In 2004 GOP backed initiatives in 11 states passed banning ‘gay marriage.’ During the early 2000s the Republicans repeatedly and consistently placed on local and state ballots initiatives to ‘ban gay marriage’ as a method to energize their base and play upon long held but weakening prejudices. There were enough ‘moderate’ voters holding to those bigotries that winning some of them over could swing elections.

When the current Republican led tirade against Trans people surfaced first surfaced, I thought it was a similar ploy. The ‘Gay issues’ had been settled at the courts and what followed surprisingly quickly was a sea change in public opinion. The ‘ban gay marriage’ movement had been corralled to the most bigoted and no longer held the potential of electoral victory. Trans people, still only a concept to many people and outside of common perception, might hold the key to again energizing the GOP’s base voters while winning over a few of the undecided middle. I do think that the ‘bathroom bills’ and such was a repeat play of the ‘gay marriage’ tactics of the early 2000s, but it has moved far beyond that now.

Following the trail blazed by the former president the GOP now seeks cruelty for its own sake and not merely as an after effect. They now longer couch their arguments and plans in bland inoffensive sounding language but instead drive directly to harmful, cruel, and targeted attacks on Trans people and their families vis the power of the state. From Texas to Florida and beyond the state wielding the terrible club of criminal action batters at a group already heavily marginalized, bullied, beaten, and murdered.

When you combine this with the active plot to destroy representative democracy it is clear that there are no good Republicans left.