I’m going to spoil this article for you. What it basically says is that Joe Biden is the most pro-trans president in American history and yet it’s not enough for trans activists who see any divergence from their viewpoint as a major betrayal. The piece opens by noting the degree to which trans activists are setting the agenda for the Democratic Party.

As Republican-led states have enacted an unprecedented number of anti-transgender bills in recent months, alarm bells have gone off within LGBTQ+ communities — and at the White House.

White House officials have held numerous behind-the-scenes discussions with Democrats and trans rights advocates on how to fight back. In phone calls and face-to-face meetings, they have discussed the legal grounds for challenging the bills. The Human Rights Campaign, a top LGBTQ+ group, has been in near-daily contact with Biden officials and congressional Democrats to plot strategy.

Publicly, the administration’s approach to transgender issues has sometimes been more cautious. Reaction from advocates was mixed when Biden’s Education Department proposed a rule in April that would prohibit schools from issuing blanket bans on transgender athletes but also allow them to impose restrictions in individual cases.

A Gallup poll published earlier this week found that more than two-thirds (69%) of respondents believe trans athletes should compete against the sex that conforms to their birth gender. That’s up 7% from just two years ago. But the activists and like-minded elected officials don’t care about polls. They expect the White House to fall in line or risk emboldening their enemies.

Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D) said Biden’s team, while generally supportive of trans rights, missed the mark on the athlete rule and failed to recognize that compromising with anti-trans activists can embolden them. Democrats in Washington need to push harder to pass the Equality Act, a measure aimed at protecting trans people from discrimination, she said…

A dozen Democratic attorneys general, led by New York’s Letitia James, urged the administration to adopt stronger protections for trans athletes.

So these folks are demanding that Biden go all in on an issue which has 26% support (and declining). Someone in the White House is apparently smart enough to know that’s not how you win elections.

The most surprising thing, to me anyway, about this article was the comments. As I’ve said before the comments on many Post articles is a swamp of leftist edge-lords bashing conservatives and any idea associated with them. So I suspected more of the same in response to this article which gives a couple of passing nods to the fact that Republicans have a different point of view. But actually, some of the comments were critical of the framing of the article.

If you paint these issues with a broad brush you will get lost. The answer lies in the nuances.

Most social roles can be done by males or females. There shouldn’t be discrimination there. A strong majority of Americans are — in general — against discrimination towards trans people in areas like jobs, education, and housing. IOW, they support basic civil rights for trans people. Decent people would feel this way.

But when the trans people’s desire for 100% gender identity fulfillment comes up against societal norms of sex segregation for fairness, privacy, or safety, then expect conflict. People are against trans-identified males unfairly competing against girls or women in sports. They have problems with themselves or their kids sharing changing rooms or bathrooms with opposite-sex strangers. Women fear for their safety in restrooms where males can claim a trans identity and enter the premises unquestioned. In these areas people will not give up norms that protect them or make them feel secure, and they will turn against transgenderism if they’re forced to.

Another one:

I think that Biden is not going to argue if States do not allow transgender folks to compete in sports.

As a woman, it seems unfair to me if a man transitions to a woman and then competes in female sports, but if people want to transition (boy to girl, girl to boy, man to woman, woman to man) that is a personal issue with the person, the family, the doctor.

And another:

Biden will lose on this. Transgender people deserve equal rights. But you can’t trample the rights of another marginalized group in the process: women.

There needs to be respect for women’s single sex spaces. 1-4 women are rape survivors. The instrument of violence in rape is a penis. 93% of transwomen maintain their penises. So you are talking about biological women sharing spaces with male bodied people.

I am a rape survivor. I have spent my life avoiding confined spaces and dark places where strange men might be. Now, with Self ID laws, I am told I should trust ANY male bodied person in such a space as along as he says he is a woman? Do you see how this runs contrary to every instinct in my body? And the same is true of women in rape shelters, prisons, hospital rooms, homeless shelters, etc. We must forego our instinct for safety and our hard won safe spaces. When do our feelings and safety matter?

A Biden voter who may not vote for him next time.

If Biden doesn’t come out in favor of a ban on males in women’s sports, locker rooms, jails, bathrooms etc., I won’t vote for him. I voted for him last time. He’s going to lose a large percentage of female voters who voted for him last time as well as male voters who don’t want males in their daughters’ spaces. If he loses Pennsylvania, he’s done.

Of course there are also people who disagree but it’s still a surprise to see so many people at a far left paper like the Post sounding pretty reasonable on this issue. It suggests to me that the activists are not going to win this argument.