As most of you are aware, since Kamala Harris’s election loss (which trans people were not in charge of nor responsible for), Democratic politicians and pundits have been signaling that they plan to throw trans people under the bus. Sadly, this came to fruition last week, when Republican congressperson Nancy Mace pressed house speaker Mike Johnson to
  • davidagain@lemmy.worldEnglish
    162·
    18 days ago

    So the plan is to boycott the Democrats because of all the terrible things the Republicans are doing, and keep boycotting the Democrats until they succeed in stopping the Republicans from dismantling trans rights?

    • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      7·
      18 days ago

      The plan is to only boycott them if they ignore the campaign to pressure them to continue supporting LGBTQ+ rights.

      The planned action is first to demand Democrats hold the line and continue supporting LGBTQ+ rights, and to threaten withholding votes if they don’t comply.

      From the article:

      I am but one person and cannot speak for our entire community. But here’s what I propose in the spirit of Queer Nation, who in the 1990s carried out myriad protests under the same banner but with no singular leader or directive.

      I propose that on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024 (the first day that both the House and Senate are back in session), all of us who are invested in this issue and have a platform (whether it be a blog, newsletter, column, podcast, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc.) publish a piece with the shared title: “LGBTQ+ People Are Not Going Back.” Yes, I know, it’s a cheesy title, but it holds Democrats accountable to their own talking points and makes it clear that backsliding on LGBTQ+ rights is nonnegotiable for us.

      What you write or say or express in your op-ed or article or video or podcast etcetera is up to you. I encourage you to make it personal and feel free to tailor it to your audience. My only request (other than all of us using the same title) is that you implore people to contact their Congressperson and Senators (and perhaps even local politicians) and tell them that 1) you will not tolerate any backpedaling on LGBTQ+ rights whatsoever, and 2) if they fail to strongly stand up against these attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, then you will take your vote elsewhere next election.

        • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          2·
          17 days ago

          Just wanted to say I get that; I’m not fond of the Democrats but I tend to vote for them as a lesser-evil situation (not that it matters, I live in a place where my vote is irrelevant). I am not a single-issue voter, I think there is a role for LGBTQ+ voters even if both parties are against us (after all this was how all elections were until very recently), but I would participate in an organized campaign to show Dems that they need us, including refusing to vote for them if it came to that. Still, we need to realize that alliance-forming is necessary for survival and good outcomes, and that means finding ways of working with non-ideal people and holding your nose and voting for the lesser evil sometimes.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
      3·
      17 days ago

      Protests are how you try to push the party to do what you want. If the only thing you do is vote then the only thing they need to work for is the bare minimum to get your vote. As you imply, democrats are the best for LGBTQ+ people, so they don’t really get a voice when voting. In order to be heard you need to do more than just vote.

      I don’t know how common your idea of voting being the only form of civic involvement is, but it’s horribly misguided. You hold your nose a vote for the best option, but you hold them accountable and try to get your goals furthered outside of voting. This is how it’s always been. Please, do not tell people to stop asking for more again.

      • davidagain@lemmy.worldEnglish
        21·
        16 days ago

        Your idea of not voting being the only form of civic involvement is breathtakingly counter productive. The more the right wingers win, the more the Democrats move right to win back what passes for centrists in the USA’s horribly twisted version of democracy.

        • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
          2·
          16 days ago

          I said that people should vote. Damn dude. You can’t even build a strawman properly.

          • davidagain@lemmy.worldEnglish
            11·
            16 days ago

            Your idea of not voting for the Democrats being the only form of civic involvement in democratic policy is breathtakingly counter productive. The more the right wingers win, the more the Democrats move right to win back what passes for centrists in the USA’s horribly twisted version of democracy.

            • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
              2·
              16 days ago

              I said people should vote for democrats! Man, you really suck at this. Are you just trolling or are you really this fucking stupid?

              • davidagain@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                16 days ago

                You honestly sounded to me like you were advocating for withholding your vote and my one and only point was that that is counter productive. If you don’t disagree with that point, I feel you could have made it far, far clearer.

                So no, I’m not trolling, and I don’t think I’m stupid, but I did fully believe that you were disagreeing with my point about witholding votes achieving the opposite of what I believe are our shared goals. So now I think you were just unclear and unnecessarily combative.

                There’s nothing in anything I said about voting being the only useful thing we can do, that was all in your head.

                • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
                  3·
                  16 days ago

                  I said we should protest. Voting is a minimal action and isn’t that effective, especially if the party knows you’re already essentially obligated to vote for them.

                  This was in response to your comment essentially implying the protests that this post is about shouldn’t happen and democrats should have unconditional support. If you agree the protests are good then I guess we both could have communicated better.