It’s 4 in the morning, and I’m up eating a bowl of Froot Loops and strongly considering getting heavily into transgender.
That’s what disgraced former president and convicted felon Donald Trump said about Democratic Party vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.
So what does it mean to be “heavy into transgender,” something Trump has said more than once about Walz? Well, first it means that you recognize the humanity of transgender people, something that Republicans refuse to do.
It also means championing policies that protect transgender people, which is exactly what Walz did as Minnesota’s Governor.
As NBC News reports, “Last year [Walz] signed a ‘trans refuge’ bill into law, making Minnesota one of 14 states that prohibits outside authorities to enforce other states’ laws banning gender-affirming care, by, for example, attempting to subpoena health information or issue warrants under such out-of-state laws.”
Sounds like good policy to me, and surely something Republicans can get behind, seeing as they call themselves the party of freedom and are always pushing to get government out of people’s lives.
Ha. I’m kidding. The only time Republicans want to stay out of people’s lives is when said people are stockpiling guns in preparation for Armageddon and/or refusing to vaccinate their children for smallpox.
Walz also “signed an executive order that protects access to health care for trans people in the state and signed a bill that prohibits so-called conversion therapy, a discredited practice that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Again, more policy that demonstrates an actual commitment to the LGBTQ+ community, not just empty platitudes.
Now if you’re thinking, “Walz sounds pretty great. Can he get any better?” What if I told you the answer is yes?
NPR reports that in 2023, Walz signed a bill “requiring public schools to provide menstrual products — including pads and tampons — to students in 4th through 12th grades.”
Again, sounds great. And I’m sure I’m not the only person thinking that such a law would’ve saved me a lot of humiliation and stress when I was in school.
But Republicans are freaking out about the part of the law that says the products be available “to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students.”
And by all restrooms, yes that means all restrooms, not just ones designated “Girls.”
How dare Walz acknowledge the fact that not all menstruating students are female! And so Republicans have taken to calling Walz “Tampon Tim.” They think it’s a pretty sick burn.
But there are Democrats who are embracing this moniker, like Hillary Clinton who posted on X, “How nice of the Trump camp to help publicize Gov. Tim Walz’s compassionate and common-sense policy of providing free menstrual products to students in Minnesota public schools! Let’s do this everywhere.” And she included the image that someone made of Walz’s head on a tampon box.
I don’t know what Walz thinks of the whole thing, but I would bet he doesn’t care about the characterization one bit. This is the guy who has been listening to young people about what they want and need ever since he was a teacher at Mankato West High School.
While running for governor in 2018, Walz tweeted, “When my LGBT students approached me in the mid-1990s asking me to help them start the first gay-straight alliance at Mankato West High School, my answer was, ABSOLUTELY.”
As someone who was, herself, in high school in the mid-’90s, this was something I could only dream of happening at my school.
When Jacob Reitan, a founding member of the GSA at Mankato West, was interviewed on MSNBC, he said that Walz was “incredibly supportive” of LGBTQ+ students and “modeled values of inclusivity and respect.” No wonder Republicans hate him so much. First, it’s a GSA, then it’s transgender rights, then it’s pads and tampons in schools! What’s next — free school lunches?
Why, yes. Last year, Walz signed a law making school meals free to all children. Because kids can’t learn when they’re hungry.
Republicans hate this. Like, seriously, it’s in Project 2025 that a Republican President must “reject efforts to create universal free school meals.”
Now, universal free meals became a reality during the height of the pandemic and under Trump, no less. But as The Hill reports, each year before 2020, “The Trump administration sought to remove nearly 1 million children’s access to free school meals.”
Because I guess they want kids to be hungry for… freedom, or something.
If treating transgender people with basic human decency, making sure kids aren’t missing class because they don’t have any tampons, or feeding kids makes you angry, you just might be a Republican. And these extremist positions tell us everything we need to know about what, and who, the GOP stands for today.
