Trans journalist Erin Reed called Douthat’s interview “hostile” and noted that El-Sayed previously stood up for trans rights when asked in August by Fox News’ Jesse Watters whether he supports “sex changes for minors.” El- Sayed replied, “The government shouldn’t tell you what kind of health care you should have, and if you’re a minor, that’s between you and your doctor and your parents.”
In September, a state university student asked about his position on gender-affirming care. El-Sayed answered, “I don’t think the government gets to have a say about what health care is provided in what circumstances and why.”
Reed also praised El-Sayed for remaining steadfastly committed to trans rights at a time when other Democratic politicians have adopted right-wing framing, saying they oppose government-funded surgeries for trans kids (something that almost never occurs) and “biological men in women’s sports” (an inaccurate and insulting reference to trans girls and women athletes who want to play on sports teams matching their gender identity).
“El-Sayed’s race will be one of the most important to watch on election night,” Reed wrote. “If he can win a highly contested seat despite the anti-transgender Republican money spent against him and the attacks from the right-leaning wing of his own party, it will be a clear case that embracing anti-trans views is not required to win swing states and swing districts across the United States.”
On his campaign website, under the heading “Healthcare Freedom for Women and LGBTQ+ Americans,” El-Sayed wrote, “Healthcare decisions should be made by a patient (and their parents if they are a minor) and their doctor–no one else. That includes reproductive and gender-affirming care…. I oppose any effort to criminalize certain medications and the use of lawfare or funding cuts to stop healthcare providers from providing full-spectrum healthcare that meet all the needs of their diverse communities.”
“I don’t think the government gets to have a say about what health care is provided in what circumstances and why.”
Attaboy, this is EXACTLY the message. And, speaking from experience, it throws conservatives right on their asses.
He also had one of the most incredible comebacks I’ve ever seen to the “mutilating children” bullshit; “Are you circumcised?”
He’s a baller in interviews.
Also: I like how he uses his look.
I want to be clear: I don’t think every candidate should try and look like a macho tough guy. But I think everyone should find their look and lean into it. And his happens to be a flawless visual performance of traditional masculinity.
Which makes it so satisfying to watch when people try and put him off his game with fearmongering over evolving gender norms, and this absolute chad just dunks on them about what losers they look like when they insist on creating a lists of state-approved genitals.
I wish him so much success tomorrow, but regardless of the outcome he’s done amazing things in the campaign, and he’s going to be a force in American politics either way.
People (particularly, young men) have been so inundated with propaganda, that we need to have some visible people on the left who come off as traditionally masculine.
It’s stupid, but right now it’s necessary unfortunately.
Reminds me of a fun moment from back when I was still on Facebook, a decade or longer ago:
During a political discussion about something else entirely, an American right wing nut job blurted out something about Scandinavia “being overrun by Muslims because of all Scandinavian men being low testosterone weaklings”.
Heinous bigotry, I know. But here’s the fun part: I, being a Danish guy born and raised in Denmark with very masculine features including an impressive full beard (who happens to be a far left pacifist internationalist) just said “both my nationality and profile picture of my own face are public” and that was enough to shut his vile white supremacist Islamophobic tirade down 😁
I remember how they used to air The World’s Strongest Man competition on ESPN 2 way back in the day, and all of the best competitors were Danish (and other Scandinavians).
Like every time.
Man, I remember that. Those dudes were massive. Look like they could bear hug trees and rip them out of the ground.
I saw him do this. Epic. The smug prick who asked him about it acted like he won some kind of gotcha but it was totally a self own. Amazing.
Protecting human rights really is that easy. Anti trans folks always gotta twist themselves into pretzels for their ideology, making endless carveouts and caveats to justify their bigotry. It’s the same thing with abortion rights, gay rights, immigrant rights, or anything else reactionary thinking attacks.
“Aren’t you guys the ones always rallying around the ‘small government’ ideal? I’m just walking the walk while you keep talking the talk.”
Please win
If the polls are any indication he should win by double digits.
the last ten years is example enough as to why you cannot trust pre-election polls.
Eh I’ve been through a few of these in Michigan and I’d wager the margin is a tight 1% for either candidate
I don’t just expect Wayne county to show up big and Oakland county will probably not help much.
Would love to be wrong though!
Polls said it.\nWas a shoe in for hillary
I’m getting worried that the fix might be in in Michigan. I don’t think they can cheat hard enough everywhere to avoid the wave, but they might just hate him enough to risk it in Michigan.
AIPAC money already turned his primary opponent. The right is terrified of a reasonable voice in the senate from an “other” demographic showing people that Muslims are actually good people who might even care about them more than the white power network that they’ve voted for for decades, which has never actually done anything to help them in their economic struggles.
Talarico elicits the same fear in Texas from a different angle.
AIPAC money already turned his primary opponent
I suspect she’s been turned for a long time.
Definitely. They’re like money sucking vampires.
The lives of conservatives (including neoliberal journalists) are valueless. Completely valueless.
Any biological body can be used to make compost. Unrelated, I just felt like talking about organic farming.
my daughter and i saw him in a small room at msu when he first began campaigning for governor. i was very impressed with him from the start. not just the fact that he had well thought out, wonky answers to difficult problems, but also because he really seemed to have a big heart. i’ve voted for him three times now. feeling good about his chances against oxy mike.
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Fuck that removed and the Ellison family. Everyone should boycott everything they own. Yes that includes Annapurna. Outer Wilds was funded by fascist money.
(and their parents if they are a minor)
Some people would say he’s murdering trans kids with this little footnote
Who should decide then? You?
What is the procedure when a civilized justice system discovers parents have been sending their child to a “conversion camp” to try and turn them straight?
Denying a trans child their health care should require a response at least as severe as that.
(In an ideal world, which we are far from).
In an ideal world there’d be no “conversion camp” to begin with.
I concur - we’re far from an ideal world.
Yet steps towards a better world are necessary and appreciated.
For the time being I see need for guidance by parents and doctors when it comes to trans kids - even though not all parents and doctors behave ideally and with the best interest of the child in mind.
Having no guidance at all would likely be worse.Right, no one wants lgbt kids being abused by parents. That obviously includes you.
You’re worried about rare edge cases where parents lose custody because of over-zealous policy when the situation is not simple. You don’t want conflicted parents who mean well being overly punished for dragging their feet.
At the very least you’re worried about losing elections because of moderate voters fearing that scenario, right?
You’re being pragmatic. You’re coming from a place of measure, and study, and reason.
The person you’re responding to is more worried about the lgbt kids who are being abused, who are at risk of suicide, who run away and become homeless and resort to sex work and stealing to get by. They’re worried about bad faith parents who would rather see their own children suffer than live in a way they disapprove of.
The person you’re responding to is being empathetic. They’re coming from a place of hurt, and fear, and sadness.
They see the world from the trans child’s point of view.
You see it from a moderate voter’s.
How do we bridge that gap?
How do we get them to admit we can’t control everything and a line has infinite points between the ends, and how do we get you to feel the same urgency and despair as those trapped inside it who are suffering?
The trans kid?
I understand the point you are trying to make, but this is the compromise that we need to make, at least for now, to make progress.
If any politician goes full force with “transgender healthcare for minors, regardless of parental consent” they will lose. It sucks, but that’s how it is.
A lot more trans kids will die if Sayed loses vs. If he wins. I want him to win, not die on an absolutist hill.
We need to work towards laws about parental medical neglect. Focus on the laws that let parents deny lifesaving healthcare to their children on religious grounds first (a more direct form of child murder imho). Eventually we can move the needle on putting children ahead of their parents’ ideologies, but that isn’t a fight we are going to win today.
