Give Them an Inch ..

Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. The significance of HB 28, the bill Republicans are currently pushing to get trans girls and women out of sports, is well beyond the effects on the minuscule number of people affected. The logic is that if, in the context of sports, Congress can say that trans women are AK-TU-AL-LY men, then they can go ahead and say that in the context of everything else. Drivers licenses. Bathrooms. Health care.

The Republicans have already written the bill that says trans women are, legally, men, and that there are “only two genders”. That was the H.R.9218 — Defining Male and Female Act of 2024 in the last Congress. It didn’t get out of committee then, but it’s already been made a priority of the new administration.

To skip to the action items, what we can do today is to tell our representatives in Congress that this is an important bill to vote against. For Democrats, compromise here will not do anything other than embolden the right to take bigger steps to take away more rights.

I’m including @threnody.bsky.social’s 45 second script for talking to your Democratic congressperson, complete with handy shorter points if you prefer.

Hi, I’m [your name], one of _____’s constituents. I need ____ to commit to voting no on HB 28 — the sports ban on transgender atheletes.

It’s the Republicans’ first step to federal legislation declaring trans women are men, which would be a civil rights disaster. That’s not speculation. They’ve been open about their plans.

[you can stop here at 0:20 if you want to bail out]

Democrats need to fight back immediately by protecting the vulnerable group Republicans are going after. There’s no amoung of ground they can give up on trans rights to make Republicans stop attacking.

Not standing up for trans people hasn’t helped Democrats win elections. Ask Sherrod Brown, Collin Allred, or Kamela Harris.

[you can stop here at 0:40 if you want to bail out]

Please tell _____ to vote No on HB 28. If not for trans people, then because voters show up to support Democrats who stand for something. Thank you.

For my Massachusetts friends, let me specifically call out Seth Moulton, representing most of Essex County all the way up to the New Hampshire border. He’s on record as suggesting that there are actual dangers to cis girls from trans girls in sports (completely unsupported by evidence), that compromise is possible with the Right on this issue (no, they will still want trans people not to exist), and that standing up for trans people cost the Democrats the election. If you’re in his district, I’ll save you a step, his phone number for constituent calls is (202) 225–8020.