Trump Rescinds Obama's Transgender Policy

Diana Hignutt said:

May I be the first AWer to say, "Fuck You, Trump, you worthless puppet of hypocritical Christian Conservatives for this newest affront to personal liberty and safety."

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Of course.

And seconded.

Hmmm, not just a "Fuck you" to Trump, but apparently also to the judge who had put a stay on the Obama order previously. From your linked article:

...Trump, a Republican who took office last month, rescinded those guidelines, even though they had been put on hold by a federal judge​ [my emphasis added], arguing that states and public schools should have the authority to make their own decisions without federal interference...

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Trump the Transgender Hatemonger

Remember Jackie Evancho? The young lady who sang the national anthem at Trump's inauguration when everybody and their sister wouldn't?

Jackie has someone she'd like Trump to meet and talk with on transgender issues. Her sister.

Teenage classical singer Jackie Evancho, one of the first performers to be enlisted for President Trump’s inaugural festivities, said Thursday she is waiting to hear from the White House after expressing her dismay over the withdrawal of federal protections for transgender students.

In a pair of tweets Wednesday, Evancho, who has a transgender sister, said she was “obviously disappointed” with the decision “to send the #transgender bathroom issue to the states to decide.”

“U gave me the honor 2 sing at your inauguration,” Evancho wrote in a second tweet to her more than 82,000 followers. “Pls give me & my sis the honor 2 meet with you 2 talk #transgender rights.”

Appearing on ABC's “Good Morning America” on Thursday alongside her sister Juliet, Evancho said she had not heard from Trump.

“I guess I just want to enlighten him on what my sister, I’ve seen her go through every single day in school and people just like her, what they deal with,” Evancho said on the program. “The discrimination, it’s terrible.”

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What's the odds of Trump meeting with Jackie and Juliet? Slim or none?

CNN is reporting that there was a dispute about this between Sessions and DeVos, because she felt she had promised to protect the rights of all students and she thought rescinding the order was contrary to that. Sessions needed the sign-off of the Secretary of Education so he went over her head to Trump and Trump ordered her to sign. Integrity and compassion would have directed her to sign off on her letter of resignation at this point, but I have a hard time believing anyone in the Trump administration has much familiarity with either of those attributes.

Evancho exemplifies a certain type of Trump voter (although she's probably not old enough to vote herself). They don't see what he promised to do - ban abortion, reverse protection for the LBGT population, deport millions of people, get rid of safety and environmental regulations, and repeal Obamacare - as affecting them. They somehow mentally file that stuff as "so unpleasant that no one would actual DO it," and concentrate on the emotional upswell of "we're gonna be great again! Not sure exactly what that means, but it'll be great!" Then they blink in astonishment when their sister gets banned from the bathroom, or there are toxic chemicals in their drinking water, or that nice Mrs Lopez who Grandma absolutely depends on for in-home assistance is suddenly dragged away for deportation and can't drive Grandma to her medical appointments, which Grandma won't be able to pay for anyway without the ACA. The slogan for these people should be "we voted for change, but we don't expect things to be different."

I think this is why so many GOP congresscritters are convinced that the people screaming at them to save Obamacare in their townhalls are plants. They really don't understand that their constituents during the election may have told them they want change, but they really don't. Not these changes.

I believe this has Jeff Sessions' fingerprints all over it. I don't think Donald Trump has any interest in transgender rights, but getting rid of them is not a particular obsession with him as it is with Jeff Sessions, who is the most anti-LGBT rights attorney general in recent memory.

A hearty and heart-felt fuck you to the Trump administration.

No love,
me

Why is no one (meaning media) calling Trump out on his hypocrisy on this issue?

Dipping into a contentious issue by taking a stand many Republicans oppose, Mr. Trump told a town-hall-style event, hosted by NBC’s “Today” show at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, that when people go to the restroom, they should “use the bathroom they feel is appropriate.”

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ETA: I guess he can say that he still feels that way, but he's giving the States the power. Fuck him. The right for people to feel safe is a humanitarian issue and shouldn't even be up for freaking debate.

Alpha Echo said:

Why is no one (meaning media) calling Trump out on his hypocrisy on this issue?

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This is central to the philosophy of many "reasonable" conservatives who claim to be of a more libertarian bent. They personally "deplore" discrimination, but they back "private" people's right to discriminate when providing goods and services.

Never mind that in a capitalistic country like ours, most essential goods and services are obtained via private parties. And never mind that this right, evidently, extends to publicly funded schools. If a public school may discriminate against transgender students, why not allow them to decide whether racial desegregation is in the best interest of their "own" students too?

Libertarians oppose the civil rights act also.

rugcat said:

I believe this has Jeff Sessions' fingerprints all over it. I don't think Donald Trump has any interest in transgender rights, but getting rid of them is not a particular obsession with him as it is with Jeff Sessions, who is the most anti-LGBT rights attorney general in recent memory.

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But out of a vast number of choices that could have been acceptable to his Conservative base, he selected Sessions, a man who has never made his position on civil rights a secret. That's got to mean something.

rugcat said:

I believe this has Jeff Sessions' fingerprints all over it. I don't think Donald Trump has any interest in transgender rights, but getting rid of them is not a particular obsession with him as it is with Jeff Sessions, who is the most anti-LGBT rights attorney general in recent memory.

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Yep. Brace for the unified attack on same-sex marriage from Sessions and Pence.

Roxxsmom said:

But out of a vast number of choices that could have been acceptable to his Conservative base, he selected Sessions, a man who has never made his position on civil rights a secret. That's got to mean something.

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AND have consequences.

2018 is coming...

ElaineA said:

AND have consequences.

2018 is coming...

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The question is, are there people who voted for him and/or a GOP senator/governor/representative last time (or who didn't vote at all) who is so surprised and outraged by this that they'll vote against the GOP in 2018?

I'm hoping so, but I have trouble seeing it*

*Note I also have trouble seeing how anyone can flip back and forth between two parties that are so different on human rights issues, or not vote at all when so much is at stake, so I probably suffer from a lack of imagination.

I admit it's probably grossly naive, but I'm hoping a chunk of people who sat out last time will come around this time. It could end up equal on both sides, but it's one thing to sit home and say, "he's not going to do all those things, it's just talk" and then spending 2 years actually watching them "do all those things" and then some. I am 99% sure my mother-in-law (who voted Trump) will vote Democrat for our rep this time if we have a halfway decent candidate. Our R ran unopposed in 2016. (For all practical purposes. There was a name on the ballot but the D withdrew from the race, too late to get his name off the ballot.)

ElaineA said:

I admit it's probably grossly naive, but I'm hoping a chunk of people who sat out last time will come around this time. It could end up equal on both sides, but it's one thing to sit home and say, "he's not going to do all those things, it's just talk" and then spending 2 years actually watching them "do all those things" and then some. I am 99% sure my mother-in-law (who voted Trump) will vote Democrat for our rep this time if we have a halfway decent candidate. Our R ran unopposed in 2016. (For all practical purposes. There was a name on the ballot but the D withdrew from the race, too late to get his name off the ballot.)

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I wouldn't say it's naive. For whatever reason, results do vary from election to election, and midterm elections often shift the balance of power after a presidential election. I don't know if it's because different voter populations turn out to different elections, or if it's because some voters get disaffected by the party they voted for previously. I'm a strong" issues" voter (and I'm vastly more in alignment with the Democratic platform on nearly every issue than the Republican one), so the Dems and Republicans would both have to change a great deal for me to ever vote for the GOP. it's pretty clear that many voters aren't like me, or the results would be the same in every election.

I just hope Trump and his flunkies don't undermine people's faith in democracy (and throw more barriers to voting in place) before then. His words about the marchers and angry people showing up at the town hall meetings are very sobering, not because they're remotely true, but because a number of people probably think they are.

The main thing that gives me hope is that he is so incoherent and can't seem to stick with one story or message. Imagine how much damage he could do if he were more clear, focused, and unwavering.

ElaineA said:

I admit it's probably grossly naive, but I'm hoping a chunk of people who sat out last time will come around this time. It could end up equal on both sides, but it's one thing to sit home and say, "he's not going to do all those things, it's just talk" and then spending 2 years actually watching them "do all those things" and then some. I am 99% sure my mother-in-law (who voted Trump) will vote Democrat for our rep this time if we have a halfway decent candidate. Our R ran unopposed in 2016. (For all practical purposes. There was a name on the ballot but the D withdrew from the race, too late to get his name off the ballot.)

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I think that really is our only hope at this point - energizing the sit-on-their-hands public to vote. This whole mess is in their laps, every bit as much as those who voted red. Silence implies consent...

And we're stuck with a worthless R here, too, for far too long, in part because our district breaks weird... He's pretty much come out and said he can't/won't do a thing to stop the "presidential" agenda, though he might talk to other GOP lawmakers 'cause he's buds with them and there's an off chance they'll pretend to listen (not his exact words.)

The history of midterm elections (by-elections in the British sense) in a first-term Presidency does not bode particularly well for Trump and the GOP, not least of all because he didn't even come close to getting the most individual Presidential votes. They are already having serious trouble in these "town-hall" meetings, to the point that Republican Congressfolks are evading them, and claiming (of course) that they are "rigged" by Democrats to have anti-Trump people there. What they are utterly unprepared to do is answer the kinds of questions they get asked at these meetings.

caw

Meanwhile, Caitlyn Jenner is shocked and horrified that Trump has done this, even though she endorsed and voted for him. What, she was expecting him to have an epiphany and change his mind?

Until now, I thought "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" was funny.

BenPanced said:

Meanwhile, Caitlyn Jenner is shocked and horrified that Trump has done this, even though she endorsed and voted for him. What, she was expecting him to have an epiphany and change his mind?

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I don't know you, but I'm starting to think this Trump guy might be dishonest.

BenPanced said:

Meanwhile, Caitlyn Jenner is shocked and horrified that Trump has done this, even though she endorsed and voted for him. What, she was expecting him to have an epiphany and change his mind?

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At least she's saying something about it.

Celia Cyanide said:

At least she's saying something about it.

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Yes. We could stand to have more staunch conservatives express regret/disappointment as a counterpoint to the cultic hoopla that was so easily whipped up at CPAC.

In a way I'm glad she's speaking up, but it's frustrating to see someone not only vote against their own self interests but also only speak up when their own self interests are hurt.

I try very hard not to be someone who only cares about myself and my own community.