The 2010 Election Cycle Wedge Issue-Transpeople

Every election cycle the GOP comes up with some wedge issue that they will pimp to fire up their sheeple and hope will carry them to electoral victory in November.

Whether it's their old reliable 'Southern Strategy' tactics of hating on Black people, the Three G's (Guns, God and hatin' on Gays) to hating on immigrants, they've had a mixed bag of results in terms of 'scurring' those vanilla flavored 'Real Americans' to the polls to vote for them.

Now for the 2K10, seems as though hatin' on gays is out for this cycle. They have come up with an even scarier threat than 'Islamic 'terriss'' guaranteed to make those GOP leaning voters run to the polls quaking in fear.

What's the scary wedge issue that will cause those Faux News watching peeps to cast those straight ticket GOP ballots?

Transpeople in their bathrooms.

From a transphobic flyer being used against a gay mayoral candidate in Gainesville, FL to conservanegro state Rep. Paul Scott's Michigan secretary of state campaign promising to deny transpeople the right to change gender codes on their licenses, the conservative movement seems hell bent on making transpeople the wedge issue of this election cycle.

”Cross-dressing rights: that’s what we’re talking about at this meeting…. This would put men who wear dresses in county bathrooms without public notice! … This is freaky. This is bizarre. This is fruity!”

Eugene A. Delgaudio (R), Loundon County, VA Supervisor,

'It's a social values issue. If you are born a male, you should be known as a male. Same as with a female, she should be known as a female." ...it was about "preventing people who are males genetically from dressing as a woman and going into female bathrooms."

Paul Scott, (R) Michigan state rep.

'And I know there will be those who will wonder why I am even writing about this considering there may be more important topics to discuss but here's a newsflash for you: The transgender thing doesn't play well with millions of conservative Evangelicals.'

David Brody, writing about Amanda Simpson's federal appointment.

But the GOP and conservatives aren't the only group trafficking in anti-trans fear of the bathroom. Even our so-called 'friends' do it.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who pioneered its use in the 90's with his infamous 'penis in showers' transphobic argument against our inclusion in ENDA, rolled it out of storage as an excuse for why there hasn't been movement passing ENDA despite massive Democratic majorities in the US House and Senate.

"There continues to be concerns on the part of many members about the transgender issue, particularly about the question of places where people are without their clothes — showers, bathrooms, locker rooms, etc.” “We still have this issue about what happens when people who present themselves as one sex but have the physical characteristics of the other sex, what rules govern what happens in locker rooms, showers, etc."

With 'friends' like that, who needs right-wing enemies?

These false ads used in various trans rights referendums have already been playing. Don't be surprised if you see a variation of this meme in a GOP campaign near you.



Brace for impact trans community. From now until November 2 we'll have a long, ugly political season of transphobia from all sides.