Melissa Murray to Dems: Throwing Transgenders Under the Bus Isn’t the Way to Address 2024 Loss

MURRAY: “Transgender Awareness Week is a call to uplift the trans community and to memorialize those who have been victims of transphobic violence. But this year’s observance comes at an especially difficult time. Just hours after Donald Trump won the presidential election, crisis hotlines that serve LGBTQ+ reported a staggering uptick in calls. The Trevor Project, a non-profit that supports LGBTQ+ youth says it registered a nearly 700% increase in calls, texts and chat messages the day after the election seeing a result of a years-long campaign by the Republican Party to demonize the LGBTQ+ community, especially trans people. And it’s far from over. Here’s Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin earlier today.”

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MULLIN: “Democrats are spending so much time talking about the scrutiny of President Trump’s picks. And yet did we spend this amount of time scrutinizing Biden’s pick? I mean, we can talk about Rachel this, secretary of HHS, I think that’s a pretty controversial pick for whatever pronoun he or he — he or she decides to use.”
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MURRAY: “To be very clear, Mullin was asked the about the qualifications of Trump’s cabinet picks. The question had actually nothing to do with pronouns or gender identity. Now, None of this is new from Republicans, but, unfortunately, some Democrats seem to be taking the bait and internalizing the GOP point that defending trans rights cost them the election. Days after Trump’s victory, Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi of New York told The New York Times, ‘I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in women’s sports. Democrats aren’t saying that, and they should be.’ Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts also chimed in, claiming Democrats are ‘out of touch on the issue.’ He told The Times. ‘I have two little girls. I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or a formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.’ Moulton then doubled down on that view during this interview on MSNBC with Alex Witt.”

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MOULTON: “And I stand by my position. You know, maybe I didn’t get all the words exactly right, but the point is that the backlash I’ve received proves my point that we can’t even have these discussions as a party.”
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MURRAY: “Now, there are many theories as to why Vice President Harris lost and everyone has their own prescriptions for what the Democratic Party needs to fix in order to better connect with voters. But throwing a marginalized community under the bus, one that is already under attack from the GOP, doesn’t seem like the way to do it. And speaking of seeing and connecting with communities, it’s worth noting that 86% of LGBTQ+ voters went to the polls and tried to vote Harris into office. In fact, they are an increasingly loyal constituency for Democrats. There’s also the fact that Kamala Harris never made trans issues a cornerstone of her presidential campaign. And yet, Republicans spent nearly $215 million on anti-trans ads, many falsely claiming that trans rights would somehow come at the expense of everyone else’s rights. Project 2025 is a 900-plus-page playbook for the first 180 days of the new Trump Administration, and it is literally riddled with proposals to further marginalize the LGBTQ+ community, including and especially trans persons. That means Democrats will have to answer the call and be champions for the community they have for so long claimed to represent. One Democrat is already doing that, and he’s doing it from a deep-red state no less. Following Trump’s win, Democratic Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky responded, not by blaming transgender people, but by further touting his support for them. In an op ed written for The New York Times, Beshear said, ‘As governor, I have vetoed numerous anti-LGBTQ and anti-choice bills, yet I still beat Mr. Trump’s hand-picked candidate last fall.’ Hours ago, Beshear spoke with Reverend Al Sharpton on this network, and in that interview he reiterated his commitment to LGBTQ+ rights.”

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BESHEAR: “When I vetoed the nastiest anti-LGBTQ bill we had ever seen last year, in my election year, I talked about it. I said my faith teaches me that every child is a child of God, so I was going to stand up for those kids.”
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MURRAY: “When we come back after the break, I’ll be speaking about all of this and more with Democratic Congresswoman Summer Lee of Pennsylvania. That’s up next.”