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.

  • kitonthenet@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    It doesn’t stop with trans people, folks! Pretty soon you’ll need a priest to say you can get heart surgery!!

    • MomoTimeToDie@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Lol you’re off the deep end pal. You’re free to do whatever you like, all they oppose is you doing it at taxpayer expense.

      • Backspacecentury@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        How fucking naive. You think the evangelical church gives a single fuck about taxpayers? How about they, as an organization, pay taxes first? That would help relieve some of the tax burden placed on literally everyone else to cover the services that they use.

        This is 100% related to puritanical social conservative bullshit and has nothing to do with taxes. At all.

      • Saneless@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Why can’t I oppose things at the taxpayers expense then? Burn any church that isn’t paying taxes to the ground

        • MomoTimeToDie@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          You’re perfectly free to oppose government spending. I never said otherwise. I fail to see how that relates to arson against people you don’t like

          • ZombieTheZombieCat
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            1 year ago

            If what it really came down to for people is “taxpayer spending,” then forcing churches to pay taxes should be a front and center issue for conservatives.

            But it’s not. Gee I wonder why.

            • MomoTimeToDie@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              Why would I want the government to tax even more? I want less spending and less taxes. Why would increasing taxation be front and center in that?

              • Redditiscancer789@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Because if churches paid their fair share for all the freebies they get, the average person can pay less in taxes because they stop paying the churches share? How do you do not get this?

          • Saneless@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            It’s just showing that people like you have the dumbest arguments time and time again

            They’re against “socialism” as they drive on publicly funded roads. Against “welfare” as they use WIC on food. Against where “my tax dollars go” when they are too poor to pay taxes. Hyper-pro second amendment people who get irritated when people enjoy the 1st amendment in ways they don’t like.

            Societies don’t work when everything we hate is shut down. And for the loons on the right, that involves shutting down just about everything.

            I’m not sure where and when it became a desired trait to be selfish and lack empathy with people like you, but it’s pathetic