In 2000, the terrifying prospect of “gay marriage” was used to fire up the base. Since marriage equality became the law of the land, though, it’s become fairly clear that letting people love one another has somehow failed to destroy the Republic. So conservatives, led by President Trump, have moved on to people like us, coming up with one falsehood after another to diminish our humanity.

A Trump cabinet member warns of “big hairy men” winding up in the ladies room. This is false. I have been in thousands of ladies rooms, and no one has ever said as much as “Lindsey Graham” to me. Fact: more Republican members of Congress have been arrested because of their conduct in restrooms in this country than trans women.

They warn that trans women competing in sports will somehow destroy women’s athletics. This is also false. A year of hormone replacement dramatically affects performance; most trans women lose the events they compete in. It’s only when they win — as the cyclist Rachel McKinnon did at a World Championship in California — that they’re accused of cheating, as Jen Wagner-Assali, the bronze medalist, accused Ms. McKinnon.

Ms. Wagner-Assali somehow failed to mention that she’d beaten Ms. McKinnon in seven of their 12 previous races.

They warn that trans people serving their country in the military — something that President Bone Spurs did not — are an insurmountable problem. This is also false. The chief of staff of each military branch has testified that trans service people pose no threat to readiness.

They warn that coverage for trans soldiers’ medical care is too great a financial burden. This is likewise hooey. A RAND Corporation analysis found the cost of medical coverage for trans service people to be less than 0.017 percent of Pentagon health care spending.

My theory is that people objecting to the sanctity of the powder room, or tearfully defending women’s athletics, or terrified by the prospect of us serving our country, are not actually concerned with those issues at all. What they really object to, when you come right down to it, is the fact that trans people exist in the first place.