For MSNBC, I bite the bullet and become the old trans community curmudgeon we need in this electoral moment. Me, on those Dem Senate ads in TX and OH, Harris' Fox News interview, and why Dems shouldn't be so scared of trans issues: www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb... - ThreadSky

katelynburns.com • 136 days ago

For MSNBC, I bite the bullet and become the old trans community curmudgeon we need in this electoral moment.

Me, on those Dem Senate ads in TX and OH, Harris' Fox News interview, and why Dems shouldn't be so scared of trans issues: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/ted-cruz-colin-allred-anti-trans-ad-rcna175554

Comments

tealeeves.bsky.social•136 days ago

Great article Katelyn. These politicians need to know that we are paying attention and watching them when they provide these milquetoast responses, but our voices aren't very loud in the grand scheme. We need more of this kind of pressure!

forbiddenqt.bsky.social•136 days ago

Sometimes when you're losing to Cruz by 6 points, you gotta be willing to make some sacrifices to still lose by 6 points.

shuchancellor.online•136 days ago

I'm sorry you did bite the bullet. There were countless others who have this obligation but are refusing to step up. Nevertheless, all power to you, and trans liberation!

yayafaal.bsky.social•132 days ago

I’m reaching out to ask for your support with my GoFundMe campaign. Every donation, no matter the size, can make a big difference and help us reach our goal. Even if you’re unable to contribute, sharing this campaign with your friends and family can spread the word and go a long https://gofund.me/af9bda43

itsviviactually.bsky.social•136 days ago

Thank you for laying it out so succinctly

benotafraid.bsky.social•136 days ago

Been trying to warn people they were gonna abandon us

assignedmedia.org•136 days ago

THANK you

katelynburns.com•136 days ago

nullthegreat.bsky.social•136 days ago

Democrats are never going to help us, they're too busy trying to get fascist chud votes.

mostlyinane.quest•136 days ago

this is really good and cathartic to read after all the 'have trans people considered calming down' nonsense

katelynburns.com•136 days ago

mostlyinane.quest•136 days ago

genuinely so glad you're writing and reporting <3

tmcatee.bsky.social•136 days ago

Forget that it's morally the right thing to so, there's a legit electoral case for defending a minority against people just looking to beat the shit out of them.

Thank you for taking this on.

benleibz.bsky.social•136 days ago

seldomseen.bsky.social•136 days ago

While I see some in the community applauding Harris’ dogshit “response” on FOX NEWS 🤢

katelynburns.com•136 days ago

i know, but be kind, we all have a role to play and you never know what influences are at play behind the scenes

seldomseen.bsky.social•136 days ago

I get it but “you don’t get to stick a knife in my back 9 inches and pull it out 6 inches and we call it progress”. We have far passed the point of giving anyone with a shred of power the benefit of the doubt. Especially now that we are literally in the crosshairs. All said, I liked your piece.

chickenlady.bsky.social•136 days ago

The guy literally sponsored and voted for bills that protect LGBTQ.

I don't know how more a politician can protect someone, but by doing exactly that: creating laws that do.

midnightmasseffect.bsky.social•136 days ago

who are you talking about? that creep from texas? or the creep from ohio?

chickenlady.bsky.social•136 days ago

I am talking about the Texas Democratic candidate, who made two laws possible, that protect LGBTQ rights.

If that's creepy,then I don't know...

baeddel.meangirls.online•136 days ago

which lgbtq rights specifically did these laws protect?

midnightmasseffect.bsky.social•136 days ago

did u see his anti-trans ad?

chickenlady.bsky.social•136 days ago

I did.
I don't care about his personal opinion, when he literally made the laws possible.
It's actually speaking even MORe for him:
DESPITE his personal opinion,he made laws possible that will protect LGBTQ, even in 50 years , when he is deceased.

sthelen.bsky.social•135 days ago

What laws?

midnightmasseffect.bsky.social•136 days ago

please take the trans flag out of your bio. find an easier way to get liberal clout.

caelan.bsky.social•136 days ago

Thanks for this 💕

gpthacker.bsky.social•136 days ago

Thank you!

So I'm curious, can't we have a sensitive response to these folks showing say Trans human beings rates of attempted suicide and politely say to them "WHY DONT YOU LEAVE THESE PEOPLE ALONE YOU SHITTY MUTHERFUCKER, HOW ABOUT WE INJECT OUR SELVES INTO EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR PATHETIC LIFE

ppu512.bsky.social•136 days ago

Thank you for your heroic service.

junebugfox.bsky.social•136 days ago

im glad you wrote this

willowrenee.bsky.social•136 days ago

Thank you! You spelled out exactly how I’ve been feeling the past few days.

screwedluna.bsky.social•136 days ago

this is very good and measured and important and thank you very much for continuing to fight for all of us. it will save people.

katelynburns.com•136 days ago

It's my Irish stubborness

grahamshevlin.bsky.social•136 days ago

I am not giving any more money to Colin Allred after his anti-trans ad. He ignored the base and targeted people who aren't voting for him anyway.

katelynburns.com•136 days ago

The "trans athlete debate" is not really about sports or fairness, but about getting a legal precedent deeming trans women to be men under the law that can be extended to other areas of our lives.

pollik.bsky.social•136 days ago

When they can define biological sex, then maybe there can be a conversation. Until then, their arguments carry no weight.

Truth is that it means different things to different people for different purposes...and probably still wrong

saveourfarms.bsky.social•136 days ago

A very succinct way of talking about high school sports (which do not actually matter) and human rights (which matter probably more than anything).

thisfoxhere.bsky.social•136 days ago

High school sports matter to the people playing them. They build community & teamwork. Not only do trans girls have a right to be part of a community & work in a team as the girl they are, but the kids playing alongside them have a right to learn to work in a diverse team, cis & trans together.

mhkmhk.bsky.social•136 days ago

Also, underlining all of this is - sports aren't 'fair' in the sense we are all equally able to be good at them. Sports inherently favor biological edge cases. Super tall, don't make lactic acid as quickly, whatever.

mhkmhk.bsky.social•136 days ago

Michael Phelps is genetically favored to be a good swimmer. It's only an issue for 'girl's sports' from people that think women are inherently inferior to men

disneyprincess.bsky.social•136 days ago

Adult males are stronger, more powerful, and faster than females of similar age and training status. The sex difference in athletic performance where endurance or muscular power is required is roughly 10-30% depending on the event.

https://www.acsm.org/news-detail/2023/09/29/acsm-releases-expert-consensus-statement-the-biological-basis-of-sex-differences-in-athletic-performance#:~:text=Adult%20males%20are%20stronger%2C%20more,30%25%20depending%20on%20the%20event.

mhkmhk.bsky.social•136 days ago

It doesn't matter

disneyprincess.bsky.social•136 days ago

Just because it doesn't matter to you, doesn't mean it doesn't matter.

wohyeahwohyeah.bsky.social•135 days ago

Trans women have taken all kids of hormones and medications to transition with has an impact on the biology and physiology.

Why is this always ignored?

Also far more money is spend on men training than is on women. Complain about that.

ktheintz.bsky.social•135 days ago

Remind me of all those Grand Slam titles that Renee Richards won (though indeed she might have been a high school champion had she transitioned at an earlier age)

It's likely a tiny number of cases, and the right wing's crusade against them is 100% part of a Trojan horse to roll back gay equality.

mhkmhk.bsky.social•135 days ago

It's sad because the right wing knows white Christian patriarchy benefits a small minority of people so they have to trick people that won't benefit from it to vote for it. And they use 'left' language about fairness and equality to get us to vote for our doom. And tbf princess isn't doing that.

pandragon.bsky.social•136 days ago

Boom. Oh crap that's an insight I wasn't prepared to digest today, but very useful. Thank you.

deesevere.bsky.social•136 days ago

Good point. Also, hormones! Typically (side note, all my trans friends are performers, so going for a glamorous vibe and maybe not a typical experience) the goal is smaller muscles, less strength.

kezmet.bsky.social•136 days ago

I don't much like this argument, which buys into the framing of trans women having an advantage of some sort (which may or may not be fair depending on your position). The evidence for this is at best contradictory, and more recent studies show an actual disadvantage: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lindseyedarvin/2024/04/25/transgender-athletes-could-be-at-a-physical-disadvantage-new-research-shows/

mhkmhk.bsky.social•136 days ago

Oh they very well don't. But I just threw the whole concern out because it doesn't matter if it did.

petermcgladdery.bsky.social•136 days ago

It's never "let's ensure all competitors have access to equal levels of funding & support and access to high quality facilities"

averyofbirds.bsky.social•136 days ago

Exactly, there's some interesting questions to be asked if a trans athlete was noticably out performing the best in the sport. But just simply having an edge of some sort of so mundane, being tall is often an advantage ffs

kissphoria.bsky.social•136 days ago

Ugh thank you. Speaking as a Texan...

https://bsky.app/profile/kissphoria.bsky.social/post/3l6sgu6qsv52r

wikisteff.bsky.social•136 days ago

This is hugely insightful, and I do not like it.

wikisteff.bsky.social•136 days ago

Also thank you for this, I'm going to share with my trans parent group. 🙏🙏

shaggypants.bsky.social•136 days ago

It's about setting a legal precedent that separates "gender" from Title 7 and Title 9, you know, so they can legally discriminate against all women for not being "real" women. The puritans hate trans folks but they HATE sex discrimination protections the most. It's not the Dems or anyone's radar.

christine-m.bsky.social•136 days ago

Of course, it isn't. Wedges and angles, gradually hacking away, like boiling the proverbial frog. And nobody will scream out. The playbook.

Short-sighted. The attacks won't end with trans people.

christine-m.bsky.social•136 days ago

Just to make up a marker: I liked Tim Walz's extensive talks on trans rights during the interview with Glennon Doyle & co. yesterday.

This may become "pullable" later on.

madgant.bsky.social•136 days ago

Exactly!!!!

rujasu.net•136 days ago

I'm hopeful that Harris will be elected, and that her words and actions regarding trans folks will become more progressive once she's in office, much in the same way Obama warmed up to gay marriage after he was elected. But I'm not about to take that for granted.

mreauow.bsky.social•136 days ago

I'm not trying to derail this conversation, but I see this as part of a pattern.
Trans Sports discourse isn't really about fairness the same way that the abortion talk isn't about the babies.
They're both about controlling people who aren't like the men in power.

katelynburns.com•136 days ago

You're absolutely not wrong

pyrholidon.bsky.social•135 days ago

It's about fairness in girls sports the same way gamergate was about fairness in games journalism.

deetoriadee.bsky.social•136 days ago

Yes, this is exactly what it is! Finding what they think is the easiest way to classify trans women as men to create a precedence.

ktheintz.bsky.social•135 days ago

Tallying up all the the Grand Slam tennis titles that Renee Richards took away from assigned-at-birth women. Oh that's right: zero

aangtifa.bsky.social•136 days ago

No one out there talking about this gives a single half a fuck about women's sports.

It is just a way to make people feel squeamish about trans people.

ravenmcampbell.bsky.social•136 days ago

Yeah, like, if your state has an NWSL or WNBA team, ask the legislators talking about it to name 5 athletes on any pro team in the state.

They often can't.

ravenmcampbell.bsky.social•136 days ago

but then you'll get folks coming out of the woodwork being all "it's about high school and college sports, not professional"

And i do not believe that for a second

ravenmcampbell.bsky.social•136 days ago

Like it doesn’t make any sense. We all just saw them freak about imane at the Olympics. Why would women’s pro sports be left out but not hs, college or the Olympics?

dazednova.bsky.social•136 days ago

i remember prior to this weaponization of it against trans people, i was CONSTANTLY arguing with right wingers who were saying women's sports have little value, don't deserve attention and/or shouldn't exist at all. the shift is so obviously disingenuous

saveourfarms.bsky.social•136 days ago

It’s all disingenuous bullshit. Lawn signs that say “protect girls sports!” are you fucking kidding?

aangtifa.bsky.social•136 days ago

And then it results in agents of the state doing genital checks and traumatizing young girls.

(And of course no one give a shit about trans men)

shantipixie.bsky.social•135 days ago

If they gave a toss about women's sports, they'd be talking about the lack of funding, lack of support and the creepy coaches.

I'm not even into sports, but I know that the challenges they actually face have fuck all to do with a couple of trans people.

aangtifa.bsky.social•135 days ago

Exactly! Where were all these fucks when Larry Nassar was wreaking havoc?

shantipixie.bsky.social•135 days ago

I don't know who that is, but from context I'm gonna guess that they are a creepy coach?

nadiayvette.bsky.social•136 days ago

Always left unsaid is that throwing trans people in prison if not executing them lurks behind all of these new laws & legal precedents they're trying to establish whenever they're defied. Integralists, Christian Reconstructionists, the New Apostolic Reformation & other dominionists play hardball.

nadiayvette.bsky.social•136 days ago

Also, «transgender exposure» is the plan for ex post facto law to throw trans people who've completed medical transition in prison or execute them. The sight and/or sound of a trans person who's medically transitioned being declared obscene is already circulating as proposed model laws in red states

thebaroness.bsky.social•135 days ago

I think defending everyone’s right to determine and do what they deem fit with their bodies is a pretty good defense of - well - everyone. The wide-lens view here is the implicit right to privacy; deny it to one, deny it to all.

dqspider.bsky.social•136 days ago

Is there a longer version of the Allred ad? The one I saw cut off in a weird spot that seemed to leave the "boys in girls sports" statement weirdly open

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