Menu
Dale Anderson
A Fascist Assault in Full View
This presentation initially occurred at the Adult Forum of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota. The topic is the “Fascist Assault on Transgender People” in the United States. The slides have associated comments. Three short videos included.
F A S C I S M
a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
Merriam Webster Dictionary
From Fascist Leader to Fascist Party
As early as 2016, observers expressed concern about the fascist nature of candidate Donald Trump.
In an article entitled “How Fascist is Donald Trump” the Washington Post queried historians about fascist indicators and then used them to score Trump. He scored 26 out of a potential 44 points.
During his presidency, Trump’s score increased. Scholars and reporters debated his fascist nature. But by the end of his term, even historians reluctant to use the “F-word.” The January 6th insurrection changed many minds.
Since Trump’s 2020 defeat it is clear the ex-president is no longer the sole fascist threat. The GOP’s political campaign led by red-state governors intended to harm a vulnerable minority is revealing.
The fascist threat is no longer a single individual, but an entire political party.
The Importance of Recognizing a Fascist Movement
Fascism is deadly for democracies. History has shown that once elected into power, authoritarian-minded leaders can dismantle the institutions and safeguards of a democracy by packing the courts, changing election laws and appointing loyalist to independent agencies — an authoritarian strategy termed “incumbent takeover.”
There actions can make it nearly impossible for citizens to dislodge them from power.
Fascism is a particularly dangerous form of such a takeover with its underlying beliefs of racial or religious supremacy and its willingness to use violence against minorities and political enemies.
Can We Call it Fascism with Confidence?
What I hope to demonstrate in this presentation is how the current GOP assault on transgender people is fascism in full view. I will do this by showing the striking similarity between the GOP attack on trans people and the Nazi attack on the German Jewish population between 1933 and 1938.
Both parties chose to attack a vulnerable citizen minority as a primary political strategy framing the target group as an existential threat to the nation.
Both used three specific tactics for their campaign:
(1) hate speech, (2) discriminatory laws,, (3) violence
And both were funded by economic elites and supported by major religious organizations.
From Citizens to Outcasts
I suggest watching this 7-minute video about the treatment of Jews in Germany from 1933 until 1938. It will remind you of the events that took place in those tragic years prior to the War.
It sets the stage for the comparison with the current GOP persecution of transgender people in the US.
As transgender activist and ex-Navy pilot Brynn Tannehill has stated: “at 0.6 percent of the adult population, trans people can be scapegoated without being able to defend themselves politically or physically . . . few people know them, but everyone knows OF them. And what they know usually comes from conservative media sources that are framing the existence of trans people in increasingly apocalyptic terms. . .”
Both Parties Attacked a Vulnerable Minority.
The Germans Target: Jews – The Nazis under Hitler’s leadership targeted their small German Jewish community for their campaign. In 1933, Jews represented less than 1% of the German population (505,000 out of 67 million total Germans).
The GOP Target: Trans People – The MAGA-Republican party has chosen to attack the estimated 1.5 million transgender citizens in the US, who also represent less than 1% of the nation’s population..
Of the 1.3-1.5 million adults who identify as transgender,
38.5% (515,200) are TG women
35.9% (480,000) are TG men
25.6% (341,800) are gender nonconforming.
Source: Williams Institute June ’22
“BELIEVE THE AUTOCRAT, YOUR INSTITUTIONS WILL NOT SAVE YOU”
Marsha Gessen’s Rule for Surviving Autocracy
Both Parties Openly Announced Their Plans before Initiating the Assault.
Hitler’s Plan: Despite a long history of European antisemitism, Jews in Germany were generally living as full citizens in Germany prior to the rise of the Nazi Party.
But following Germany’s defeat in WWI and the subsequent economic chaos in Germany, Hitler made his hatred of Jews clear. He stated his desire to eliminate Jews from Germany in his 25-Point Plan published in 1920 and in his autobiography, Mein Kampf, published in 1925.
The GOP Plan: One can trace the origins of the current MAGA-GOP assault on transgender people in the US to a meeting of the Family Research Council in 2015. After discussing a “research report” on transgenderism, the Council endorsed a 5-Point Plan to eliminate transgender people and “transgenderism” from public life in America.
Both Parties Used the Same Three Tactics to Harm their Target.
The GOP has a long history of manufacturing threats and stoking cultural wars in order to distract from their record of creating massive economic disparity in the US.
What’s different about this MAGA-Party now is their attack on a specific class of citizens using the tactics deployed by the Nazis between 1933 and 1939. Their three main tactics were:
(1) hate speech,
(2) discriminatory laws,
(3) violence.
The scope and breadth of the current GOP campaign against trans people using these three tactics was last seen during the Jim Crow era.
African Americans were demeaned and demonized, their rights stripped by Jim Crow laws, and their community terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan.
Both Parties used a Campaign of Hate Speech to turn the Community against the Target Group.
Hate speech is defined as “public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation”. – Cambridge Dictionary
Among democracies, the United States is relatively unique in not having laws that criminalize hate speech.
Of the sixty-four democracies that do have hate speech laws, twenty-four of them are ranked higher than the US on the Economist’s Democracy Index Report.
There is little evidence that restricting hate speech degrades democracy.
Hate Speech is a tactic of extreme prejudice identified as a step up the “Pyramid of Hate.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) uses a powerful model to help people understand the process by which bias and hate metastasize and threaten societies.
The model displays the relationship between seemingly innocuous acts of hate and acts of mass violence. They name the model “The Pyramid of Hate.”
Hate speech is captured in the “Acts of Prejudice” in the second layer of the pyramid.
The actions of the MAGA-GOP are dangerous because they activate this Pyramid of Hate and can move the community in the direction of mass violence.
Both Parties Describe their Target Group in Deeply Derogatory Terms.
Hitler continuously blamed Jews for Germany’s loss of WWI, for its subsequent economic collapse, and for the great depression of 1928. Beyond that, Hitler referred to the Jewish people as “parasites, bacillus, rats, and sub-humans.”
Mirroring the Nazi strategy, rightwing GOP leaders and media “talking heads” refer to transgender people as “grotesque”, “an epidemic”, “demons”, “pedophiles”, “a perversion” or “groomers”
These are clear Acts of Prejudice on the Hate Pyramid. Dehumanizing a target minority is consider one of the first steps on the road to genocide according to Dr. Gregory Stanton’s “Ten Stages of Genocide.” model.
Both Parties Claim Target Minority an “Existential Threat” to the Nation
Both the Nazis in the 1930s and the MAGA-GOP today claimed their target group an “existential threat to the nation.”
Hitler repeatedly justified violence against the Jewish population as a measure of self defense claiming Jews were out to destroy Germany.
Framing transgender people as an existential threat to American society by podcaster Josh Rogan and Fox News Tucker Carlson leave listeners with only one possible conclusion: Transgender people must be eliminated.
In the minds of the “Make America Great Again,” followers, it seems that whether trans people flee, go back to the closet and disappear, or die doesn’t matter. It’s “us or them” and anything done to transgender people is a justified act of social self-defense.
Worth Watching -David Packman discusses Michael Knowles comments about transgenderism in this short video.
Yale philosopher Jason Stanley has pointed out that “If the demagogue is the father of the nation, then any threat to patriarchal manhood and the traditional family undermines the fascist vision of strength. The core belief in the traditional patriarchal family is” accompanied by panic about deviations from it. Transgender individuals and homosexuals are used to heighten anxiety and panic about the threat to traditional male gender roles.”
MAGA Leader Vows to Legislate Trans People Out of Existence
Former President Donald Trump said in a video on Jan. 31, 2023 that if he is reelected president in 2024, he will dismantle transgender rights.
That would include stopping access to gender-affirming care and using the government to go after transgender people.
Trump said that his administration would push for “positive education about the nuclear family” as well as celebrate “rather than [erase] the things that make men and women different and unique.
On Abigail Shirer . . . Yesterday, a few campus organizations held an event with Abigail Shrier, an ideologue who gained notoriety for a book which, among many things, argues against providing gender-affirming care (primarily puberty blockers) to transgender children. I could spend my time refuting each of the bad-faith points she makes, but that is an intentional trap — to bog down public discourse in absurd culture wars.
We should harbor no delusions about what Shrier and her ilk are actually doing. They are capitalizing on the present stigma against transgender people in order to profit financially and politically. In a world where people are increasingly disillusioned with the way things are, they offer a scapegoat — a vulnerable subject to be blamed and bullied.
Mariana Myers – The Daily Princetonian, Dec. 9, 2021
Both Parties Claim Target Group a Threat to Children
Both the Nazis and the GOP propaganda network published books implying that the target minority group was a threat to children.
The most notorious Nazi publications were the children’s books, “The Poisonous Mushroom (1938) and “Trust no Fox (1936).” The latter contained antisemitic poems including one entitled “The Jew’s Father is the Devil.”
Recent anti-trans books published in the US include that have been widely circulated include Abigail Shrier’s “The Transgender Craze Seducing our Daughters” , Ryan Anderson’s “When Harry Became Sally,” and Matt Walsh’s “Johnny The Walrus.”
All imply that gender dysphoria is a mental health condition and not a true identity issue justifying transitioning therapies.
Both Parties Produce “Documentaries” Demeaning their Target Minority
The Eternal Jew is a 1940 antisemitic, Nazi propaganda film, presented as a documentary.
The film’s initial German title was Der ewige Jude, the German term for the character of the “Wandering Jew” in medieval folklore. The film was directed by Fritz Hippler at the insistence of Nazi Germany‘s Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels.
The Goebbels film appears to have been intended as a violently antisemitic version of the British film The Wandering Jew, which argued that Jews were victims of relentless persecution throughout history.
German Christian Antisemitism – The long history of antisemitism in the European Christian Churches is undeniable with the prejudice based on church leaders’ interpretation of their sacred text.
This fundamental bigotry contributed to the monumental failure of German Christians and German Christian churches to take action to protect Jews during Hitler’s reign. (see Daniel Goldhagen’s two books, Hitler’s Willing Executioners, and A Moral Reckoning).
US Christian Homophobia and Transphobia – In the US, Evangelicals and the Catholic church have a long history of homophobia and transphobia based, again, on bigoted interpretation of their sacred text (the Bible).
In 2017, 150 Evangelical leaders signed the “Nashville Statement” in which they “confirm that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism. . “
Leaders of Both Parties Claim the Target Group are “Demons” or an “Offense to God.”
German Catholic and Protestant religion was deeply rooted in antisemitism, with the belief that Jews were Christ killers. Martin Luther’s 1543 publication “On Jews and their Lies” and his other statements condemning Jews were used by the Nazis as religious cover for their behaviors.
The Nazis refenced the writings of Martin Luther in support of their attack (see poster).
Today’s Catholic and Evangelical leaders quote the bible in their condemnation of homosexuality and transgenderism. Their cherry-picking of selective statements in the Bible are used to support their bigotry.
Failure of Church Leadership to Protect the Target Minorities
The failure of Pope Pius XII to vigorously and continuously condemn Nazi persecution and eventual extermination of the Jews is a deep moral stain on the Catholic Church.
Today in 2023, the participation of Christian churches and their members in condemning transgenderism is a travesty. Their silence as trans people are persecuted portends another moral failure of their religion.
Pope Francis’s recent statement that “gender ideology is one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations” in the world today is very disturbing. His statement that recognizing a spectrum of genders will make the world “the same, all dull, all alike” is nonsensical.
Why the Hate
Transgender activist and author Brynn Tannehill lists reasons for the hate directed towards transgender persons in her book Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Trans published in 2021.
She states that hate is easy. That most people don’t know a transgender person and many assume that being transgender is a choice.
Further, she writes, “sympathizing with trans people is hard” because, they often look and sound different. Trans people challenge deeply held paradigms (the binary nature of gender)..
Further, trans people lack a positive representation in the media and ore frequently portrayed as a perversion.
Finally, at this time, transphobia seems more acceptable than homophobia.
Discriminatory Laws
The second defining characteristics of a fascist regime is the passage of discriminatory laws that harm a specific class of the nation’s citizens.
Regarding the anti-transgender bills passed in the United States in the last two year, author and activist Brynn Tannehill states,
“These laws are designed to make life for transgender people functionally impossible; to make it impossible to go to school, to get medical care, to get accurate government IDs, to be protected from harassment and discrimination in the workplace, to go out in public without violating laws against drag, to participate in sports – banning them from the military, banning them from all types of media, and even making it illegal to use a public bathroom.”
The laws go so far as to write the existence of transgender people out of the law — to effectively unperson them as a class.
The Legal Phase of a Fascist Campaign
Fascist Parties Pass Laws that Impact all Aspects of the Target Minority’s Lives.
Having control of the state, fascist regimes can begin to pass laws that punish their opponents and drive targeted minorities into hiding..
This is the legal phase of a fascist political movement. It represents danger for those not aligned with the fascist regime.
Both in the circumstance of the Nazis and MAGA-GOP adoption of anti-trans laws, the first laws may appear limited or mild. But as in the case of the Nazis, subsequent laws become more extreme and punishing.
Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law forbidding classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3, (2022) was extended to all grades the following year (2023).
Fascists Act on their Hate and Frighten the Target Minority
The passage of discrim-inatory laws intended to harm the target minority represents a dangerous escalation of a fascist campaign.
When persecution is institutionalized through edicts and laws, the target group, whether Jews in Nazi Germany or transgender people in Republican controlled states suddenly understand the gravity of their situation.
They realize that the hate speech and threats of harm were not simply political posturing, but the true intent of the controlling regime.
Passage of these discriminatory laws moves the situation up the Pyramid of Hate to the third level: discrimination (and as the laws become more extreme, persecution).
The Assault Occurs in Every Community where the Party is in Control.
With Hitler’s assumption of power on January 30, 1933, Germany was fully under the control of the Nazi party. All Jews throughout Germany, and later Austria (1938), were subject to Nazi persecution.
To date in the US, the MAGA-GOP has established total control of state governments in 22 states. Their fascist campaign is directed at the trans people in these states.
Should the MAGA-GOP gain control of the federal government, there will be no safe place for the transgender community.
Laws Intended to Drive the Target Minority into Hiding or out of the Community
Nazi Anti-Jewish Laws – Almost immediately on assumption of power, Hitler and the Nazis began passing laws and edicts that harmed the German Jewish community. In 1933, the first year of their control, 316 laws or edicts aimed at Jews were passed across Germany.
From 1933 to 1939, 1,448 laws, policies, and decrees were passed that were designed to remove Jews from the country’s political, economic, and cultural life.
GOP Anti-Trans Laws – Red state legislation that seeks to deny trans people’s identity, block them from receiving lifesaving healthcare, undermine their education and prevent them from fully participating in community life has been accelerating at a whirlwind pace. In 2023 alone, 563 bills have been proposed with every state participating.
Legislating Trans People Out of Existence
Author and trans activist Brynn Tannehill writes, “more anti-transgender bills have been filed this year (2023) than in the past four years combined, and by the time the year is finished even ore will have passed into law.
These laws are designed to make life for transgender people functionally impossible: to make it impossible to go to school, to get medical care, to get accurate government IDs, to be protected from harassment and discrimination in the workplace, to go out in public without violating laws against drag, to participate in sports – banning them from the military, banning them from all types of media, even making i illegal to use a public bathroom.
The laws go so far as to write the existence of transgender people out of law –to effectively unperson them as a class.”
Source: The End of Trans America Comes Into Focus -The New Republic, May 9, 2023
Both Parties Pass Bills and Policies to Ban Books authored or about the Targeted Minorities
The book burning rallies of students supported by the Nazi regime occurred on Nov. 9-10, 1938. Bonfires were set in 24 communities. Books by Jews, socialist, “communists”, modernists and enemy state authors were gathered and burned.
The banning of books authored by or about a targeted minority is a sine qua non for fascism. As Yale philosopher Jason Stanley has stated, “Banning of ideas and authors is not a culture war– it’s fascism.”
The GOP extremists’ stand on free speech is remarkable. Demanding no restrictions on freedom of speech (such as limiting hate speech, business campaign contributions or religious discrimination) but promoting banning of ideas, books and authors is the definition of hypocrisy.
Fascist Tactic: Take away jobs from the target minority.
One of the first acts of the Nazi regime in 1933 was to pass the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service which banned Jews from the practice of law and from jobs in the civil service.
In Texas, in a work around strategy to drive transgender people from civil service jobs, Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller instituted a dress code requiring all employees to dress “in a manner consistent with their biological gender.”
This puts transgender employees who have transitioned in the quandary of either de-transitioning or lose their job. The indignity of being asked to “go home and change their clothing” is profound.
Both Parties Passed Laws to Harm the Education of the Target Group’s Children
On attaining power in 1933, the Nazi regime immediately instituted laws that harmed Jewish children. The statute to combat overcrowding of schools limited the number of no-Aryans to 5%, and new enrollment to 1.5%.
Later, in November 1938, the Nazi Minister for Science and Education put a total ban on Jewish children attending German public schools.
The Florida anti-trans bills allow teachers and others to misgender trans students, ban the childs use of their gender-aligned bathroom, prevent their participation in sports and ban any books or discussions about gender and identity from the school.
Many parents of trans children in Florida are planning to leave the state in order to protect their children’s future.
Transgender Sports Fan
On June 12, 2023, The American Medical Association passed a resolution drafted by The Endocrine Society to protect access to evidence-based gender-affirming care for transgender and gender-diverse youth.
They wrote “it is the responsibility of the medical community to speak out in support of evidence-based care. Medical decisions should be made by patients, their relatives and health care providers, not politicians.”
The resolution was cosponsored by:
Both Parties Corrupted Doctors and other Professionals to Support their Immoral Acts
In Timothy Snyder’s book, Tyranny: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century, lesson #5 is entitled, “Remember Professional Ethics.”
Nazi doctors betrayal of their ethical oath is documented in Robert Lifton’s “The Nazi Doctors.” Physicians participated in ghastly experiments on Jews and individuals with mental illness and disabilities.
In Florida, surgeon general Joseph Lapado argued that despite the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine society recommending gender-affirming care, there is ‘weak scientific evidence for it and there is a risk of long-term harm.’ A position aligned with the politics of the DeSantis administration and not the science of the medical community.
Both Parties Instituted Laws Requiring the Target Minority to Identify Themselves in Public
Yellow Star – To effectively persecute the German Jewish population, fascist authorities needed to be able to identify them. Many Jews could pass as “Aryan”, so in 1941, all Jews were required to wear a yellow star when in public. Jewish passports were stamped with a red “J” to assist in their identification.
Requirement of Birth Gender on IDs – GOP state legislatures are passing laws requiring transgender people list their gender according to that assigned at birth on their IDs.
It is a method for “outing” trans people who have transitioned. The disparity between the appearance of a trans person and their required ID gender immediately identifies them as transgender to employers, officials and anyone who checks IDs as a routine part of their job (bank teller, etc.)
Drag Queen Story Hour was founded in 2015, and since then has been a bête noire for both far-right neo-Nazis and conservative commentators who too often find themselves sharing the same bilious obsessions. These denunciations have included doxing individual drag queens on white supremacist Telegram channels, flooding libraries with negative and threatening phone calls, Fox News segments stirring up moral panic that draw on age-old stereotypes of predatory LGBTQ individuals, a radicalized Christian rushing into a Story Hour only to be arrested, and the Greenville County, S.C., sheriff’s office responding to a planned anti–drag queen protest with precautions tailored to prevent a bombing.
Source: Why Transphobia is at the Heart of the White Power Movement -Talia Lavin, The NATION, Aug 18, 2021
Both Parties Passed Laws to Eliminate Target Group’s Cultural Events
Once in power, the Nazis began passing laws that banned or prevented Jewish people from participating in their traditional cultural practices or professions. Suddenly Jews were prevented from producing art or leading an orchestra.
A ban on the practice of kosher butchering meant many committed Jews were unable to find meat for their diet.
In the US, laws being passed in red states that ban drag shows has in public places has similar intent, but may have a much more ominous potential.
Trans people fear that their presence in public wearing their clothing as a transitioned person will be deemed “drag” and subject them to arrest. Prohibiting drag shows is another GOP method of making transgender and other gender non-conforming people disappear.
Fascism and Violence go Hand-in-Hand.
The term “crime of violence” means an offense where the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against a person, persons or property occurs.
Note that the threat of using force against a person is by itself an act of violence.
The brandishing of weapons by members of congress and their families on Christmas cards, the open carry of side arms, and the presence of unauthorized militia carrying assault rifles can only be interpreted as an act of violence – a threatening message sent by the gun owner to their political opponents and / or enemies.
The claim that carrying weapons in public is for self-defense is often a cover for the real purpose — political intimidation of opponents.
Violence is Funda-mental to Fascist Campaigns and Regimes.
From Wikipedia on fascism:
” Fascism rejects assertions that violence is inherently bad and views imperialism, political violence, and war as means to national rejuvenation.
Fascists often advocates for the establishment of a totalitarian one-party state [read Donald Trump’s plan for his second presidency] . . .
Fascism’s extreme authoritarianism and nationalism often manifests as belief in racial purity or a master race [white supremacy] usually blended with some variant of racism or bigotry against a demonized “Other”, such as Jews [or Trans people].
These ideas have motivated fascist regimes to commit forced deportations, mass incarcerations, and mass killings”
Brandishing and Bragging about Weapons.
The term “crime of violence” means an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another.
Note that the threat of using force against a person or persons is by itself an act of violence.
The brandishing of weapons by members of congress and their families on Christmas cards, the open carry of side arms, and the presence of unauthorized militia carrying assault rifles can only be interpreted as an act of violence – a threatening message sent by the gun owner to their political opponents and / or enemies.
The claim that carrying weapons in the public is for self-defense is a cover. The real purpose is intimidation.
“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun,”
Mao Zedong
1938.
Twenty Million Americans Own an AR-15 Assault Rifle
A Washington Post survey revealed the following according to the Post:
“The AR-15 is the best-selling rifle in the United States, industry figures indicate. Almost every major gunmaker now produces its own version of the weapon, which dominates gun dealers’ walls and websites.
Critics claim that the military-style gun has no legitimate civilian use — yet about 1 in 20 Americans own one. So who chooses to buy an AR-15, and why?
The survey found that AR-15 owners come from red, blue and purple states. Compared with Americans as a whole, AR-15 owners are significantly more likely to be White, male and between the ages 40 and 65. They’re also more likely to have higher incomes, to have served in the military and to be Republican. And AR-15 owners are more likely to live in states former president Donald Trump won in 2020 than adults overall.
Source: Why Do Americans Own AR-15s? – Washington Post, March 27, 2023.
Eighteen million Americans believe force is justified justified to return Donald Trump to the White House
In June, a survey of a random sample of 3,543 drawn from a probability panel of 50,000 American adults matched on dozens of factors was conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (U. of Chicago).
The survey is tracking “Dangers to Democracy.” The results are shown on the accompanying slide.
Of note, 18 million Americans believe force is justified to return Trump to the White House. And 31 million Americans believe force would be justified to restore abortion rights.
An estimated 52 million Americans believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, a number that has not changed over the past 9 months.
Fascists use both Harassment and Intimidation to Shut Down their Target Group’s Cultural Events.
Certainly any group has the right to engage in peaceful protest in compliance with the local protest statutes.
But the GOP support of unrestricted gun ownership and open carry has added an element of threat and intimidation to militia protesters at LGBTQ events.
Organizers of a targeted event become afraid of creating a circumstance where their friends and the public might be harmed.
Potential attendees to the event are frightened away by the menacing appearance of masked men in camouflage carrying assault rifles.
Both the Nazis and the MAGA-GOP use Militia Groups to Silence their Target Minorities.
Watch this video to understand how armed protesters impact minority groups.
It also reveals how failure of local police to assure the safety of minorities undermines trust.
Both Nazi and GOP Laws Designed to Cause Target Group to Flee.
Anti-trans laws in the United States are forcing transgender people to either detransition or flee the community. If recent surveys are accurate, over 50% of the estimated 94,000 transgender people in Florida are considering relocating to a safer state or emigrate out of the US.
Forced to leave their communities and jobs, trans people face both economic hardship and severe emotional harm.
Transgender activist Erin Reed has been periodically publishing a trans “Safety Map” scoring US states on how safe they are for trans people to live in.
The cruelty of the GOP assault on the trans community is profound and completely undermines any claim on their part of being “Christians.”
Striking Parallels
The similarity between how Nazi Germany targeted and drove its Jewish population to flee for their lives, and how the MAGA-Party is now threatening the transgender people in red states America is striking.
Leaders of both parties are charismatic demagogues who politic using big lies and conspiracy theories. Both claimed that only they could save the nation.
Both Hitler and Trump attempted a violent overthrow of their respective governments.
Both attracted a cult of followers by demonizing and scapegoating minorities.
Both used rallies and hate speech supported by a massive propaganda network to turn the community against a peaceful minority.
Once in power, the Nazi Party promoted, and MAGA-GOP controlled states are promoting legislation intended to harm or drive-out their minority targets.
Both parties passed that trans people from their jobs, trans children from schools, and restricted trans access to healthcare. The fascist regimes both required their target minority to identify themselves publicly, and began gathering lists and medical records of their target group.
A D D E N D U M
The Republican Party is no longer a legitimate party operating within our representative democracy. It is a party of hate, anger and guns. It’s time to call it out. In private and in public we must refer to the MAGA-Republican Party as a fascist political organization, and members supporting the party need to be recognized as fascist enablers. To protect our democracy and our citizens, give not a single dollar, vote, or kudo to any Republican candidate and only vote for candidates standing up for democracy.
Share this article:
Nonpartisan Resource & Guide