“We’re seeing a war against trans individuals being waged by our federal government, and we, as citizens, need to be willing to step up and say this is not OK,” Kluwe said. “The Democratic Party has taken a very defensive posture on trans issues when that’s the absolute wrong thing to do. You don’t make a bully go away by cowering in the corner and say, I’ll agree with you on these little things. That just encourages the bully.
“We need to be full-throated in the attack, saying these are people who pay taxes, who serve in our military, and who are entitled to the exact same rights that every single other American is entitled to, which includes health care and the opportunity to live a prosperous life. We can’t be afraid of the right-wing fear machine. We have to take it to them, show that we’re willing to fight.”
Republicans are the ones bringing Trans rights to the forefront by consistently attacking them. They are the ones spending on ads talking about the “trans agenda” and making wild claims like schools forcibly transitioning kids. The Trans-in-sports issue affects only a fraction of the already tiny Trans community, but the conservatives love focusing on it because, just like with the bathroom bills, they can frame it as though it’s about men trying to “take advantage” by pretending they are women - and because more people can see themselves trying to cheat at something or trick others to get what they want than can imagine feeling out of place in their own bodies, it works. So while I agree that it doesn’t need to be the Democrats focus (and it isn’t), they do need to counter the torrent of bullshit spewing from the right.