aw, bullpucky. America didn't need Kansas to say "oh gee should we be worried?" Every step, from DOGE to Minnesota to the Reflecting Pool to the Epstein coverup, has been another step to fascism. It ain't trans ppl being the final straw, that was about 19 straws ago.
I guess I just have too many fucking life threatening things to be alarmed about right now, while everyone with much more resources and support continues on business as usual, fucking financing this entire fascist bullshit. All of you. Fuck.
The New York Times has consistently pushed false, transphobic narratives in its coverage. It is not a credible source on trans issues, even if this one piece appears more trans-friendly than most of its drivel
There's some real irony in that Guardian piece considering just 5 years earlier over a hundred Guardian contributors sent an open letter to the Guardian to protest their anti-trans coverage. And it's not like they stopped that by 2023, there was still plenty of transphobia in the Guardian when they wrote that article.
this is being enacted my trumps evils sycophantic boot licking POS kansas attorney general croney, kris kobach. (the one people call kris “KKK” kobach)
this same guy helped create the SAVE act and is the guy who convinced trump the 2016 election was “stolen.”
everyone in this country needs to know about this race. the opposition dem AG running to unseat kobach is a really decent dude (chris mann). kobach needs to be pushed out of power immediately. he’s not just dangerous for kansas he’s dangerous for the country.
It’s so much worse for trans people in other places though. Europe is beginning to radicalize HARD against trans people worse than ever, and billionaires like JK Rowling are funding anti-trans organizations in Europe. The hate is out of control. Mexico and Brazil are friendlier, like socially people are becoming more accepting trans people, but there are still cases of murder committed against trans people.
This op-ed takes the view that the return of Kansas drivers licenses to sex at birth is the same as the registration of Jews and other despised minorities in Nazi Germany. I don't know; surveys are pretty consistent that Americans don't hate people who change their gender identity, and certainly don't want to ban or kill them. They just don't think that you can change your sex and they *really* don't think that biological men should be allowed to play sports in leagues created for biological women. Gessen's piece may be the longest op-ed I've even seen in the Times but I'm not sure it says anything more than "these people are sad that we're not calling them women; other groups will surely be treated similarly soon." But will they?
My 2 cts : you're confusing a structural warning with a prediction of immediate atrocities. Essayists like Masha Gessen don't point to 1930s bureaucratic history to say mass violence is happening tomorrow; they do it to show how state mechanisms work. When a state invalidates issued identification, forces a minority group onto a restricted legal registry, and makes everyday transactions unsafe, it creates the administrative framework for discrimination. Dismissing that because "people don't want to kill them" entirely misses how structural legal rollback operates. Kansas invalidating birth certificates and driver's licenses affects basic civil life, like getting a job, opening a bank account, or navigating a routine traffic stop without forced outting and harassment. Reducing that full-scale administrative disenfranchisement to a dispute over high school athletics is a lazy deflection that minimizes real policy impacts. And finally, treating the current surge in legislation as a neutral, bottom-up reflection of public opinion ignores recent political history. This issue wasn't a central political focus twenty years ago; it was systematically elevated as a wedge issue by targeted political campaigns. Pretending this is just "people using common sense" ignores how public sentiment is actively manufactured and leveraged by state legislatures. And asking "but will they?" at the end isn't insightful. It is just an easy way to ignore the legal and administrative steps happening right in front of us, and the very real pain it inflicts, under the guise of 'I'm very well-read and I favour style over substance'.
It's not just about what Americans in general feel.
It's what they will allow a government to do. Even if it is on the urging of a small faction. And what happens here is a pretty significant form of exclusion from society.
Also, this is not the only group that is being treated this way - see also: ICE.
I don't think those views are actually representative of most Americans. I think there are four buckets with variable percentages - the one you are describing, the one that wouldn't mind if trans people disappeared or were removed from public (or general) life, people who believe trans people are people and deserve to live and do as they please and have the same rights as cisgender or gender normative people, and people who don't care or think about this whatsoever. Unfortunately, one bucket is very loud and very hateful and currently empowered by the current administration.
And let's not forget that transgender people were persecuted by Nazis right off the bat. It started with the revocation of what were called transvestite cards, which was basically the paperwork that identified them as trans and kept them from being prosecuted for public indecency under Paragraph 183. Those cards were the equivalent of having your gender markers updated on your official documents.
It is absolutely bonkers to see someone get upset about a comparison to Nazi Germany when it's literally the same fucking thing that happened in Nazi Germany.
Nobody cared about transgender women in sports until the far right decided to push the issue as part of their culture war.
It is also absolutely not an issue that national (or even state) politics should be involved with. We are talking a handful of cases among millions of athletes. It does not affect anyone's lives in any material way.
If you have a really strong opinion about something that you never interacted with, doesn't affect you in any way and doesn't hurt anyone in a material way because people told you that you should be angry about it because it further's their cause that is a dangerous thing.
CunninghamsLawmaker | 5 hours ago
I'm glad at least some people are getting out while the getting is good.
XelaNiba | 4 hours ago
My Kansas friend with a trans daughter just emigrated to Canada last month. She's very lucky that was an option for her.
GiraffeThwockmorton | 5 hours ago
aw, bullpucky. America didn't need Kansas to say "oh gee should we be worried?" Every step, from DOGE to Minnesota to the Reflecting Pool to the Epstein coverup, has been another step to fascism. It ain't trans ppl being the final straw, that was about 19 straws ago.
bokehtoast | 6 hours ago
I guess I just have too many fucking life threatening things to be alarmed about right now, while everyone with much more resources and support continues on business as usual, fucking financing this entire fascist bullshit. All of you. Fuck.
[OP] Dreaming_Blackbirds | 11 hours ago
and original link, but it's paywalled: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/opinion/kansas-anti-trans-laws-drivers-license.html
theglandband | 5 hours ago
The New York Times has consistently pushed false, transphobic narratives in its coverage. It is not a credible source on trans issues, even if this one piece appears more trans-friendly than most of its drivel
theglandband | 4 hours ago
This is an issue that has been raised repeatedly for years. The NYT is not a credible source on trans issues
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/17/new-york-times-contributors-open-letter-protest-anti-trans-coverage
https://glaad.org/the-new-york-times-bias-continues-to-endanger-transgender-people/
https://fair.org/home/nyts-anti-trans-bias-by-the-numbers/
https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/former-editor-nyt-biased-on-trans-hiring/
xixbia | 2 hours ago
There's some real irony in that Guardian piece considering just 5 years earlier over a hundred Guardian contributors sent an open letter to the Guardian to protest their anti-trans coverage. And it's not like they stopped that by 2023, there was still plenty of transphobia in the Guardian when they wrote that article.
Popular_Try_5075 | 4 hours ago
Yes, fuck NYT.
G--0 | 4 hours ago
here's a gift link to the story if anyone's interested: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/opinion/kansas-anti-trans-laws-drivers-license.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5VA.PvIp.IAoXRvgq955D&smid=url-share
effie-sue | 4 hours ago
Just an FYI: NYT gift links require that you log in now.
OP shared an archive link, which does not have that requirement.
Daisydoolittle | 29 minutes ago
this is being enacted my trumps evils sycophantic boot licking POS kansas attorney general croney, kris kobach. (the one people call kris “KKK” kobach)
this same guy helped create the SAVE act and is the guy who convinced trump the 2016 election was “stolen.”
everyone in this country needs to know about this race. the opposition dem AG running to unseat kobach is a really decent dude (chris mann). kobach needs to be pushed out of power immediately. he’s not just dangerous for kansas he’s dangerous for the country.
PrincessPlastilina | 3 hours ago
It’s so much worse for trans people in other places though. Europe is beginning to radicalize HARD against trans people worse than ever, and billionaires like JK Rowling are funding anti-trans organizations in Europe. The hate is out of control. Mexico and Brazil are friendlier, like socially people are becoming more accepting trans people, but there are still cases of murder committed against trans people.
I think Thailand is safer.
CentralHarlem | 9 hours ago
This op-ed takes the view that the return of Kansas drivers licenses to sex at birth is the same as the registration of Jews and other despised minorities in Nazi Germany. I don't know; surveys are pretty consistent that Americans don't hate people who change their gender identity, and certainly don't want to ban or kill them. They just don't think that you can change your sex and they *really* don't think that biological men should be allowed to play sports in leagues created for biological women. Gessen's piece may be the longest op-ed I've even seen in the Times but I'm not sure it says anything more than "these people are sad that we're not calling them women; other groups will surely be treated similarly soon." But will they?
LeatherBandicoot | 8 hours ago
My 2 cts : you're confusing a structural warning with a prediction of immediate atrocities. Essayists like Masha Gessen don't point to 1930s bureaucratic history to say mass violence is happening tomorrow; they do it to show how state mechanisms work. When a state invalidates issued identification, forces a minority group onto a restricted legal registry, and makes everyday transactions unsafe, it creates the administrative framework for discrimination. Dismissing that because "people don't want to kill them" entirely misses how structural legal rollback operates. Kansas invalidating birth certificates and driver's licenses affects basic civil life, like getting a job, opening a bank account, or navigating a routine traffic stop without forced outting and harassment. Reducing that full-scale administrative disenfranchisement to a dispute over high school athletics is a lazy deflection that minimizes real policy impacts. And finally, treating the current surge in legislation as a neutral, bottom-up reflection of public opinion ignores recent political history. This issue wasn't a central political focus twenty years ago; it was systematically elevated as a wedge issue by targeted political campaigns. Pretending this is just "people using common sense" ignores how public sentiment is actively manufactured and leveraged by state legislatures. And asking "but will they?" at the end isn't insightful. It is just an easy way to ignore the legal and administrative steps happening right in front of us, and the very real pain it inflicts, under the guise of 'I'm very well-read and I favour style over substance'.
re_Claire | 7 hours ago
Perfect rebuttal.
ThoughtsonYaoi | 6 hours ago
Thank you
brooklynagain | 6 hours ago
Perfectly said
ThoughtsonYaoi | 9 hours ago
It's not just about what Americans in general feel.
It's what they will allow a government to do. Even if it is on the urging of a small faction. And what happens here is a pretty significant form of exclusion from society.
Also, this is not the only group that is being treated this way - see also: ICE.
liquorandacid | 8 hours ago
I don't think those views are actually representative of most Americans. I think there are four buckets with variable percentages - the one you are describing, the one that wouldn't mind if trans people disappeared or were removed from public (or general) life, people who believe trans people are people and deserve to live and do as they please and have the same rights as cisgender or gender normative people, and people who don't care or think about this whatsoever. Unfortunately, one bucket is very loud and very hateful and currently empowered by the current administration.
GinAndDumbBitchJuice | 6 hours ago
And let's not forget that transgender people were persecuted by Nazis right off the bat. It started with the revocation of what were called transvestite cards, which was basically the paperwork that identified them as trans and kept them from being prosecuted for public indecency under Paragraph 183. Those cards were the equivalent of having your gender markers updated on your official documents.
It is absolutely bonkers to see someone get upset about a comparison to Nazi Germany when it's literally the same fucking thing that happened in Nazi Germany.
goddamnitwhalen | 4 hours ago
You clearly aren't actually very familiar with history.
xixbia | 2 hours ago
Nobody cared about transgender women in sports until the far right decided to push the issue as part of their culture war.
It is also absolutely not an issue that national (or even state) politics should be involved with. We are talking a handful of cases among millions of athletes. It does not affect anyone's lives in any material way.
If you have a really strong opinion about something that you never interacted with, doesn't affect you in any way and doesn't hurt anyone in a material way because people told you that you should be angry about it because it further's their cause that is a dangerous thing.
Old_Discipline_1179 | 2 hours ago
Dawn Trump the weird, orange, mad, fat old lady hates ALL Americans that are not rich.