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Kamala Harris discusses trans athletes & why she wouldn’t ‘turn on transgender people’
(www.advocate.com)
Who the fuck is Kamala Harris?
this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2025
21 points (88.9% liked)
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Former vice president of the United States, who ran in place of Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee in the 2024 US presidential election.
Oh so she's had a come around since her time in CA when she fought to keep trans women in men's prisons?
Just so I make sure I understand, is this about the CA DOC policies that were being enforced? Because iirc, those were not her policies, but were her job to enforce at direction, and not something there was discretion with. And then worked to change that policy with the DOC. Was there something else?
"it was just their job to beat them slowly to death. Due to policy they didn't have the discretion to not beat them, but at least if they were holding the stick the beatings could be a little gentler."
Oh, I see.
She's at fault for long standing policies created before she got into a position that still couldn't change those policies, which she worked to change by discussing with those who could so others didnt have to have the same experience.
My mistake. Thanks for clarifying.
Edit: for the record, I find it frustrating that we can't move to the left at all because its never enough for some people. There is always some purity test being failed, always some perfection that must somehow magically be achieved.
And then I end up with friends and family fearing for their lives here because the right is fine with a little at a time towards fascism, but everything on the left is divided into their little camps of absolutist approach to everything.
Its so damn frustrating. Ffs get every win you can, even the little ones.
I want to add to your "we can't move to the left..." opinion. A lot of people will say that we can't move left if we accept these people. I think it's the opposite. A lot of the left has made it so useless to cooperate with them, because no matter what you do it won't be enough, that they just don't bother. They believe it's more beneficial to pander to the right.
Make them earn your vote, but make sure it's easy enough to win that they don't instead decide to not try.
Yeah, I expressed the same in another comment. Its impossible to move left if moving right is the only way to get elected. That isn't the same thing as saying stop if it gets a little better, just that goals need to be achievable.
Over 250 years of injustice can't be corrected by one person in a single term. It just isn't realistic.
Perpetuating the status quo is not "moving to the left"
Those who perpetuate harm under direction are no less guilty than those who directed it. “Just following orders” is NEVER an excuse.
Clearly getting Trump the win made everything better rather than having her in office!
Let us all rejoice that we didnt end up with the woman who filed paperwork and argued against a policy, getting it changed, didnt make it into the office of the presidency.
A clear win. 100%.
She was the least bad of the two choices by orders of magnitude. That does not absolve her of her own misdeeds in the slightest and we should brook no excuses for her behavior. False binaries help noone.
We had two choices.
Ideological purity tests played their role in one of them getting elected, and it sure as shit wasn't the better option.
So now I'm spending another day coordinating with a friend to figure out how to get her out of the country because the transfer option didnt work out, and there is less than a year before she'd need to renew.
But hey, purity tests more important amirite?
I'm not saying she should be absolved of any and all wrongdoing. But acting like its the crime of the fucking century is ridiculous, and frankly abhorrent behavior. Its this type of crap that got us into this mess.
Every single far right pos will take every little gain they can. And then we have the left - and honestly, while I'm more into the stateless approach, I really wouldn't care if we went to democratic socialism, some form of communism, whatever - where if there is one thing, no matter how accurate and right it is to be against it, it becomes the only thing that matters, despite the other option being a walking atrocity kaiju version of the same thing.
False binary? It was literally the election we just had. You don't even need to leave Lemmy to see the constant doom and gloom around the very idea of Harris winning.
Knowing what she did and accepting that she was still a better option by the largest possible margin, and supporting her, that would have allowed for an opportunity.
But now thats gone. Further and further every single day. And at every opportunity, no matter what she says, there are people who will complain about it - see the very first comment I'm this thread.
I can accept that she did things that were wrong, and still recognize that without her, the DOC may never have changed their policies. I can recognize that someone else would have been put to the same task.
So instead we get Trump, and some people are labeled terrorists simply by existing as the person they really are.
Yes, I'm fucking salty about it. And I will continue to be every time someone decides to prop up their ideological purity over making things actually better.
I understand your frustration all too well, and I agree that she was the common sense choice between the two. Unfortunately, this was inevitable. People are desperate and status-quo neoliberals are now intolerable to the masses. In a competition between someone who talks big and promises change and someone who seems like they aren’t going to do anything, the desperate will take the risk even if it’s incredibly stupid.
I am not personally advocating for purity tests, only that we cannot and should not whitewash or cover up the shortcomings of candidates. Kamala should never have had the nomination. As a Californian I already detested her for being neoliberal scum, and knew exactly what would happen if she ran. The DNC fucked us. We cannot run more neoliberals. They will lose and when they don’t lose they will fuck us and the desperate masses will vote for the next increasingly fascist swinging dick that talks big. That is what desperation does to the masses. She had no chance and we had no chance. This is why why you see so many leftists blaming the Democrats, because the DNC is owned and operated by self-serving neoliberals that fight anyone who has a chance at pulling the party left.
The false binary I mentioned wasn’t between Kamala and Trump, but the very purity you are also complaining about. She was problematic and pretending she was doesn’t help. That’s the same gaslighting the DNC uses when they push bad candidates on us. I agree she was still the least worst choice. By a lot. All I’m pointing out is that running a candidate like her, like Hillary, like Newsom, is a recipe for disaster. That was not the fault of voters, but the fault of the DNC and its leaders.
At the risk of oversharing, my partner is trans, but we’re privileged in that we have a way out if we need it, and we are keeping that door open and packing our bags.
You have every right to be salty. Every right to be angry and scared. Fascism is here and the camps are coming. Unless we start a general strike right the fuck now, until every republican resigns, gerrymandering is outlawed, and RCV is the law of the land, then flee, fight, or die will be our only choices very soon.
Consider applying for asylum in Canada and Mexico. Mexico is genuinely wonderful and you should not believe the US propaganda about it. Brazil is also a potential option. Language and culture will take more adjustment, but both are beautiful and wonderful if you dive in.
People are desperate and status-quo neoliberals are now intolerable to the masses. In a competition between someone who talks big and promises change and someone who seems like they aren’t going to do anything, the desperate will take the risk even if it’s incredibly stupid.
So I'm going to land on a slightly different take. Every time something doesn't end up going as far as was wanted, every time a specific thing doesn't meet exactly what someone wants, everyone on the left (myself included) is pissed off about it. Right here in this thread, including replies to my with nonsense I don't have the energy or interest in replying to, are people attacking Harris - not acknowledging what was wrong, or even acknowledging what was right. I'm going to very briefly hit on a few things that were done with Biden/Harris:
- Exec order to pull back on Trump era discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. This was to ensure protections beyond employment (bostock decision), but to housing, lending, even health care.
- The first day exec order for racial equity and support, which specifically included LGBTQIA+
- Ending the ban on trans persons serving in the military made by Trump
- Harris was the first VP to march in a pride parade
I'm not going to keep going (there are more), just pointing out some positives here. And what was the response right in this very thread? Even your comment (which is the super-duper-friendly version of what others are saying):
She was problematic and pretending she was doesn’t help.
Lets recap - in 2015 while working as an AG, her office as representatives of the Dept. of Corrections worked to block gender affirming care for an inmate. Absolutely a problem. But lets not forget the rest of that - the DoC agreed to change its policy, and just 2 years later, a CA inmate became the first prisoner to get gender affirming surgery out of all the US.
That second part gets left out. That part is a win. Still the first part is repeated - including here - ad nauseum. Was it right? Of course not. Did Harris agree with it? Also no, if we accept the statements of herself and others that she worked toward that agreement that was made behind the scenes. So what should she have done? Gotten fired? Quit? Publicly speak against her office and get fired?
And yet, the response is "BUT THIS HAPPENED!!!". So let me ask this - if you need to get the votes to stop more horrendous shit from happening, where do you get votes from? If the people you are even trying to support won't vote for you because you didn't, I don't know, quit in protest and accomplish nothing, then whose votes do you go for? The only option left is so-called moderates. This is why I complain about "purity tests". All they do is push things to the right, because anyone looking for purity is not going to vote for you regardless.
So lets look at those election statistics from 2024 for a second. We saw a 1.5% decline in voter turnout. Turnout was lower by age group - which also coincides with more leftist opinion (skews younger) and right (skews older). Older voters (65+) turned out in droves by comparison to other age groups.
At the same time, leading up to things, we had groups (Green Party) specifically targeting Palestinian Americans in Michigan with the goal of Harris losing the state. Not Green winning, but making Harris lose. We saw people even on Lemmy encouraging others to not vote in protest, or to vote 3rd party in protest, supposedly to tell them "Neoliberals aren't good enough!". Add in those purity tests - is anyone good enough? Will the Democrats ever be able to get those voters?
The only indication that its possible is when there is RCV (others are fine too, I'm going with RCV here because of NYC). Mamdani won the ticket! And yes, there are jackasses (Schumer and the like) who continue to be shitheads about it.
But outside of NYC, a drastically more progressive city than most of the US, what indication is there that leftist voters (of any variety) will vote Democrat, when their actions more closely match purity tests rather than pushing away from the right?
Thats the part that stands out to me. That is the issue. The constant "NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" just.... excludes as a potential voter. Which just means... who is left who will vote that is more progressive than maga other than capitalist dems that don't want to be hateful but maybe are misguided, and non-maga repubs? And then we have a shift to the right in communication to gain those voters.
Sorry, kind of a rant there, but its what I think is happening. I also know you agree on Harris being the far better option, this is more about those who "showed what great leftists they are" with a 3rd party vote or abstaining from voting in protest. The problem (as I see it).
Consider applying for asylum in Canada and Mexico
Already in process for Canada, Mexico is a non-starter for her for personal experience reasons. Aside from Brazil (and Argentina), she's also got some work going for a digital nomad visa in the EU. We'll see where that lands. I've got friends of the family from Greece, and Portugal with some in-laws, to line up proof of housing as well.
Fingers crossed that any of the options work out soon.
She's at fault for long standing policies created before she got into a position that still couldn't change those policies
She is not at fault for the existence of those policies. Her fault is being willingly and knowingly complicit in enacting, enabling and furthering those policies. The only evidence of her "opposition" is she "worked to change by discussing".
Actively beating someone while passively saying "I don't want to do this" doesn't negate the harm that is being inflicted.
its never enough for some people. There is always some purity test being failed, always some perfection that must somehow magically be achieved.
That is what is called "pushing to the left". The "right" does it and it seems to work out fine, remember when "repealing Roe V Wade" was the purity test and magical perfection back in the early 00s.
Ffs get every win you can, even the little ones.
How is "this person actively harms trans people under the slightest pressure" a "win" for trans people?
That is what is called "pushing to the left".
Not when those further left lose to the right. Not when not being perfectly whatever isn't good enough to get voted for.
Pushing for more left policy after defeating the right wing is a move to the left. A loss to the right doesnt move a single needle anywhere left.
How is "this person actively harms trans people under the slightest pressure" a "win" for trans people?
Compared to being afraid and leaving their home of over a decade, only to still be afraid and now desperate to find a way out of the country?
Yeah, to me that would have been a win.
Instead we have this bullshit.
Not when those further left lose to the right.
We could go into the nuance on why that framing is bullshit and how it's been an incredibly effective rightist talking point for well over 2 decades, but ultimately (especially within the US and with modern 'attention economy') populists win elections irregardless of how far left vs. right they are.^1^
Pushing for more left policy after defeating the right wing is a move to the left.
"Left" vs. "right" is nothing more than a matter of perspective within an Overton window. It can never be "deafeted". Arguing you can only go "left" once "right" is no longer an option guaran-fuckin-tees that the Overton window shifts right.
Compared to being afraid and leaving their home of over a decade, only to still be afraid and now desperate to find a way out of the country?
In the same way that notable leftist Jim Crow Joe protected Roe V Wade?
You will continue to have this bullshit until you learn that just because someone says they are your friend, doesn't make it so. Look at what they do, not what they say.
^1 arguably a bit disingenuous as the #1 factor, especially in the US, is campaign spending. But that's arguably "strategy" not "messaging" and felt like it was going off topic.^
Look at what they do, not what they say.
I'm going to need to end this conversation, because holy fuck JUST LOOK AROUND.
Emboldened hatemongers, mirroring the progression of Nazis, people who are terrified for their lives because the hard right administration is putting a target on them...
But yeah "left and right is meaningless".
I'm not interest in this as some sort of scholastic debate. Real people are at risk and you want to try and insinuate there is no difference between Harris and Trump???
I don't have the capacity tonight to put up with this kind of nonsense.
Enjoy your day.
left and right is meaningless ___ insinuate there is no difference between Harris and Trump
There are plenty of differences, but what I am saying is that what you call "left" is just a different flavor of hard right. So long as you insist that 'other flavor' is the only "practical left" you are being complicit in the active harms currently being done to real people right now.
Nothing will improve so long as you stay trapped, and encourage others to remain trapped, within that false dichotomy.
Remember this when you vote for Democratic nominee Liz Cheney in 2028.
but what I am saying is that what you call "left" is just a different flavor of hard right
Do not put words in my mouth.
I said "further left". Democrats are right of center, and still across the ocean from the far right that is the Trump admin.
Nothing will improve so long as you stay trapped, and encourage others to remain trapped, within that false dichotomy.
LOL.
Without RCV or other methods aside from FPTP, there are only two options in an election. Ignoring that is just a fools errand.
Remember this when you vote for Democratic nominee Liz Cheney in 2028.
Who would still be further left from trump. And given two options, yeah, she'd get the damn vote from me.
Your little protest vote or non-vote is just saying "Trump/Trump-a-like is totally fine by me".
And then you end up with transgendered persons being considered terrorist cells.
But hey, at least it wasn't a woman who once had a job where she had to file paperwork on behalf of another organization she had no control over but convinced to change their policy!
Gotta be kidding me with this shit. Unbelievable.
there are only two options in an election.
This is less about elections and more about messaging/propaganda. You are arguing that the only acceptable positions are far right ones.
Those positions you are supporting and telling others must support are unacceptable and get people killed.
Democrats are right of center, and still across the ocean from the far right that is the Trump admin.
Reality is not one dimensional like that. This is what I meant about false binaries. The Kamala vs Trump admin options were, respectively and oversimplified; law and order/old money far right vs megachurch grifter/new money far right.
There wasn't a single actual leftist position that either actually held. We all rightfully mock anyone who fell for Trump's "draining the swamp" bullshit. So how are you still in denial about Kamala's "protecting trans and reproductive rights" when it's the exact same playbook.
Who would still be further left from trump. And given two options, yeah, she'd get the damn vote from me.
Where do you draw the line?
At the point you are happily voting and campaigning for christofascist arch-conservatives then the new monster the old right needs to replace Trump has to be worse in literally every way. It doesn't end until anyone not wearing a Kapp is considered part of/aiding and abetting terrorist cells and is put to death for it.
Your vote for "slightly less fascism" doesn't reduce harm, it's the engine for magnifying and normalizing those harms.
@Teknevra@lemmy.blahaj.zone sorry if this was a complete derail, feel free to ask me to delete or to report for mods to pull.
I'm admittedly cranky tonight as two different friends in two different states specifically told me about things from over the weekend that have me scared for them, and this "purity test" crap is driving me nuts.
So again, sorry if I derailed things, let me know.
HAH! HAha Hahahaha.... I'm not laughing because I'm happy she said that. I'm laughing because she's lying and everyone knows it.
This sounds like something someone who would turn on trans people would say