Is “trans” the end of democracy?

I realize this sounds hyperbolic. But is it?

March 24, 2025

On March 21, 2025, Jamie Reed of the LGB Courage Coalition posted a piece titled, “It’s not if, but when …” on Substack. It’s about her experiences testifying before state legislatures either in support of or in opposition to various bills concerning sex and gender. You can find Jamie at @JamieWhistle and the LGB Courage Coalition at @LGBCourage on X.

For reference, in 2023, Jamie blew the whistle on the so-called “gender clinic” in Missouri where she previously worked. Her disclosure appeared in an article at The Free Press titled, “I Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I’m Blowing the Whistle.” She said:

There are more than 100 pediatric gender clinics across the U.S. I worked at one. What’s happening to children is morally and medically appalling.

She described her own role in “permanently harming the vulnerable patients in [the clinic’s] care.”

Her recent Substack piece is an important read because of what it says about the threats that “trans” activism poses to democracy. It describes her belief that a physical assault against her in the context of providing testimony before a state legislature is inevitable.

To put it bluntly (and in my words, not hers), “trans” is a savage assault on the freedom of opinion and speech. It’s an assault on our ability to speak freely before our own government bodies.

When she says “it’s not if, but when …” she is referring to the likelihood of being physically assaulted by someone purporting to advocate for “trans rights.” She’s not wrong. I left this comment on her piece:

They have assaulted me, but haven't caused injury. They have yelled idiotic chants that have included my name ("KARA DANSKY, YOU ARE NASTY!"). I thought that was mildly amusing because it doesn't even rhyme. But the only reason I could find it amusing was that I was behind a police barricade and the police were doing their job. I've just been assuming for the past five years or so that one of them is going to kill me. To be honest, I'm surprised that hasn't happened. I have no plans to die any time soon, and I don't particularly want to. I would love to live to be old. But I'm willing to die on this hill if I have to.

Physical assaults on those of us who advocate for women’s sex-based rights are inevitable. We have come to expect it.

But I argue here that “trans” is also a metaphorical assault on democracy itself. Jamie’s piece makes that clear.

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