Pramila Jayapal warns Democrats: Don't throw trans people under the bushttps://www.advocate.com/politics/national/pramila-jayapal-democrats-trans-rights 🔗Christopher Wiggins (25 June 2026)
For U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the fight over transgender rights has become a test of whether Democrats understand the stakes of this political moment.
The Washington Democrat believes the attacks on transgender people are following a familiar pattern. She sees a powerful political movement targeting a vulnerable community to distract from the failures of those already in power. Before transgender people, she says, Republicans went after immigrants and, before that, marriage equality. The target changes. The tactic endures.
As the country moves toward the midterms, with President Donald Trump again using the federal government to narrow the rights of LGBTQ+ people, Jayapal is urging Democrats to hold their ground. Running from transgender people abandons those who need protection while doing little to shield Democrats from Republican attacks, she said.
"I have critiques of my own party because I think often what we do is we tend to move away from whatever feels controversial," Jayapal told The Advocate. "So in this case, LGBTQIA rights, it's like, OK, don't talk about trans folks too much, don't give a defense, be reasonable, be moderate."
She rejects that premise. "I happen to think it is reasonable and moderate to stand up for any marginalized community," she said, "trans people being at the center of so many of those attacks today."
