If you wanted a snapshot of what a Tudor Dixon governorship might look like, Thursday night’s debate and her subsequent cheap shot against an entire segment of our state’s population may have provided a disturbingly accurate depiction of just that.
For nearly 60 minutes, the LGBTQ+ community sat anxiously in front of their computers and TVs, watching the first of two gubernatorial debates between Dixon, a Republican, and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. As the hour passed, Whitmer and Dixon sparred on everything from reproductive rights and police budgets to infrastructure and auto insurance.
It wasn’t until the waning moments of the debate, however, that Dixon turned her scorn and hatred toward transgender Michiganders, as she has so many times before. After Whitmer’s closing remarks on her accomplishments since 2018, WOOD-TV’s moderator let Dixon know she had the evening’s “last word.” Dixon, without hesitation, leaned into the harmful anti-LGBTQ+ ideology Republicans are running on this year.
“She says she cares about women, but she’d gladly put boys in your girls’ locker rooms,” Dixon said of Whitmer.
GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon at the first debate, Oct. 13, 2022 | Bryan Elser, Courtesy: Nexstar Media Group / WLNS-TV
Similar versions of this attack have been said by Republicans in recent years as they attempt to undermine the science put forward by leading organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and the American Psychological Association.
Their singular goal is activating their extremist base around the unfounded notion that transgender women and girls across our country are predatory men trying to invade the privacy of your daughters. At best, it is degrading and vile. At worst, it seeks to deteriorate the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of an already at-risk population by further stigmatizing the existence of transgender youth in our state.
The idea that Dixon would elevate such hateful rhetoric on such a grand stage surprised no one, but the way she chose to execute it was gutless and the textbook definition of a cheap shot. Whitmer was given no opportunity to respond.
It was another taste of the flavor of nonsense and fearmongering that Dixon and Michigan Republicans have campaigned on to convince Michiganders that their biggest enemies and hindrances are one another.
Dixon’s anti-trans talking points, the wave of divisive Republican laws across our country, and already-introduced bills here in Michigan aim to legislate away the progress we’ve made as a state and as a nation.
But the Republican nominee, beyond not understanding the science and biology of gender, got something else very wrong — who gets the last word on transgender rights.
Dixon will not be able to hide from the will of Michigan voters, and that includes the LGBTQ+ community, the very people she strives to erase.
As the GOP ramps up anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, advocates worry about the toll on kids
A word to the GOP: It’s not 1912 anymore. It’s not even 2012 anymore. According to Gallup, a record high of 71% of Americans believe same-sex marriage should be legal. In the last 10 years, we’ve seen the percentage of U.S. adults who do not identify as heterosexual double from 3.5% to 7.1%. That includes 21% of Gen Z and 10.5% of Millennials identifying as LGBTQ+, respectively.
Simply put, Americans have become more loving, more accepting, and more understanding of each other, and as a result, more people are comfortable coming out and living their truth.
Through the power of our collective voices, we’ve sculpted a world where we can love who we want to love, wear what we want to wear, be who we want to be and create the families we want to create. Through this same collective voice, we now have the power to show up this November. We now have the power to cast our votes, to protect the gains we’ve made, and to eat away at the barriers that still exist.
We, the LGBTQ+ community and our allies, have the strength, the numbers and the power to tell Tudor Dixon that she won’t have the last word on the rights of transgender Michiganders. We do.
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authored by Emme Zanotti
First published at https%3A%2F%2Fmichiganadvance.com%2F2022%2F10%2F18%2Fcolumn-the-last-word-on-trans-rights-belongs-to-voters-not-dixon%2F
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