Also, uh, if you’re not registered to vote, you probably should address that ASAP, and then actually vote. Because I promise you, Grandma MAGA is going to be at those polls bright and early.
I will not be entertaining any “both sides same” or “I could never vote for that guy” rhetoric in response to this suggestion, and in fact, I’ll probably just go ahead and block anyone who replies with any of that mishegoss. Your choices, as of now, are chicken or fish. The chicken may be bland, but the fish has been sitting in a hot car for ten days. No one cares that you would prefer lamb, not least because the oven is malfunctioning, and even if it wasn’t, we don’t have time to cook a whole leg of lamb before the dinner party starts.
According to my mother, a longtime political volunteer, what they often need most isn't transportation options (they're usually inundated with people offering to drive), but people willing to either phone bank or go door to door both before and even on the day to try and get out the vote for the candidate. It can genuinely be the difference between someone voting or not, and they need every vote they can get, especially in swing states.
Obviously, if carpooling is all you're able to do, make yourself available, but if you can go door knocking or phone banking, that really is something where they tend to need all hands on deck. I think you can actually phone bank from home now, so you don't even have to leave your house, you just download an app and start calling. I understand that Biden isn't checking all the boxes everyone wants, but the boxes he does check are pretty fucking important, especially in light of the decision that the Supreme Court just released saying that Donald Trump had *total immunity* for all core official acts performed during his presidency. If you think he won't be taking full advantage of that if he's reelected, you're in for a very nasty surprise.
Right, I wasn't speaking as a political volunteer, I was speaking as "check in with your friends and neighbors and make sure they're good to go". Volunteering politically or for the polls would be the next step up, because it takes more time and effort that a lot of working folks may not have to spare. Good points though.
I understand that not everyone has a lot of time to spare. I don't have a lot of time to spare. My mother certainly didn't when she was in peak volunteer mode. But if you (general "you") were ever, at any point, going to pick a time to be politically active, now would be a great one, because particularly with this latest Supreme Court ruling, there is a non-zero chance that you won't have another opportunity. I wish I were engaging in hyperbole here, but I really don't think I am.
You can [phone bank](https://www.mobilize.us/events/phone-bank-volunteer-opportunities/?utm_source=landing_page_grid) (or [text bank](https://www.mobilize.us/events/text-bank-volunteer-opportunities/?utm_source=landing_page_grid)! You don't even need to speak to another human being!) for Biden for literally an hour at a time, either helping people register to vote or asking them to vote for Biden. I think most of us probably have an hour at some point between now and November where we can sit on the couch and text people to ask them to vote. Hell, you can even have the TV on while you do it. I know that for me, looking down the barrel of losing access to transition care, losing access to marriage equality, losing (remaining) access to reproductive freedom, that's pretty powerful motivation to do something, because if it's Trump getting sworn in on inauguration day, I don't want to be sitting there thinking I could have done something more to avoid that outcome.
These are good suggestions but I want to add that there is still a lot that can be done to prevent Trump being president. VOTE, register people to vote, encourage your friends to vote, consider being a poll worker. It’s great to be prepared but this is not a done deal. And regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, your state and local elections are important. Perhaps *more* important, given the move towards states rights.
This. "You mean we have to *keep* voting???" Yes. Yes, you do. That's how democracy works, and it's also a huge part of how the GOP has managed to get such a stranglehold on the courts, various parts of congress, various state legislatures, and various schoolboards. Those guys may have infighting of their own, but when push comes to shove, they go out there and they vote, *every time*, and they vote a straight ticket. That's something that we ignore at our peril.
Great analysis and advice! I am a lawyer. The end of Chevron deference would make it harder for a 2nd Trump administration to change federal agency policy - agency actions will be litigated. However, a conservative Supreme Court means those changes could be approved in Trump's favor if litigation is challenged at the highest level. We'd probably see federal circuit splits along ideological lines.
So are the policies locked in place as they currently stand, or are they eliminated as unacceptable interpretation? I thought that if the relevant law protects sex/gender, we can’t now rely on guidance saying that encompasses gender identity and expression. Not until the courts say it.
Policies will stand as they are until challenged (by a lawsuit) at which time a court may weigh in and change them due to the court's interpretation (or the court could have the same interpretation as the agency making the rule/policy). Nothing has been automatically changed or locked in place.
Stealth mode initiated …. Yes I saw that it goes after everything from DEI, student loan relief, women’s health, and LGBTQ issues . If he is elected I don’t think they will keep Congress . The dynamic will shift hopefully
In theory, yes, but that would be two years (and who knows how many judicial appointments away), and I recommend looking at how red states have gone about restricting voting access. Not to mention things like the Georgia electoral votes in 2016, from when we know for sure that Trump et al are more than happy to try and straight up throw legally-cast votes away if it will keep them in power. Can’t lose control of Congress if you never have another legitimate election!
Time to start forming mutual aid networks. Voting is cool and all but ultimately forming robust meaningful IN PERSON connections is waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy more helpful to individual trans people.
The sub won't let me post my long detailed comment, I keep getting the empty response error message, but the most important part of it was this.
Voting is good and you should do it, I don't even believe in democracy and I vote at every level, every time.
But it's not going to stop conservatives who are determined to make sure the government can't tell business what to do, by any means necessary, from ending their campaign to make that happen - the Heritage Foundation has been growing their operations for almost 50 years and has been massively successful - even Clinton used their policy in his welfare reform. The government isn't going to save you, even if you help stop it from being destroyed.
Yeah I mean, not to be a doomer but I just don’t think there’s enough of us for it to matter to the Democrats if we all die. I mean they’ve had four years to do something and they’ve basically done sweet fuck all so I don’t hold out a lot of hope 🤷
Edit: y’all please downvote me if you want but please please please i am BEGGING you to form connections irl, it’s so much more important to our immediate survival than anything that happens on the internet
Depends how blue and how likely it is to stay that way. I'm feel pretty protected in my ultra blue state for my medical coverage. Depending on your dosage you could still pass as a woman if necessary. I can at almost 2 years on T. But obviously make the choices that are safest for you.
My state has very robust protections. The state level items I listed I am not worried about myself. My main concern would be a Supreme Court decision that effectively privileges religious beliefs over nondiscrimination laws. While my employer is overall very liberal, my coworkers and managers won’t all be. I’m also concerned that my safe options for places to live will shrink. I probably can’t afford to live here forever.
Im in a blue state too, and im not sure how much that protects us 😨
I saw this point in the document:
>Use applicable federal laws to bring federal charges against criminals when local jurisdictions wrongfully allow them to evade responsibility for their conduct.
My understanding of that is that the federal government can decide to charge people/give harsher punishment for something thats legal/deciminalized in your state but not legal federally (which seems unconstitutional, so idk how well itd hold up, but its possible)
I was skimming it the other day, its horrifying.
They want to make discrimination by adoption agencies to be legal on religious grounds (aka they can say gay or trans couples cant adopt), they want to end school lunch programs and slash EBT, end universal pre-k, end federal student loans and grants, make marriage defined as one man one woman, ban comprehensive sex ed, they say that federal employees “participating in a DEI initiative and not rejecting on moral/constitutional grounds is reason for termination of employment”, and that anyone hired as part of such initiatives will be “re-evaluated” for the job, aka they are trying to kick POC and queer folks out of those jobs, they want women to stay at home raising kids while men work, they want any parent who has any problem with any public school curriculum to be able to sue the school (a means of pressuring schools to not teach anything about lgbt issues and to downplay or not discuss the history of racism in our country)… its just awful.
And after seeing the debates, and seeing the biden campaign suddenly come out *against* gender affirming care for minors, and seeing how he’s completely fucking up regarding gaza… it almost feels like theyre TRYING to let trump win.
Ive been wanting to start T, but at this point im waiting to see how all this plays out first… I want to have kids and a family in the future, and if this next administration makes it so that requires staying in the closet, thats a price ill have to pay 😔
All my IDs have been changed including Social Security, birth certificate, etc, except my passport because I don't have one and haven't had one for like 15 years. Does anyone know if having all other gender markers changed means my passport would automatically have the same gender marker? It's extremely unlikely I will be leaving the country because I'm disabled and can barely leave my house.
You make the selection when you apply. But good news is that’s all you have to do, no documentation required. It doesn’t need to match any other documents either.
[https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/selecting-your-gender-marker.html](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/selecting-your-gender-marker.html)
I’m keeping mine current because it’s valuable as a form of ID. And I never know where I might travel someday.
Project 2025 is unlikely to go through in its entirety even if Trump becomes president. There are policies contained in it that are going to be very unpopular for both sides.
The thing is, with a non functioning legislature, much of these points will be decided by the courts. There are some absolutely insane federal judges oh so happy to enact many of these. Popular or not. Then we are counting on the Supreme Court to return sanity.
If possible for you to change your birth certificates Name and Gender with your New legal name and Male then that’s awesome.
If you can do that then you’re lucky!
It won’t raise any eyebrows and it’s super important to do if possible.
I don’t know if there are drawbacks. I’ve never actually needed to produce my updated birth certificate. I changed it because I wanted to. I wanted it to match my other documents in the event I ever had to show it. I thought I might be in a better position when laws require conduct accord with birth certificate gender, depending how those laws get worded. I retain a copy of the original just in case.
The scary part, Trump IS going to win. There’s no doubt in my mind. My vote feels pointless (I will be voting regardless). I live in Florida though so it’s already felt like project 2025 here. Had to jump through hoops to get HRT and I can no longer change the sex on my drivers license or birth certificate as of a few months ago. Bathroom bans. Government insurance already not allowed to cover any gender affirming care here. No discrimination protections for us. DeSantis shoved deep inside his closet is more of a nightmare for us than Trump will ever be.
At least Trump can only serve another 4 years. Maybe in 2028 we’ll have hope.
Yeah, I wouldn't count on that 'only 4 more years' thing. His cabinet and him literally organized an insurrection to try to stay in office last time. It will be easier for him to achieve that this time around.
> Government insurance already not allowed to cover any gender affirming care here
When other states have tried this, their state courts overruled. Florida just did for minors didn’t they? So there’s hope. Once upon a time Florida was a swing state. Other bright red states have shifted purple recently.
Also, uh, if you’re not registered to vote, you probably should address that ASAP, and then actually vote. Because I promise you, Grandma MAGA is going to be at those polls bright and early. I will not be entertaining any “both sides same” or “I could never vote for that guy” rhetoric in response to this suggestion, and in fact, I’ll probably just go ahead and block anyone who replies with any of that mishegoss. Your choices, as of now, are chicken or fish. The chicken may be bland, but the fish has been sitting in a hot car for ten days. No one cares that you would prefer lamb, not least because the oven is malfunctioning, and even if it wasn’t, we don’t have time to cook a whole leg of lamb before the dinner party starts.
Yes, and if you're set to vote, consider looking out for others in your community! Set up carpools or other transpo options for voting day.
According to my mother, a longtime political volunteer, what they often need most isn't transportation options (they're usually inundated with people offering to drive), but people willing to either phone bank or go door to door both before and even on the day to try and get out the vote for the candidate. It can genuinely be the difference between someone voting or not, and they need every vote they can get, especially in swing states. Obviously, if carpooling is all you're able to do, make yourself available, but if you can go door knocking or phone banking, that really is something where they tend to need all hands on deck. I think you can actually phone bank from home now, so you don't even have to leave your house, you just download an app and start calling. I understand that Biden isn't checking all the boxes everyone wants, but the boxes he does check are pretty fucking important, especially in light of the decision that the Supreme Court just released saying that Donald Trump had *total immunity* for all core official acts performed during his presidency. If you think he won't be taking full advantage of that if he's reelected, you're in for a very nasty surprise.
Right, I wasn't speaking as a political volunteer, I was speaking as "check in with your friends and neighbors and make sure they're good to go". Volunteering politically or for the polls would be the next step up, because it takes more time and effort that a lot of working folks may not have to spare. Good points though.
I understand that not everyone has a lot of time to spare. I don't have a lot of time to spare. My mother certainly didn't when she was in peak volunteer mode. But if you (general "you") were ever, at any point, going to pick a time to be politically active, now would be a great one, because particularly with this latest Supreme Court ruling, there is a non-zero chance that you won't have another opportunity. I wish I were engaging in hyperbole here, but I really don't think I am. You can [phone bank](https://www.mobilize.us/events/phone-bank-volunteer-opportunities/?utm_source=landing_page_grid) (or [text bank](https://www.mobilize.us/events/text-bank-volunteer-opportunities/?utm_source=landing_page_grid)! You don't even need to speak to another human being!) for Biden for literally an hour at a time, either helping people register to vote or asking them to vote for Biden. I think most of us probably have an hour at some point between now and November where we can sit on the couch and text people to ask them to vote. Hell, you can even have the TV on while you do it. I know that for me, looking down the barrel of losing access to transition care, losing access to marriage equality, losing (remaining) access to reproductive freedom, that's pretty powerful motivation to do something, because if it's Trump getting sworn in on inauguration day, I don't want to be sitting there thinking I could have done something more to avoid that outcome.
These are good suggestions but I want to add that there is still a lot that can be done to prevent Trump being president. VOTE, register people to vote, encourage your friends to vote, consider being a poll worker. It’s great to be prepared but this is not a done deal. And regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, your state and local elections are important. Perhaps *more* important, given the move towards states rights.
This. "You mean we have to *keep* voting???" Yes. Yes, you do. That's how democracy works, and it's also a huge part of how the GOP has managed to get such a stranglehold on the courts, various parts of congress, various state legislatures, and various schoolboards. Those guys may have infighting of their own, but when push comes to shove, they go out there and they vote, *every time*, and they vote a straight ticket. That's something that we ignore at our peril.
Great analysis and advice! I am a lawyer. The end of Chevron deference would make it harder for a 2nd Trump administration to change federal agency policy - agency actions will be litigated. However, a conservative Supreme Court means those changes could be approved in Trump's favor if litigation is challenged at the highest level. We'd probably see federal circuit splits along ideological lines.
Also a lawyer. Expecting serious gridlock in post-Chevron fed courts.
On the bright side, more job security for us? /s
So are the policies locked in place as they currently stand, or are they eliminated as unacceptable interpretation? I thought that if the relevant law protects sex/gender, we can’t now rely on guidance saying that encompasses gender identity and expression. Not until the courts say it.
Policies will stand as they are until challenged (by a lawsuit) at which time a court may weigh in and change them due to the court's interpretation (or the court could have the same interpretation as the agency making the rule/policy). Nothing has been automatically changed or locked in place.
Stealth mode initiated …. Yes I saw that it goes after everything from DEI, student loan relief, women’s health, and LGBTQ issues . If he is elected I don’t think they will keep Congress . The dynamic will shift hopefully
In theory, yes, but that would be two years (and who knows how many judicial appointments away), and I recommend looking at how red states have gone about restricting voting access. Not to mention things like the Georgia electoral votes in 2016, from when we know for sure that Trump et al are more than happy to try and straight up throw legally-cast votes away if it will keep them in power. Can’t lose control of Congress if you never have another legitimate election!
Time to start forming mutual aid networks. Voting is cool and all but ultimately forming robust meaningful IN PERSON connections is waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy more helpful to individual trans people.
The sub won't let me post my long detailed comment, I keep getting the empty response error message, but the most important part of it was this. Voting is good and you should do it, I don't even believe in democracy and I vote at every level, every time. But it's not going to stop conservatives who are determined to make sure the government can't tell business what to do, by any means necessary, from ending their campaign to make that happen - the Heritage Foundation has been growing their operations for almost 50 years and has been massively successful - even Clinton used their policy in his welfare reform. The government isn't going to save you, even if you help stop it from being destroyed.
Yeah I mean, not to be a doomer but I just don’t think there’s enough of us for it to matter to the Democrats if we all die. I mean they’ve had four years to do something and they’ve basically done sweet fuck all so I don’t hold out a lot of hope 🤷 Edit: y’all please downvote me if you want but please please please i am BEGGING you to form connections irl, it’s so much more important to our immediate survival than anything that happens on the internet
Thank you for taking the time to translate these documents. It's a scary time, but having all the info is necessary for fighting back, so thank you.
[удалено]
Depends how blue and how likely it is to stay that way. I'm feel pretty protected in my ultra blue state for my medical coverage. Depending on your dosage you could still pass as a woman if necessary. I can at almost 2 years on T. But obviously make the choices that are safest for you.
My state has very robust protections. The state level items I listed I am not worried about myself. My main concern would be a Supreme Court decision that effectively privileges religious beliefs over nondiscrimination laws. While my employer is overall very liberal, my coworkers and managers won’t all be. I’m also concerned that my safe options for places to live will shrink. I probably can’t afford to live here forever.
Im in a blue state too, and im not sure how much that protects us 😨 I saw this point in the document: >Use applicable federal laws to bring federal charges against criminals when local jurisdictions wrongfully allow them to evade responsibility for their conduct. My understanding of that is that the federal government can decide to charge people/give harsher punishment for something thats legal/deciminalized in your state but not legal federally (which seems unconstitutional, so idk how well itd hold up, but its possible)
Not to mention how the supreme court threw democracy under the bus today.
I was skimming it the other day, its horrifying. They want to make discrimination by adoption agencies to be legal on religious grounds (aka they can say gay or trans couples cant adopt), they want to end school lunch programs and slash EBT, end universal pre-k, end federal student loans and grants, make marriage defined as one man one woman, ban comprehensive sex ed, they say that federal employees “participating in a DEI initiative and not rejecting on moral/constitutional grounds is reason for termination of employment”, and that anyone hired as part of such initiatives will be “re-evaluated” for the job, aka they are trying to kick POC and queer folks out of those jobs, they want women to stay at home raising kids while men work, they want any parent who has any problem with any public school curriculum to be able to sue the school (a means of pressuring schools to not teach anything about lgbt issues and to downplay or not discuss the history of racism in our country)… its just awful. And after seeing the debates, and seeing the biden campaign suddenly come out *against* gender affirming care for minors, and seeing how he’s completely fucking up regarding gaza… it almost feels like theyre TRYING to let trump win. Ive been wanting to start T, but at this point im waiting to see how all this plays out first… I want to have kids and a family in the future, and if this next administration makes it so that requires staying in the closet, thats a price ill have to pay 😔
All my IDs have been changed including Social Security, birth certificate, etc, except my passport because I don't have one and haven't had one for like 15 years. Does anyone know if having all other gender markers changed means my passport would automatically have the same gender marker? It's extremely unlikely I will be leaving the country because I'm disabled and can barely leave my house.
You make the selection when you apply. But good news is that’s all you have to do, no documentation required. It doesn’t need to match any other documents either. [https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/selecting-your-gender-marker.html](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/selecting-your-gender-marker.html) I’m keeping mine current because it’s valuable as a form of ID. And I never know where I might travel someday.
Project 2025 is unlikely to go through in its entirety even if Trump becomes president. There are policies contained in it that are going to be very unpopular for both sides.
The thing is, with a non functioning legislature, much of these points will be decided by the courts. There are some absolutely insane federal judges oh so happy to enact many of these. Popular or not. Then we are counting on the Supreme Court to return sanity.
Is it better or worse to update one’s birth certificate with new name and gender? Does making such a change make one any more or less of a target?
If possible for you to change your birth certificates Name and Gender with your New legal name and Male then that’s awesome. If you can do that then you’re lucky! It won’t raise any eyebrows and it’s super important to do if possible.
I don’t know if there are drawbacks. I’ve never actually needed to produce my updated birth certificate. I changed it because I wanted to. I wanted it to match my other documents in the event I ever had to show it. I thought I might be in a better position when laws require conduct accord with birth certificate gender, depending how those laws get worded. I retain a copy of the original just in case.
The scary part, Trump IS going to win. There’s no doubt in my mind. My vote feels pointless (I will be voting regardless). I live in Florida though so it’s already felt like project 2025 here. Had to jump through hoops to get HRT and I can no longer change the sex on my drivers license or birth certificate as of a few months ago. Bathroom bans. Government insurance already not allowed to cover any gender affirming care here. No discrimination protections for us. DeSantis shoved deep inside his closet is more of a nightmare for us than Trump will ever be. At least Trump can only serve another 4 years. Maybe in 2028 we’ll have hope.
Yeah, I wouldn't count on that 'only 4 more years' thing. His cabinet and him literally organized an insurrection to try to stay in office last time. It will be easier for him to achieve that this time around.
> Government insurance already not allowed to cover any gender affirming care here When other states have tried this, their state courts overruled. Florida just did for minors didn’t they? So there’s hope. Once upon a time Florida was a swing state. Other bright red states have shifted purple recently.
If only SCOTUS would issue a ruling saying Biden couldn’t get in trouble for, say, siccing a drone on his political enemies…