie … screaming obscenities behind the wheel of her four-door ’92 Dodge Shadow America.”
Not the usual gauzy pitch to voters. But in Tuesday’s election, the onetime scribe and heavy metal singer scored her fourth election victory, breaking through to the state Senate and overcoming a pitched effort from Republicans and their allies to use her transgender identity as a cudgel.
The electorate is giving less and less and less of a shit about gay and trans people in public or private life.
“OMG she’s a he! Or was! Whatever, it’s a degenerate!”
Yeah, don’t give a fuck.
Damned funny watching the GOP struggle for a hateful message that sticks. But we must be cautious.
No one but Catholics gave two shits about abortion a few decades back. Voters were caring less and less about school segregation and there were Evangelical leaders casting about for a new wedge issue. And they got it with abortion. (I know that sounds conspiracy level nuts, but have a look for yourself. It’s all plainly documented.)
Yep! I’ve studied extensively on this. The only part you might have left out is that the reason the evangelicals suddenly cared about politics is because the US government was forcing them to racially integrate their all-white Christian bible colleges. They made abortion the wedge issue, but the reason they needed a wedge issue was racism.
Yup. The Guardian put out a great article about that path in 2021, here.