Just Asking Questions Brianna Wu and TafTaj: How Have Trans Issues Scrambled Our Politics?
About 0.5 percent of U.S. adults identify as transgender, according to a 2022 UCLA study. Among 13- to 17-year-olds, the figure has grown to about 1.4 percent. That uptick in the youth might help explain why trans issues are playing a growing role in American politics.
Registered voters told Gallup pollsters that transgender issues ranked among the least important political issues they considered when weighing their presidential vote—just below climate change.
Yet, the Trump campaign spent $65 million running ads in swing states attacking Vice President Kamala Harris' transgender policy stances in the final stretch of the campaign, according to The New York Times. The top Harris super PAC found that one such ad shifted voters who viewed it almost three points towards Trump, resonating particularly well with demographics that swung significantly in his favor.
In a relatively close election, is it possible that this actually was a deciding factor? And how should trans advocates and Democrats adjust their approach to this issue?
Joining us today to talk about it are Brianna Wu and TafTaj. They are two of the co-hosts of the new show Dollcast, a show about transgender issues and politics, aiming to correct what they see as the excesses or errors in both the trans and gender-critical movements. TafTaj is a streamer and commentator. Wu is a programmer, political activist, and commentator, best known for her involvement in Gamergate. She now runs the progressive Rebellion PAC.
Sources to Reference:
- Williams Institute: How Many Adults and Youth Identify as Transgender in the United States?
- Economy Most Important Issue to 2024 Presidential Vote
- The New York Times: Trump and Republicans Bet Big on Anti-Trans Ads Across the Country
- The New York Times: How Trump Won, and How Harris Lost
- The Washington Post: GamerGaters Inundated Her With Death Threats. Now Some Are Apologizing — and She Forgives Them.
- Brianna Wu: I Fear That Progressivism Has Become the Very Thing We Fought Against
- Brianna Wu: X Post "from the center"
- The Cass Review
- Should kids medically transition? | Jesse Singal | Just Asking Questions, Episode 21
- IFLScience: The Woman Who Gave Birth Despite Most Of Her Cells Having XY Chromosomes
- PubMed Central: Rare successful pregnancy in a patient with Swyer Syndrome
Chapters:
- 00:00 Coming up…
- 00:29 Introduction
- 03:24 Brianna Wu's political evolution
- 06:03 "The progressive purity spiral"
- 07:25 Taf's political evolution
- 09:58 "The centrist case for trans rights"
- 15:42 The "President Trump is for you" ad
- 23:10 "Non-binary" identity and science
- 29:17 Wu and Taf's personal stories
- 40:53 Youth gender dysphoria science and the Cass Review
- 48:46 Should insurance companies not be involved?
- 54:26 A libertarian approach?
- 01:05:05 Technological changes
- 01:07:48 Questions more people should be asking
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