Representative Elect Sarah McBride shattered yet another pink ceiling becoming the first transgender person to be elected to the US Congress, winning by 60%. McBride sat down with Chis Hayes and talked about what made her campaign so sucessfull.
She won in the November 2020 election in the 1st Delaware State Senate district. As the first openly transgender state senator in the country, she is the highest-ranking transgender elected official in United States history.
"In DC, I’ll be uniformly focused on the issues that matter most to Delawareans — making life more affordable by passing paid family and medical leave, raising wages for workers, and making healthcare and childcare more accessible and affordable," McBride posted on Instagram. "That’s what I ran this campaign promising to do, and that’s what I’ll fight for no matter who is in the White House."
New York voters overwhelmingly voted yes on Prop 1 adding abortion access and transgender protections, and other protected classes to the state constitution.
It was a five-year process as the legislature had to pass the amendment twice and then be voted on during a general election.
New York State already has laws protecting these civil rights, so why amend the constitution?
Civil rights advocates recognized it was needed as laws can be challenged in courts putting enforcement of those laws on hold, possibly overturning them.
The proponents of the ERA saw that it was necessary after Roe Vs Wade was overturned and had the foresight to recognize that incoming conservative administrations would likely rescind Title IX protections as interpreted by the Biden administration and challenge Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020), the landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights decision in which the Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination because of sexuality or gender identity.
a. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed [or], religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in [his or her] their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state, pursuant to law.
b. Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, program, or practice that is designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination on the basis of a characteristic listed in this section, nor shall any characteristic listed in this section be interpreted to interfere with, limit, or deny the civil rights of any person based upon any other characteristic identified in this section.
City and State reports that opponents of the ERA have warned in particular about the prospect of transgender teenagers being given a constitutional right to pursue gender-affirming care and other medical procedures without their parents’ consent. PolitiFact determined that Prop 1 would not allow minors to receive gender-affirming care without parental consent. However, it is impossible to say how an individual court may rule if a case is brought. State law currently requires that, in most cases, minors receive parental consent for any medical treatment or procedure.
Trump closed out his presidential campaign by threatening Michelle Obama yesterday. In a video on X that already has one million views, Trump asked the assembled Klan members if he was “allowed to hit her now”, inferring he would be free to punch her if he were to be elected.
Trump: Michelle.. I was so nice to her out of respect. She hit me the other day. I was going to say, am I allowed to hit her now? pic.twitter.com/u0E8oXnOpD
Importantly, Trump, last night used racist tropes while disparaging Barrack Obama and has never threatened violence against him.
Trump had already appeared to threaten Michelle Obama at a previous rally, noting ominously that she’d made “a big mistake” by criticizing him, but his latest outburst is an escalation in his language and appears to deliberately lean into the ambiguity of the word “hit,” reports HuffPost.
Apparently recounting a conversation with his advisers, Trump said, “Michelle ... I was so nice to her out of respect. She hit me the other day. I was going to say: ‘Am I allowed to hit her now?’ They said: ‘Take it easy, sir.’ My geniuses, they said, ‘Just take it easy.’ ‘What do you mean? She said that about me, I can’t hit back?’ ‘Sir, you’re winning. Just relax.’”
“Is that good or bad advice?” he asked the crowd. “I think it’s neutral.”
He then asked, “What do the ladies of North Carolina think, hit back or just relax?” before admitting, “I’d actually love to hit back, but we’ll hold it a little while.”
Trump has to escalate his violent rhetoric or lose voters who have become bored of the same old story.
Democracy is built on the tenet that every vote counts and whoever you vote for is your own business and no one else. An ad narrated by Juilie Roberts highlights that as Trump is losing women voters in large part due to his lies about reproductive healthcare.
Fox News Host Jesse Watters in response to the video said that if his wife voted for someone else than he did it would be tantamount to cheating, and would end in divorce.
You can see the disbelief in Watters' women cohosts. Believe him. MAGA men like JD Vance don't believe women have a stake in the future unless, of course, we are pregnant.
Here's Jesse Watters saying he thinks his wife voting for @KamalaHarris is the same as having an affair—it "violates the sanctity of our marriage."
I don't care what type of marriage you have—traditional, modern, whatever—that's not healthy.
Carol Berning wrote on Facebook "Just in case you didn’t know—"
"The ass who said he’d divorce his wife if she voted for Kamala, for it would be violating the sanctity of marriage is the same one who cheated on this first wife with his current wife."
“He married Noelle Inguagiato in 2009 and they have twin daughters.[52] Noelle filed for divorce in 2018 after Watters admitted to an affair with a producer on his show, Emma DiGiovine. Watters claimed to have begun dating DiGiovine by letting the air out of her vehicle's tires so she would ask him for a ride.”
Erin Reed appeared on PBS Saturday to talk about the anti-trans ads that have inundated viewers during NFL games.
Reed wrote "Harris's late-campaign surge comes as Trump has flooded the airwaves with anti-trans advertisements during major sporting events. Meanwhile, Republican Senate candidates have also received tens of millions of dollars in support from groups like the Senate Leadership Fund, which has blanketed these swing states with ads about transgender bathroom usage, sports, and health care. Spending on transgender issues dwarfs all others; according to national political reporter Marc Caputo, the Trump campaign has spent more money on anti-trans advertisements than on any other issue, surpassing topics like the economy and immigration."
But why now when early voting is nearly over? GOP campaign of lies, divisiveness, and disinformation never targeted undecided voters before. Who is Trump reaching for? Reed believes the ads target young male voters a demographic that Trump believes he has an edge on.
However true, I have a slightly different take on this. Trump has fallen behind spectacularly with women voters as he doubles down with statements like "I will protect you whether you like it or not."
Trump's waffling on abortion has also driven women away. Coupled with Vance's position that people with uteruses are worthless if not actively breeding have dug a hole Trump can't lie his way out of.
My take? Trump and the likes of Ted Cruz are hoping women equate transgender athletes with the methodical incubus. The GOP, the party of hate is losing this election and in a last-ditch effort is demonizing the smallest minority in a clumsy attempt attempt to win over women voters.
Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, said two-and-a-half years ago he was open to a national abortion ban, a stark contrast to comments he made this week where the Ohio senator said he adhered to Trump’s view that abortion should be a state issue.
Vance argued in 2022 that people seeking abortions would travel from states where abortion is banned to states with liberal abortion laws, necessitating federal action.
“I certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally,” Vance said in January 2022 on a podcast when running for Senate.
