Most Americans support banning gender-affirming care for youth and preventing trans athletes from participating on teams that align with their identity — yet they also support anti-discrimination laws protecting trans people.
More that they have no idea what they entail. Most people hear “gender affirming care for minors” and think it means HRT and surgery. They think that kids are too young to be making those kinds of permanent changes to their bodies.
As for the sports bans, most people “know” that whole bit about men being generally stronger than women. So it inherently feels unfair to them to let trans girls participate in sports with cis girls. They don’t know that virtually everywhere it was ever allowed they already had guidelines in place to mitigate exactly what they feared.
The right weaponizes both of these misunderstandings to make bans seem like common sense protecting children. But these people don’t ideologically hate trans people like the right does.
More that they have no idea what they entail. Most people hear “gender affirming care for minors” and think it means HRT and surgery. They think that kids are too young to be making those kinds of permanent changes to their bodies.
As for the sports bans, most people “know” that whole bit about men being generally stronger than women. So it inherently feels unfair to them to let trans girls participate in sports with cis girls. They don’t know that virtually everywhere it was ever allowed they already had guidelines in place to mitigate exactly what they feared.
The right weaponizes both of these misunderstandings to make bans seem like common sense protecting children. But these people don’t ideologically hate trans people like the right does.