By JAMES POLLARD (Associated Press/Report for America)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Thousands of people in one of South Carolina’s most conservative counties roared when Donald Trump promised to cut federal funding on “Day 1” for schools pushing what he called “transgender insanity” onto children.
“And I can’t even believe I have to say it, but I do have to say it,” Trump told the crowd this month. “I will keep men out of women’s sports.”
The former president has repeatedly mocked transgender people during his campaign, using language about gender identity that LGBTQ+ advocates say is wrong and harmful. Others in the GOP field have attacked transgender participation in athletics and proposed nationwide bans on affirming care for transgender minors.
Transgender-related issues have become perhaps the biggest rallying call to Christian conservatives, more than abortion rights or same-sex marriage. That shift worries advocates who note transgender people are already disproportionately prone to stress, depression and suicidal behavior when forced to live as the sex they were assigned at birth.
“Republicans might be overplaying their hand as a political matter. As an ethical matter, I think it’s gross,” said Tim Miller, a former Republican political operative who worked as communications director for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The Alliance for Full Acceptance’s executive director, Chase Glenn, a transgender man, called it “dehumanizing” to have his existence politicized.
“It’s really disgusting that these politicians think they can use trans people, and more specifically trans youth, as a political tool to win points,” he said.
Many Republicans have been angered by how gender is sometimes discussed, part of a broader backlash against what conservatives see as a liberal tide in classrooms. Several people interviewed at a recent Trump rally argued children were being wrongly confronted…
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