“Fascists target the most marginalized first,” Maya May says — and Imara Jones explains why trans people are the proving ground. Christian nationalism isn’t just window dressing, she argues. These aren’t your grandparents’ evangelicals; they’re true believers who see enforcing the gender binary as a prerequisite for Jesus’ return. Add in political opportunism — using trans issues to reach suburban moms, Black churchgoers, and young men — and the GOP has both theology and strategy driving its assault.
That assault isn’t just culture war. “They’re experimenting with the cocktail of laws and stigma they’ll need to redefine citizenship,” Imara warns. Trans people are the test case for stripping away rights more broadly. Maya points out how Democrats weaken their own tent by bargaining away equality, and Imara’s answer is blunt: a coalition only stands if its poles are equal rights. That’s why leaders like J.B. Pritzker and Zohran Mamdani succeed — clarity and conviction beat half-measures.
The danger is letting Republicans set the frame. “The minute you’re talking about what the other side wants, you’re playing their game,” Imara says. Pritzker’s refusal to debate trans existence proves the point: stop ceding ground and shift the conversation back to values that resonate, like affordability and safety. America may be sleepwalking now, but as Imara warns, the wake-up will come with fury. The pressure cooker is building — and the only safety valve may be the mutual aid and solidarity marginalized communities already practice.
Tune in to this week’s Punching Up to hear Maya and Imara chart what it means to resist erasure — and to fight for a democracy where everyone counts.
