I Finally Saw Trump's Anti-Trans Political Ads

It was as rage-inducing as expected

So I’ve been watching the World Series which is kind of strange to me because I’ve never really considered myself a sports fan but growing up there was always some game on the TV, be it MLB, NFL, or NHL. And you KNOW how hockey is practically a religion in Canadian homes. I did really get into the NBA playoffs in the early 2000’s when the Lakers and the 76ers were playing each other (I mean who can forget the Kobe/Shaq/Iverson series?) but that’s probably the last time I cared about following sports.

But living in Los Angeles, something happened. I suddenly became interested in the LA Dodgers. And by “suddenly” I mean like a week ago. I read about the grand slam home run at the end of Game One and I was like “I’m gonna follow this thing!” So Game Two my housemates and I found a local restaurant with good tacos, happy hour prices, and the ball game on the TV. I was vaguely aware of the political ads that played in between innings but largely tuned them out as I typically do when ads come on the TV.

Now I hate TV ads. I mean viscerally loathe advertising to the point where my entire online experience is adblocked up the yin yang. I have several countermeasures running at any given time so I don’t end up seeing any advertising. But last night we watched the game at home through a streaming service I managed to find (because I am NOT paying 77 bucks per month extra for Fox Sports!) and a funny thing happened.

I saw them. The Trump anti-trans political ads that everyone’s been talking about and that I had not seen with my own eyes. Oh sure I’d read about how Trump has been demonizing trans people and especially transgender inmates but seeing the ad in front of my face and in our living room was like a punch in the gut.

And I am ANGRY. Pissed off. Those ads made me want RAGE. How DARE he demonize trans folks in that way? The deceptive editing, the presentation of the weirdest drag queens they could find while the voiceover darkly announces “Kamala Harris is for they/them. Donald Trump is for US” while videos of him shaking hands of law enforcement officers played. That ad, of course, is FULL of lies and HIGHLY deceptive.

Now I am not a violent person. Yes I served a decade in the Canadian Army Reserves but we mostly trained for peacekeeping rather than war fighting (and I almost deployed to Bosnia but that’s another story). But I learned to handle my service weapon well and was one of the top shooters in my unit. Since I released in 2001 I have not touched a firearm since.

But seeing that ad and knowing that Trump is painting a GIGANTIC target on our backs is seriously making me reconsider my pacifism. Because if Trump somehow, SOMEHOW wins, I know and you know that those fascists WILL be coming after us trans folks.

And all I want to do right now is ruck up and get ready to fight a Nazi. Because that what MAGA is: a modern-day neo-Nazi organization that has infiltrated one of our national parties and is currently attempting to take over the entire nation. And we CANNOT allow this to happen.

Now I know I’m preaching to the choir here. I know each and every one of you reading WokeAF is here because you’re all, well, woke as fuck. And this blog is how I can process what’s going on in this country through this therapeutic medium of writing. And thanks to those of you who encouraged me to write more and express myself more and let the world hear my thoughts. Because in a Trumpian MAGA regime who knows if free thought and expression will even be allowed.

I read Orwell’s 1984 in the 9th grade. The year was literally 1984 and the book was on everybody’s consciousness. Then the movie starring John Hurt came out and it was BLEAK. It was so bleak that when my family went out to see it my stepfather took my stepbrother home as he was only 11 years old and too young to see it. I think it was the rats in the face cage scene that was the final straw. My mother and I stuck it out and some of those scenes are ingrained in my memory, such as the scene of Winston secretly writing in a book out of sight of the giant telescreen in his room where Big Brother was watching.

I think about those scenes because I know that Project 2025 is essentially the Right’s fascist manifesto that they wish to enact should they gain power again. And it CLEARLY spells out how the entire existence of transgender people WILL be criminalized. Literally criminalized. Because that is how fascists eradicate the people on the margins of society that they hate. And since they can’t deport us like they’re planning on doing with immigrants, both illegal AND legal, they’ll just criminalize our existence and put us in camps along with all the other undesirables.

You know, just like Nazi Germany did.

And at a rally just today, Trump whined and complained that Democrats are calling HIM a Nazi, calling HIM Hitler, even though the only person who actually called him Hitler is his own running mate. But fascism always exists in a world of lies so of course he’s lying his face off about all the criticism he’s receiving. Because true to form with any fascist, he is HYPER sensitive to criticism even though he doles out the worst, most hateful and vile language all day long about anyone HE deems unworthy.

But you know what they say: If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it’s probably not a goat. Turns out monsters really DO exist but they come in human form.

With six days to go until literally THE most explosive and consequential election of our lifetime this country faces a stark choice: will it be a highly accomplished woman of color who promises to be President for ALL PEOPLE, or will hate and bigotry prevail and plunge this country AND the world into an era of darkness that we may not ever recover from?

Kamala’s final message yesterday in DC was one of hope and unity. Trump’s final message is one of hate, division and LITERAL fascism. And America will not survive that.