By Elizabeth Gracen:
Except for the incessant text messages asking for donations, I consider myself lucky to not have been hit with a barrage of campaign ads this political season. If one happens to pop up, it is usually for local and state measures or props, for and against. I’ve done enough research to find out what the issues are about and how that sits with my admittedly incredibly liberal perspective. I’m doing my best to make informed decisions for the November 5, 2024, ballot.
Unfortunately, during my last trip to work on a new documentary about the history of drag in Arkansas, I happened to see one of the $65 million-dollar attack ads rolled out across more than a dozen states by the Trump campaign that target the trans community. It played during a football game, right along with the usual beer commercials we are accustomed to seeing on Sunday afternoons. It honestly stopped me in my tracks. I was floored by the ad’s misinformation and hateful agenda aimed at trans people. The purposeful division, chaos, and hate spewing forth in the disgusting ad turned my stomach. Seeking to further divide us as a nation and sew discord and misinformation about our fellow human beings, these ads by right-wing politicians and Christian-nationalist philosophies continue to focus on other people’s children, what we do in our own bedrooms, other people’s bodies, and the personal decisions about how we live our lives. The anti-trans ads are beyond gross. Don’t even get me started on what I think about the Trump/Vance Project 2025 and the campaign’s attack on women’s reproductive rights!
The false horror-story narrative belching forth from the Republican’s increasingly desperate campaign claims that children are being given gender reassignment surgery without their parents’ consent or knowledge. WTF? With no supporting evidence to back up these claims, the Republican Party, fueled by a grotesque fascination with other people’s bodies, continues undaunted to create an hysteria around a non-issue instead of focusing on the very real problems that face our nation—the climate crisis, affordable housing, student debt, common-sense gun regulation, and so much more.
As someone who has spent a lot of time this past year talking to the queer community in the decidedly red state of Arkansas, I have learned so much, firsthand and in-depth, about the stories, challenges, and triumphs of some of the bravest and most inspiring people I have ever met. I’ve also had the good fortune to interview both trans men and women and have heard about their incredible journeys toward living authentic lives. It has been the honor of a lifetime to hear these very personal stories, and I can’t wait to share them when the film is complete. To see the trans community being used as political tools by a callous, truth-challenged campaign during football games and beyond is pathetic. It is simply an attempt to sew fear and further seed dangerous propaganda that has a real impact on the lives and freedoms of not just the trans community but all Americans.
For now, the best I can do is to continue to educate myself and others about the very real threat that the Trump/Vance Project 2025 agenda intends for our country. The lies and misinformation they promote do nothing but further jeopardize American democracy and our freedoms. Christian-nationalist ideals seek to demonize and divide us with an intent to rip apart the American experiment and impose a terrifying far-right authoritarian future. They will not stop at attacking the trans community, the queer community, minorities, people of color, and women. The intent of the Trump/Vance Project 2025 is to roll back the rights of everyone, undermine our institutions, destroy the checks and balances that democracy is founded upon . . . all in the pursuit of power.
I encourage you educate yourself about the facts before this election. Make sure you are registered to vote, and make a voting plan for this November. Here are links to educate yourself about various issues and the horrific Trump/Vance Project 2025.
Please vote in this very important election.
LINKS:
Elizabeth Gracen is the owner of Flapper Press & Flapper Films.
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