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Some Democrats are fired up to use their potential majorities in Congress next year and undo President Donald Trump\u2019s attacks on transgender Americans. Others just want to focus on the cost of gas.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the midterms, progressive lawmakers and congressional candidates are clashing with moderates in office and on the campaign trail over whether to pursue a legislative agenda that includes protecting trans people \u2014 whose health care<\/a>, participation in athletics<\/a> and protections against discrimination<\/a> have been targeted by the administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to have an affirmative platform that protects and expands rights for LGBTQ people,\u201d said Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey in an interview.<\/p>\n

He is among nearly a dozen lawmakers and advocates who said they want Democrats to pursue a two-pronged approach: pass legislation to codify certain rights for trans individuals, and use committee gavels to compel public testimony from Trump officials on their efforts to undermine protections for trans and nonbinary people.<\/p>\n

But the need to tackle affordability, not culture war fights, has been the overriding theme of the Democrats\u2019 push to retake control of Congress. Many Democrats believe that their promise to lower the cost of living will be the reason they win back majorities in the House or the Senate.<\/p>\n

Many centrists fear any pivot away from that pledge would splinter a new Democratic majority on Capitol Hill, especially with some candidates openly rejecting some trans rights initiatives during their campaigns.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to focus on what people care about,\u201d Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) said in an interview. \u201cRight now that\u2019s affordability, and they want some relief. That\u2019s what we should talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Marc Veasey, a moderate Texas Democrat who is retiring this year, said \u201ccultural issues\u201d including transgender rights are \u201csomething we should dive into once [Trump] is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American public is going to want to see our caucus focus on costs as long as he continues to affect the markets negatively with his tariffs and wars,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Progressive advocacy groups and their Hill allies say they can\u2019t wait. Democrats, they argue, should hold hearings on the DOJ\u2019s decision last summer<\/a> to subpoena more than 20 doctors and clinics who\u2019ve provided gender-affirming care to obtain potentially patient-identifying information, advocates say, leading some hospitals to stop providing youth gender affirming care<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They also want Democrats to challenge the Education Department\u2019s move last month<\/a> to officially rescind anti-discrimination protections for transgender students instituted under former President Joe Biden. They\u2019re pushing, too, for an investigation of the Justice Department\u2019s restrictions on gender-affirming care for incarcerated people and policy against placing prisoners in populations consistent with their gender identity \u2014 a move which has faced legal challenges<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In terms of legislation, Democrats are sure to encounter limitations so long as long as Trump is in office. The president is opposed to the cornerstone piece of LGBTQ+ advocates\u2019 agenda, the Equality Act, which would amend civil rights laws to explicitly prohibit gender identity discrimination. It might not even have the votes to overcome a Senate filibuster and get to Trump\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n

Democrats likewise are sure to run into resistance in trying to attach pro-transgender policies to must-pass legislative vehicles, such as government spending bills or the annual defense policy package. The same goes for any attempts to overrule or modify the administration\u2019s suggested changes to the 2030 Census, which include a proposal to remove questions<\/a> about sexual orientation.<\/p>\n

That reality should not be a deterrent, argued Ramiro Sarmiento, national press secretary at the Human Rights Campaign, a pro-LGBTQ+ civil rights advocacy group.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress needs to use every tool it has to push back against the dismantling of protections at the federal level,\u201d said Sarmiento.<\/p>\n

He, along with Ian Thompson, senior legislative advocate at the ACLU, and Tyler Hack, founder and executive director of the Christopher Street Project \u2014 a hybrid PAC and nonprofit focused on building support for transgender rights in Congress \u2014 said their organizations have already begun preliminary conversations with several Democrats about the moves they could make to reverse or combat anti-trans-rights initiatives by Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Those Democrats include longstanding LGBTQ+ rights champions like Markey and Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, plus progressive candidates like Minnesota\u2019s Peggy Flanagan and New York\u2019s Claire Valdez and Brad Lander.<\/p>\n

Hack conceded that trans protection issues are not what \u201cmost Americans are thinking about\u201d but added, \u201cUnfortunately, they are the issues that the White House is thinking about, and it’s the responsibility of Congress to be a check on their powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The advocates say Trump\u2019s executive orders and the GOP agenda have had drastic impacts<\/a> on transgender Americans and their families, including by limiting their access to health care and identification documents that reflect their gender identity. It\u2019s led some families with trans children to make plans to leave the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe our role in Congress is to stand up for the little guys who are being picked on by bullies like Donald Trump and the Republicans,\u201d Markey said about Democrats\u2019 obligations.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re going up against Democrats who want nothing to do with any transgender-related fight as Republicans pummel their party for being out of touch and \u201cwoke.\u201d GOP ads in nearly every battleground race have targeted their Democratic opponents over their party\u2019s support for trans rights.<\/p>\n

That has prompted numerous Democrats to run rebuttal ads, such as veteran Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur\u2019s recent spot<\/a> stating \u201cboys should not play in girls’ sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alaska Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola told voters at a recent campaign event her \u201chope is that we don\u2019t have to spend one second on a conversation about trans anything\u201d in the next Congress, according to a Washington Sun report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One senior House Democrat, who was granted anonymity to discuss a private conversation, recalled personally asking Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries not to focus on trans issues or other culture war flashpoints if the party wins the House.<\/p>\n

Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did not respond to requests for comment on their plans for tackling trans-related issues in the coming Congress.<\/p>\n

Advocates argue that issues of gender identity and equality are, in fact, pocketbook issues and cannot be simply shunted aside.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you are putting in place, for example, policies that say that you can’t get a driver’s license that accurately reflects who you are, or that you can’t use a public restroom, what you are telling people is they can’t work, they can’t hold a job or participate in the public life of our country,\u201d the ACLU\u2019s Thompson said. \u201cThose have very significant economic consequences.”<\/p>\n

Several senior House Democrats \u2014 Minority Whip Katherine Clark, the No. 2 leader, Rep. Ted Lieu of California, the No. 4 leader, and Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Rules Committee Democrat \u2014 said much the same in interviews.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we are telling people that we no longer value equality in this country, it’s really hard to build a fair economy,\u201d Clark said. \u201cYou can’t silo these issues out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riley Rogerson and Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some Democrats are fired up to use their potential majorities in Congress next year and undo President Donald Trump\u2019s attacks on transgender Americans. Others just want to focus on the cost of gas. Ahead of the midterms, progressive lawmakers and congressional candidates are clashing with moderates in office and on the campaign trail over whether […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27644\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}