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LEXIE CANNES STATE OF TRANS — Following the GOP convention last summer, it became apparent to me that keeping Trump from winning the election was far more important than writing about matters of importance to trans people. Not only any gains made during that time would likely be lost if Trump were to win, we were at risk for a huge rollback of existing rights.

Now, with Trump in the White House, I’ve been faced with a conundrum. I don’t relish the idea of having to report on the symptoms of Trump’s presidency for the next 4 years — writing about one curtailed transgender right after another. My time is better spent trying to rid us of the cause — Trump — but historically, articles about political matters in this space tend to be among the least read and/or shared. Readers tire of politics quickly.

Ranting about Trump won’t resolve anything either besides rallying the base. Social media does a great job here, I really don’t need to duplicate that effort in this space.

While I’m still fleshing out ideas, one of my plans to is to write about things we can do win the hearts and minds of the people that voted for Trump. This includes tactics that work, and identifying those that don’t. This will include the tracking of our progress with this task. My eyes are wide open for anything that’ll resolve the circumstances trans people find themselves in today.

In recent weeks, a number of writers have made suggestions how to best rid the nation of it’s election blunder. I am going to start with

Rondon:

“The recipe for populism is universal. Find a wound common to many, find someone to blame for it, and make up a good story to tell. Mix it all together. Tell the wounded you know how they feel. That you found the bad guys. Label them: the minorities, the politicians, the businessmen. Caricature them. As vermin, evil masterminds, haters and losers, you name it. Then paint yourself as the savior. Capture the people’s imagination. Forget about policies and plans, just enrapture them with a tale. One that starts with anger and ends in vengeance. A vengeance they can participate in.”

Sound familiar?

To stay in power, Trump needs us to be the enemy and his supporters, an “injured party.” The things we have been doing to neutralize Trump — the presentation of facts, public scoldings, and other rebukes, won’t work says Rondon. It’s not our message, but the fact that we, the messenger, are the enemy.

The solution? Don’t feed polarization. Disarm it.

Rondon:

“It’s not that Trump supporters are too stupid to see right from wrong, it’s that you’re more valuable to them as an enemy than as a compatriot. Your challenge is to prove that you belong in the same tribe as them — that you are American in exactly the same way they are.”

Rondon says that rather than to reject Trump, we need to point out how badly Trump is hurting the very people he claims to be serving.

In short, by making an effort to break the tribal divide, a populist like Trump will go away by itself.

This, of course, means biting our tongue and holding in our outrage.

Food for thought.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/posteverything/wp/2017/01/27/in-venezuela-we-couldnt-stop-chavez-dont-make-the-same-mistakes-we-did

Watch LEXIE CANNES right now: http://www.amazon.com/Lexie-Cannes-CourtneyODonnell/dp/B00KEYH3LQ

Or get the DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0963781332

LEXIE CANNES in IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1391088/

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Categories: Discrimination, Equality, Civil Rights