Conservatives say they want less government—until it comes to the personal freedoms and bodily autonomy they decide they’d like to control.
Republicans preach libertarian gospel: privatize, deregulate, get the state out of our business. Yet they spend years pushing laws, executive orders, and cultural campaigns that insert government and public policy into the most intimate corners of transgender people’s lives—from access to healthcare, identity documents and bathrooms to participation in school and sports. The result isn’t just political theater; it’s policy that translates directly into daily harm for transgender individuals, especially young people trying simply grow up safely.
The harm is measurable. Recent Trevor Project data make it impossible to ignore the consequences of anti-trans rhetoric and policy: nearly half of transgender and nonbinary young people reported seriously considering suicide in the past year, and LGBTQ youth overall show high rates of suicidal ideation and attempts. As someone who lost a transgender brother to a heroin overdose, check your straight privilege and spare me your transphobic hate in the comments section. When adults elected officials and "influencers" use a person’s identity as a political battleground, they aren’t debating theory—they’re increasing isolation, stigma, and risk for self-harm.
School hallways tell the same story. National school-climate research finds that most LGBTQ students routinely hear negative remarks about transgender people at school; many report harassment and biased language coming from peers, and teachers or staff. Those everyday hostilities create an environment where youth are less likely to show up, thrive academically, or feel safe reaching out for help. Policies and public rhetoric from the President down that normalize humiliation and exclusion have ripple effects that last a lifetime.
And yet the messaging from some Republican leaders is riddled with contradiction. The anti-government creed “We don’t want Big Brother” is gone as soon as politicians police bathrooms, medical decisions, or individuals’ names on official documents. The inconsistency is purposeful. The more heated the spectacle, the easier to mobilize voters. When politicians demand that schools, hospitals, and state agencies deny care to trans people, they create barriers and validate social bullying. As with any LGBTIA+ issue, those who judge the lives of others (something the Bible advises against) might take time to ask themselves why they’re so preoccupied with the gender identity of others and what business it is of theirs.
Look at the cultural playbook: corporate boycotts and viral outrage replace reasoned policy debate. When public figures like Elon Musk (horrifically, as the father of a trans teen himself), publicly urged followers to cancel Netflix over an animated show featuring a trans teen, the move functioned less like a product critique and more like a culture-war signal amplified to millions; a call to weaponize consumption against representation. The domino effect creates a chilling signal for content creators, educators, and employers who might otherwise include trans people in stories, classrooms, and workplaces.
Meanwhile, high-profile political messaging repeats lazy, demeaning stereotypes: the “woke,” the “groomer” smear, the claim that trans recognition is some conspiratorial plot to upend childhood itself. When a president’s social media feed and orders elevate an anti-trans agenda, it gives license to harassment and policy overreach. Officials wrap basic moral and medical matters in partisan language, and then act concerned about parental rights and sports, resulting in telling hospitals what treatments they can offer and schools what names they can use.
This isn’t about silencing debate. Democracies thrive on argument. But fairness demands we call out when a political faction claims small-government purity while ignoring human and civil rights to pursue the most invasive, personal regulations in recent memory. It also requires honesty about consequences: policy choices that strip medical access or public recognition from trans people aren’t abstract; they’re associated with worse mental-health outcomes, increased bullying, and heightened risk for youth. What’s more important—dead kids, or transphobic applause on a MAGA rally stage?
If conservatives insist that government should be lean and unobtrusive, a simple test should follow: stop using the power of the state to regulate other people’s identities. If the public appetite is for moral policing through law, let’s have that debate honestly rather than camouflaging policy under the language of “values” while cheering private boycotts that harm representation and potentially harm people or even end their lives because of the bigotry of narrow-minded politicians and their followers. “Don’t tread on me” extends to others, too, especially when lives are at stake.