Hello and welcome to yet another day of the horrifying reality show none of us can escape from: the “Destroy the U.S.” edition of “The Apprentice.” Trump and co-president Elon Musk are laying off thousands and thousands of the people who literally make this country function.
Because the goal is for the country to not function at all. Not for people like you and me, that is. The Trump-Musk Administration is working overtime, however, to make the U.S. a playground for the richest, most craven people in the country, everyone else be damned.
Like, literally damned. This country is being run by people who believe in the prosperity gospel: God rewards good people by making them rich and punishes bad people by making them poor. It’s a pretty convenient way to get around all of that “love thy neighbor” stuff.
It is soul-crushing to see news story after news story about Republicans hurting people and then celebrating that hurt.
So instead of bad news, I’m going to give you some good news for a change.
Allow me to take you to a hearing of the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care in Wisconsin about Assembly Bill 104.
AB 104 would ban gender-affirming care, including prescribing puberty-blocking drugs or gender-affirming surgery, for those under 18, reports the Wisconsin Examiner. “It would also require revocation of a medical provider’s license found to be providing the care. It is the fourth bill focused on transgender youth in Wisconsin to receive a hearing over the last two weeks.
FOUR anti-trans bills focused on kids. In TWO weeks. That’s a hell of a lot of time for a legislative body to spend discussing whether or not trans kids are deserving of the medical care they need. Medical care that can save lives and give kids a chance to live as their authentic selves.
The hearing went for hours and hours and hours with people testifying for and against the bill.
One of those people was a Milwaukee man named Larry Jones who got his chance to speak after he’d waited for six hours in an overflow room that happened to be filled with a lot of people who were there to testify against the bill.
“First of all I would like to apologize to you people,” Jones said in a TikTok video featuring his remarks before the committee. “I was invited here to give my support [for Bill 104]. I have very little knowledge of gay people and things like that there, so when I came here, my eyes were opened. I was one of the critics that sat on the side and made the decision there was only two genders, so I got an education that was unbelievable, and I don’t know just exactly how to say this, but my perspective for people has changed. So I don’t want to take up no more of your time. I’d like to apologize for being here and I learned a very lot about this group of people.”
In other words, when sitting amongst transgender people and supporters in that overflow room, Jones listened. And learned. And changed his mind.
This reminds me of my wife’s grandmother, Mary. She was 94 when my wife and I got married in 2003. We invited her. And she initially said she wasn’t going. But then closer to our wedding date, Mary overheard her two children, Gary and Joan, making plans to go. And she said, a little hurt, “Well, why can’t I go?” And Gary, my wife’s dad, said, “Of course you can go. You’re the one who said you weren’t going.” And go she did. Six years later when we had our son, she was overjoyed to meet him. She died at age 105.
In a time when everyone seems so divided, it is worth remembering that not everyone’s hearts and minds have been poisoned irredeemably with hate.
As far as AB 104, it was passed by the committee along party lines with all 10 Republicans voting in favor and all five Democrats voting against.
Thankfully, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, will almost certainly veto the bill if it gets to his desk. According to the Examiner, Evers “vetoed a similar bill last session, and vowed to LGBTQ+ youth in January to continue vetoing any bill that ‘makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive, and less welcoming place.’”
I first heard of this story via Mercury Stardust, a.k.a. the Trans Handy Ma’am on Instagram.By the way, Ms. Stardust is working to raise $1 million for trans health. You can help her reach that goal by donating whatever you can today.