1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Wow. Did you really, really have to throw trans people under the bus? Did you really have to find common ground with an utterly despicable person and publicly agree with him? Where did your leadership go? I am a 71-year old white woman, married for over 38 years to an even older straight white man. Both of us understand that the GOP mania about trans athletes is a manipulation and a red herring. You’re a smart, savvy guy. You understand that, too. This means you *knowingly* broadcast the position that trans people are a threat. Your public position on trans women in sports affirmed the right-wing talking point that trans women are a threat to women. Following your logic, if trans women are a threat to women in sports, then trans women are a threat to women in restrooms. If trans women are a threat to women in sports and restrooms, then surely they’re a threat to women in society. You’ve made trans women into “the other.”The dehumanization of trans women is unacceptable. It's already responsible for thousands of murders, many of them particularly vicious. What comes next is criminalization. You could have done so much better by saying some version of “Trans people have rights, the same as all people.” Not a radical idea within the Democratic Party. I’m embarrassed that I have been promoting you as a future Presidential candidate. And I sorely regret voting for you.