Thread by @BrynnTannehill

The attacks on trans people coming from center-left and "centrist" media sources like the NYT is very much part of the bigger plan by the right. The goal is to undercut any potential resistance to what comes next. 1/n

For years, people on the right like Jordan Peterson and Tucker Carlson have banged away at the idea that trans people have gone too far, and as a result fascists will take over and commit a new Holocaust against trans people and won't that be so sad (wink wink not really) 2/n

Now, with the entire right wing apparatus behind them in the US, and all of the media in the UK, they're moving on to the next target: center-left US media and heretofore supportive people on the left. The goal is to convince them of the same things the right already is: 3/n

Namely that trans people are a threat to women, children, and civilization, they've gone too far, and they must be stopped lest we get fascism. (Key difference in audiences is that center-left doesn't want fascism, and the right pretends it doesn't). 4/n

It's all couched in "reasonable concerns", "worried parents," and agitprop meant to enrage people on the left who don't know more than the surface details. For example, Pamela Paul's article treats health care providers using language inclusive of trans men 5/n

as worse than the fall of Roe v. Wade. She ignores the fact that trans men often skip gynecological care because of a lack of sensitive treatment, and are thus less likely to get things like PAP smears, and thus have higher mortality. 6/n

The inclusive language she rails against is meant to improve care for people who are reluctant to seek it, not to exclude or erase women. And you can still say woman.

But it's anti-trans agitprop for the left, the same as Fox News is for the right. 7/n

With SCOTUS on the verge of handing over the US to fascism via a ruling in Moore v. North Carolina sometime next year, the right is counting on having permanent control over all three branches, and they're laying the groundwork for what comes next. 8/n

And that's an America with no visible LGBT people, starting with trans folks first. Sure, they're not saying it TOO loudly, but when you look at what they're saying and doing, it's pretty clear where this ends up: namely that you can't even be trans in your own home. 9/n

Lawrence v Texas is going down. They're planning on eliminating health care for all trans folks. They want to treat trans people in public as obscenity. The threats of violence via paramilitaries like the Proud Boys is ramping up quickly. Police are aligned with the PBs. 10/n

The hammer will drop once democracy is gone. All of these entries in the NYT and other pubs are essentially preparation of the battlespace by the right: they intend to make sure as few people as possible have significant objections to what they do to trans people next. 11/n

The goal is 100% desistance, or 100% have fled to other countries (or perhaps just blue states). But they'll come for those in California eventually too, given the chance. 12/n

One of the more haunting things I've read is how important it was systematically to keep people from panicking, or realizing how much danger they're in. It was in part possible because sustained propaganda had reduced sympathy for targeted groups to zero among the population 13/n

We're in the preparatory phase for the remaking of America by the far right that is the modern GOP. They intend to remake it into something they think their God will bless. They believe God will not bless this country while it tolerates the existence of LGBT people. 14/n

Whenever your read something accusing trans people of being awful, (pedophiles, groomers, child mutilators, sex fiends, a danger to women, extremists run amuck), remember that it's in the interests of the actual fascists to ensure as few people say anything as possible. 15/n

Pay heed to Martin Niemoller. Recognize the modern GOP for what it is: a party that regards dead children as an acceptable price for fondling AR-15s like cosplay Rambos, and that is fine with women dying in childbirth to satisfy their religious beliefs. 16/n

If you think that a party that is fine with the butchery of women and children is suddenly going to grow a conscience regarding the basic human dignity of the people it hates most and sees as an existential threat, you need to think again. 17/n

Sadly, they're largely succeeding. The polling data just keeps getting worse and worse. I believe more firmly every day that the danger to LGBT people is real, and there is a growing threat of genocide. 18/n

Given the power of the US, and how fascist movements have successfully leveraged scare tactics, agitprop, massive amounts of money, and access to the Murdoch media empire globally, we're likely to see escape routes to other countries get shut down quickly post-2024. 19/n

Anyway, think before you post or like another "both sides", "concerned parents with anecdotes", or "the trans have gone too far" articles: the fascists know exactly what they're doing in making sure there's no one left to speak out when they come for you. 20/n