Matt Walsh claims the “trans agenda” is dead after this Harris comment, but there’s one problem

As the race grows tighter, Kamala Harris is making sure to appeal to moderate voters who might feel left out by mainstream politics. But while this is a recognizable and expected part of any political campaign, right-wing trolls are taking this opportunity to claim that they’ve won the (completely one-sided) war on compulsory cis-ness that they believe trans people to be waging just by existing openly.

In a recent tweet, Walsh claimed that Harris’s response to questions about health care for trans inmates posed by a Fox news reporter was tantamount to the death of the “trans agenda.” But what does Harris’s response of “I will follow the law” really mean?

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After Trump’s slew of attack ads claiming that Harris supports surgeries for “transgender illegal aliens,” Harris finds herself in the ridiculous position of having defend herself against following the same law Trump followed during his term. Because she’s trying to appeal to undecided voters, she hasn’t made trans rights an explicit part of her campaign, and most intelligent people understand this for the strategic move that it is. It’s not great to hear Harris be as noncommital as possible on trans issues, but in a race that’s way tighter than it has any right to be, it’s understandable that she’s not making it the cornerstone of her campaign during these final weeks. As multiple polls have showed, a vast majority of Americans genuinely don’t view trans rights as a threat, despite the right insisting on making anti-trans attacks the focal point of their campaign.

Related

Opinion: Harris isn’t talking LGBTQ+ issues, and that might actually be fine

Kamala Harris’ and her campaign have remained very quite on LGBTQ+ issues despite so much trans hate on the other side. That could be okay.

That said, it’s disheartening to be so loudly ignored during a race that has—on the right’s side—so prominently run on anti-trans rhetoric. “Avoiding talking about us just validates the people trying to attack us,” TikToker Casey Elise recently explained.

@punishedvenomcasey

This is so bleak dude #trans #lgbt #politics

♬ original sound – Casey Elise 🏳️‍⚧️🍉

At this point, the election is driving all of us crazy, and we’d all love a bit of relief. But for trans folks, it’s strange to be in a position where the right is constantly attacking us and the left, fearful of alienating voters, won’t openly come out and defend us.

But at this moment in the campaign, it’s not personal: it’s diplomatic. The tragedy is that we live in a country where undecided voters are ignorant enough to be threatened by a future president calling for trans rights, not that we have a democratic candidate who’s tailoring her answers to appeal to those voters.

Let’s also not forget that we do have a vocal ally in Tim Walz, who has spoken out consistently about the importance of protecting trans lives and futures.

Thank you Governor Walz pic.twitter.com/aYjXVk09JJ

— Gillian Branstetter (@GBBranstetter) October 17, 2024

We don’t know how any of this will pan out, and it continues to be a stressful lead-up to one of the most impactful elections of our lives. At this point, all we can do is cast our votes, encourage others to do the same, and hope for the best.

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