Election 2016 Transgender Politics
FILE - Demonstrators rally in support of transgender athletes in women's sports outside of Barclay's Center before the WNBA basketball game between the Indiana Fever and the New York Liberty, Aug. 22, 2026, in New York.
As featured on
An increasing number of Democratic leaders have begun to push back against their party’s unflinching support for the transgender community this midterm season. The shift comes after years of Republican-backed attacks against Democrats on the issue of transgender athletes. That issue affects a relatively small group of people but it has emerged as one of the GOP’s most potent political weapons. It's a delicate and dangerous issue for Democrats, who have already triggered a backlash from their party’s progressive base in some states. But for others, there is a sense that the party must evolve on an issue that the overwhelming majority of voters agree with President Donald Trump on.
