There aren’t a lot of transsexuals in this country. Or anywhere. Estimates are that a bit more than 1% of the population identify as trans. Possibly it’s a bit higher here in Portland, because, after all, people naturally migrate to places in which they’re somewhat less likely to be murdered. It might be even higher in certain neighborhoods. In our local grocery store, there’s a pretty good likelihood that you’re going to surreptitiously squint at the clerk’s name tag because you don’t want to get things wrong, or Yes-Ma’am someone inappropriately, because you strive to be a nice person, because that’s who we try to be in Portland. Most of us don’t think that’s too much to ask.

I guess that sets us apart. In much of the country, we in Portland are vilified both for our desire to be considerate of other people, which is considered precious and wrongheaded, if not subversive, and also for all the vandalism and arson and stuff we’re not actually doing. It’s hard to know how to feel about that. We’re all, Thank you? and Whut?

Anyway I’m just guessing, although the stats bear me out. Whatever the percentage, I do not believe it has changed much over time. And that too has been borne out in many studies. Whatever random biological circumstance has led people to the unfortunate position of feeling profoundly at odds with their presumed sexual identity, and all that entails, from bullying and social confusion and suicide and exclusion to the aforementioned murdering, it appears to surface naturally in the human population in steady numbers. One might therefore conclude the occurrence is normal, if rare. It’s just another item in the ledger of human possibilities.

One might so conclude that, that is, unless one is mining the golden vein of fear and ignorance and aims to spend those nuggets on winning power. Republican strategists tested numerous issues prior to the 2024 election to determine which ones reliably moved the needle in their direction, and concluded that the emphasis should be on illegal immigration and…huh. Pronouns? Drag queens? Some odd-looking woman towering over innocent high school girls in a basketball game? Stuff like that there.

It was hard for me to take it seriously at first. For one thing, I have lived long enough to accept that there are all sorts of people in the world and I will confine my distrust to those that actually are a threat. And also because, you know, we’re swiftly destroying our livable habitat with fossil fuels, our historical racism is back with a vengeance, imperial dictators are wantonly massacring swaths of Ukrainians on their way to positioning themselves for World War III, the oceans are dying, and some people just can’t be bothered to walk their shopping carts back to the corral, to take just a few things more important than the existence of queers.

So. Illegal immigration, and queers. Let’s just dispense with the “illegal” and call it plain immigration for now, because we really just mean brownish people we can pick up and pack off to a detention camp in Guantanamo for all eternity. If they’re actually legal, no one will ever find out from there or hear from them again. Works for me, as much of the electorate says—no one’s picking up my white ass.

But somehow, using grainy footage and inflammatory suggestion and the brainwashing power of repetition, a whole lot of Americans have become persuaded that there is a left-wing conspiracy to corrupt our children and encourage them to swap out their birth-assigned sexes like they’d changed their minds about a menu.

Oh, Petunia. Queerness isn’t taught. It’s a gift.

There may be trans citizens who have come to appreciate that the abuse they have encountered all their lives has made them more thoughtful and tolerant people, but I would suspect a vanishingly small number of parents, counselors, and teachers wish this torture and scorn for their children. And that is why they advocate and celebrate and speak up for the queer community. It’s a campaign of compassion, not coercion.

But hey. Rousing the rabble with bullshit and bluster is a damned easy way of getting into power so you can continue to raid the treasury, rake in the dough, rape the planet. Players know how to play, and know how to move their pawns.