• zaphod@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    It’s called a distraction. Give voters something meaningless to be mad about and they won’t notice the things they should be getting mad about. Smith is doing the same thing in Alberta with this whole APP thing. It’s 100% a distraction so voters don’t notice the crumbling healthcare, overpriced heating and electricity, etc.

    • Funderpants @lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      It’s not a distraction for the vulnerable trans kid who now has to choose between living their most authentic , healthy life and staying in the closet.

      It’s sick to treat these kids like this, to use them as pawns for a distraction, if that’s it. I think though conservatives would do this kind of thing distraction or not.

      • zaphod@lemmy.ca
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        9 months ago

        I couldn’t agree more, but it’s very clear that right-wing parties in both the US and Canada have decided to turn trans rights into a wedge issue they can use to divide and distract voters, just as they’ve always done with marginalized groups in the past. It’s a playbook as old as time (just ask the gay community, or the black community, or the Jewish community, or…), and it’s always been incredibly disgusting and very successful: pick a group that’s too small to be an actual danger and pump them up into a threat that only the right wingers can save us all from. And if you’re thinking “huh, didn’t I hear somewhere that that’s what fascists do?”… well… yeah, exactly.