Donald Trump had recently finished a familiar riff about banning gender transition surgery for children when the former president, speaking to an audience of Evangelical voters, moved on to something new: a policy that would affect transgender adults.
“I will ban all taxpayer funding for sex or gender transitions at any age,” said Trump, receiving thunderous applause at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Washington last month. The Republican leader, who moments earlier had also pledged to reinstate a ban on transgender men and women serving in the military, paused for several seconds to soak in the crowd’s adulation.
It’s the kind of moment — and the type of policy — increasingly common on the GOP presidential campaign trail this year.
Nothing is more delicious to conservatives than a small, powerless group who do not fit into the so-called social norms to attack as a scapegoat. Perfect for distracting their supporters from all of the fuckery and wanton neglect that conservative parties pursue, and perfect for whipping up emotional fervour in the mind of those who cling to conservatism out of fear of difference.
Other groups & causes which conservatives tend to target may willing to jettison the needs of a tiny group for their own ends if they can get their own ends met, and fracturing solidarity is incredibly useful, if not essential, to conservative goals.
As such, people who are seeking treatment for gender dysphoria are the perfect target for the GOP to rail against.
