Democrats keep asking trans people for money. We’re asking for a backbone

In recent campaign ads, Ohio Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur said, “I voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of our schools” and “boys should not play in girls’ sports.” In two sentences, she offered a solution to an illusory problem and denied the identities of transgender girls. It was surrender.Republicans need trans people as an enemy, having already spent more than $60 million on anti-trans ads in 2026. Without us, they lose a scapegoat to distract from affordability, health care, and the war with Iran. They claim trans people aren’t real, yet blame us for America’s problems.Democrats who accept that premise also accept the idea that trans people are a liability to be managed rather than members of the majority they need. Democrats should offer voters something to believe in. Defeating authoritarianism requires a coalition committed to caring for one another.Democrats should commit broadly to freedom and specifically to the ability to make choices about one’s own body. That means medical decisions belong to patients, families, and doctors. Reproductive freedom and gender-affirming care rest on the same principle: the decision belongs to the person, not the state.For kids, Democrats need to focus on safety and education. Glisten’s 2025 report found that 71 percent of trans and gender-expansive students felt unsafe in school at some point because of their identity. Research shows a “consistent negative relationship” between feeling unsafe and test scores. Making schools safer is part of helping students learn.And Democrats need to be clear: There is no such thing as the wrong kind of American. No one should face discrimination based on identity, and everyone should have the opportunity to thrive. That principle extends to military and federal service, where trans people have already proven their capability. When a Trump-aligned PAC put me, in uniform, in an Alaska attack ad, I was glad more people got to see a transgen