Donald Trump had recently finished a familiar riff about banning gender transition surgery for children when the former president, speaking to an audience of Evangelical voters, moved on to something new: a policy that would affect transgender adults.
“I will ban all taxpayer funding for sex or gender transitions at any age,” said Trump, receiving thunderous applause at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Washington last month. The Republican leader, who moments earlier had also pledged to reinstate a ban on transgender men and women serving in the military, paused for several seconds to soak in the crowd’s adulation.
It’s the kind of moment — and the type of policy — increasingly common on the GOP presidential campaign trail this year.
It’s difficult, but not impossible. The GOP counts on making it just difficult enough to add a barrier that will discourage the least interested voters (and particularly in locations where their voter base isn’t located). We still can combat those barriers. Eg, if your state has passed voter ID laws, spread the word well ahead of time and help people get ID. If your state has shitty placement of polling stations, help arrange transportation. Make sure people know about legal protections afforded to them for taking time off work to vote.
And above all, simply encourage voting and dispel misconceptions about “mY vOTe dOeSn’T MattER”. Most people who don’t vote are eligible, have means to do so, and aren’t working the full stretch of polling station hours. They don’t vote because they simply don’t care or are discouraged.