• As we’ve been covering on the show for a while now, Republican-led states across the country are attacking trans communities by banning or attempting to ban everything from life-saving healthcare to sports participation for school-aged youth. In South Carolina Thursday, a trans man, families of trans youth, and the ACLU sued the state to overturn a ban on gender-affirming healthcare signed by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster in May. And in Florida this week, a federal appeals court ruled that a state law banning gender-affirming care can be enforced while a legal challenge plays out. While the trans community may be the target of so many of these efforts, the transphobia and transmisia affects everyone, whether you’re a member of the trans community or not. That’s the focus of a new series of articles published by The 19th this week titled “The toll of America’s anti-trans war.” One of the lead reporters, Orion Rummler, explains the ways the anti-trans agenda shapes all of our lives.
• And in headlines: Former President Donald Trump says his administration will pay for IVF, Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz sat for their first interview with CNN, and the World Health Organization says Israel has agreed to small pauses in fighting in Gaza to help get children vaccinated against polio.

• Check out The 19th’s series ‘The toll of America’s anti-trans war’–https://tinyurl.com/usuvrbm2
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TRANSCRIPT

Tre’vell Anderson: It’s Friday, August 30th, I’m Tre’vell Anderson. 

Priyanka Aribindi: And I’m Priyanka Aribindi and this is What a Day, the show where we’re sending our full support to ABBA, who just told Donald Trump that he cannot use their music at his campaign rallies. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Gimme gimme gimme a cease and desist order. Okay? 

Priyanka Aribindi: After midnight or before, really any time. [laughter] [music break] On today’s show, former President Trump wants to pay for IVF apparently. That seems like a shift. Plus, Israel pauses its fire to allow a polio vaccine campaign for children in Gaza. 

Tre’vell Anderson: But first, the anti-trans hate machine continues. As we’ve been covering on the show, Republican led state legislatures across the country are attacking trans communities by banning or attempting to ban everything from the lifesaving health care some of us require, to sports participation for school aged youth. In South Carolina, for example, a trans man, families of trans youth, and the ACLU sued the state Thursday to overturn its ban on gender affirming health care, which was signed by Republican Governor Henry McMaster back in May. And just last month, over in New Hampshire, Republican Governor Chris Sununu signed into law the so-called Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which bans trans youth athletes in fifth through 12th grade from teams that align with their gender identities. There are currently two trans teens and their families challenging the constitutionality of that law as well. 

Priyanka Aribindi: Also this week in Florida, a federal appeals court ruled that a state law banning gender affirming care can be enforced while a legal challenge plays out. That law not only restricts minors from being prescribed things like puberty blockers, even with their parents permission, but it also limits who can provide care to trans adults. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Right. Which goes to show you that none of these efforts are actually about protecting young people or fortifying supposed parent’s rights, as conservative talking points would like us to believe. Much like Project 2025 asserts, the goal is to outlaw and erase trans folks from public spaces. And while the trans community may be the target of so many of these efforts, the transphobia and transmisia directed at us impacts everyone, whether you’re a member of the trans community or not. That’s the focus of a new series of articles published by the 19th this week, titled The Toll of America’s Anti-trans War. I spoke with one of the lead reporters of that series, Orion Rummler, who set out to understand how the anti-trans agenda could reshape all of our lives. I started by asking him about his focus over the last few years while covering LGBTQ+ politics. 

Orion Rummler: The past couple of years, that has been a focus for me is figuring out the impact of these bills, some of the ways we’ve explored that or, you know, how have these bills impacted LGBTQ students’ mental health, which there’s a lot of national data on how this is impacting people’s lives. And a lot of these anti-trans bills passed, especially the gender affirming care bans, are all passed in southern states. So how are southern families dealing with this? Are they having to move? Can they afford to move? Are physicians leaving these rural areas that need them? And how is the political rhetoric affecting hate crimes and violence against queer people? And that’s all focused on states, but for this project, wanted to take it a little bit further than that, to dig into what are some of the ways the anti-trans legislation and the anti-transgender politics is hurting everybody? Like, are we all being swept up in this crusade? And that’s more of what we wanted to dig into. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Yeah, I know that some of these, you know, anti-trans laws that we’ve seen have actually been struck down in federal court. For example, Arkansas had a first in the nation ban on gender affirming care for trans youth that was permanently blocked in federal court last year after a judge deemed the measure unconstitutional. In a broad sense, how have these legal challenges to the anti-trans laws fared in court over the past few years? Are we seeing many of them surviving legal challenges?  

Orion Rummler: Right now, at the top of my mind in terms of legal challenges for anti-LGBTQ laws, is that we’re going to be seeing the Supreme Court take up the question of whether gender affirming care bans for trans youth are unconstitutional. They’ll be taking that up in the next term. You know, there’s a lot to talk about there. But, you know, how we got to this point where this is going to before the Supreme Court is we had a lot of circuit courts disagreeing with lower courts in terms of how the 14th amendment equal protection applies to transgender people, and kind of putting it back and forth between the upper and lower courts. So just looking forward to seeing what Scotus does there. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Mm hmm. Now something we’ve talked about a lot on the show is Project 2025, which is just basically a blueprint of sorts of what a second Trump presidency could look like. Now there’s been a lot of coverage around what it will mean for issues like abortion, but a lot less coverage in terms of what it actually says about trans folks. What does Project 2025 say about trans people? How much further do Republicans want to restrict trans rights? 

Orion Rummler: A lot of the policies about trans people in Project 2025, they’re familiar in the sense that they’re more extreme versions of what we’ve seen in states. But it takes it to an even further extreme. Like Project 2025 declares that transgender ideology, and I’m quoting that’s how they phrase it. They say that transgender ideology should be labeled as pornography and should be outlawed. And, you know, I talked with [?] what that means. It’s not very clear what that means in practice, like how they would achieve that. You know, advocates also pointed out like they would need Congress for something like that. So a lot of the really wild declarations that they want, they couldn’t just magically do. It would take a while to achieve something like that. And we’re not sure how they would achieve that. But Project 2025 also says that teachers and school counselors who share transgender ideology, which, you know, we can define as like the idea of being transgender. If school counselors and teachers spread that idea that they should be labeled as sex offenders, which, you know, when I read that, I thought that was beyond the pale. But then when I spoke with a teacher in Kentucky, that didn’t surprise him, and I was like, this really doesn’t surprise you that they would want this? And he was like, no, because of how extreme it’s gotten in Kentucky for queer teachers like him, which I think just goes to show like what the environment is for folks right now. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Yeah. You mentioned this project that you and your colleagues at the 19th have been doing, which is exploring the impact that anti-trans legislation has on everyone, not just trans people specifically. Can you talk a little bit more about that connection? Right. Perhaps for voters who might not see trans issues as like a top priority at the ballot box and may not see how some of these things are impacting them. 

Orion Rummler: Right. And that’s exactly the person that I hope will read this series. My colleague Kate Sosin and I launched this project, and one of the ways Kate has talked about this project is like gender has become a test for us to pass or fail in the past couple of years, and by us we mean everyone. Like the anti-trans rhetoric that’s part of this state legislation. It’s spreading everywhere. It’s not contained within bills that go after trans people. We’re seeing it in ways that hurt cisgender women of color, especially in sports, especially at the Olympics recently. We see anti-trans rhetoric making it harder for low income girls to access free menstrual products at schools. We explore how it threatens to make jury pools less diverse. And our final story for the series is going to explore how anti-trans measures may complicate access to the ballot, not just for trans people. I hope that people read this series and reflect on how anti-trans rhetoric is impacting their life and their relationship to democracy, regardless of their identity, because this is affecting you. 

Tre’vell Anderson: That was my conversation with Orion Rummler, reporter with the 19th. We’ll put a link in our show notes to their series, The Toll of America’s Anti-trans War. 

Priyanka Aribindi: We’ll get to some headlines in just a moment, but if you like our show, please make sure to subscribe and share it with your friends. We’ll be right back after some ads. [music break]

[AD BREAK] 

Tre’vell Anderson: Let’s get to some headlines. 

[sung] Headlines. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Donald Trump is trying to win back all of those childless cat ladies by supporting reproductive rights. In an interview Thursday with NBC news, the former president said if he’s elected, not only will his administration protect the right to in vitro fertilization, but it will pay for it, too. 

[clip of Donald Trump] And we are going to be under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment. So we are paying for that treatment. 

[clip of NBC news reporter] All Americans who want it? 

[clip of Donald Trump] Or we’re going, all for, all Americans that get it, all Americans that need it. So we’re going to be paying for that treatment, or we’re going to be mandating that the insurance company pay. 

Tre’vell Anderson: The process is cost prohibitive for many Americans. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, one cycle of IVF can cost a patient about $20,000. Trump elaborated on eliminating the costs, saying insurance companies would have to pay for the treatments under a mandate. I wonder if this will do anything to help with the plummeting numbers we’ve seen in the polls the past few weeks. 

Priyanka Aribindi: My amount of belief that this will happen is just absolutely nonexistent. You know, if he were to be elected, I don’t think we will ever live to see that from him. But–

Tre’vell Anderson: Never. Let’s be real. 

Priyanka Aribindi: You know, if you’re responding to this positively, really does sound like a lot of people love when their health care is paid for, when they have coverage for things that they would like to do. Just something to keep in mind as we uh–

Tre’vell Anderson: Yeah. 

Priyanka Aribindi: –vote and maybe um tell politicians what matters to us in the future. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Mm hmm. 

Priyanka Aribindi: Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz’s interview with CNN anchor Dana Bash aired Thursday night. This is Harris and Walz’s first joint interview since Harris became the Democratic Party’s nominee. Very highly anticipated. During the interview, Bash asked Harris why voters should trust her when she’s changed her position on issues like fracking and immigration. Harris responded by saying that her values have not changed. 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] The most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed. 

Priyanka Aribindi: Bash also noted how this year’s Democratic National Convention featured multiple Republican speakers. She asked Harris if she would appoint a Republican to her cabinet if she is elected president. To which she actually said yes. 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] I think it’s important to have people at the table and when some of the most important decisions are being made, that have different views, different experiences, and I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my cabinet who was a Republican. 

Tre’vell Anderson: The U.S. Army on Thursday defended an Arlington National Cemetery employee who it says was, quote, “abruptly pushed aside” by Trump campaign officials during Monday’s visit. In a statement, Army officials said, quote, “the employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked” by the former president’s aides. But because she has chosen not to press charges, it considers the matter closed. It’s the latest in days of back and forth over what happened during a brief confrontation that day between the Arlington Cemetery employee, who so far remained anonymous, and members of Trump’s team. Trump was there with the families of two service members who’d lost their lives during the military’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago. The altercation occurred when the employee tried to prevent the Trump campaign from taking photos and videos in a section of the cemetery, called section 60. The Army says it had laid out guidelines for the visit, including the fact that federal law and army regulations prohibit political activity on cemetery grounds. The Trump campaign responded to initial reports of the incident by disparaging the employee and denying anything happened. It also threatened to release video backing up its claims, but so far hasn’t. The campaign did release a TikTok video, though, which appears to confirm members doing exactly what they weren’t supposed to be doing. 

Priyanka Aribindi: Yeah, listen, I understand that he was there with the families who wanted him to be there, sure, but like his inability to follow simple rules and simple like human decency of not taking political videos and then posting them on TikTok from a cemetery with fallen soldiers? Disgusting things. 

Tre’vell Anderson: It doesn’t make sense. We won’t try–

Priyanka Aribindi: Truly. 

Tre’vell Anderson: –to make it make sense. 

Priyanka Aribindi: No, no. [laugh] The World Health Organization says that Israel has agreed to small pauses in fighting in Gaza in order to get children vaccinated against polio. A WHO spokesperson said Thursday that the plan is for three separate, three day long pauses in specific zones in Gaza. The vaccination campaign is set to start on Sunday in central Gaza and then move to the south and finally the north. More than one million doses of the polio vaccine arrived in Gaza on Monday, and the aim is to get around 640,000 children under the age of ten in Gaza vaccinated against polio, a disease that was nearly eradicated in the ’90s. The WHO has already confirmed at least one case of the disease in a baby who is now partially paralyzed. It’s the first case of polio in Gaza in 25 years. The horrors really just keep coming. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Mm hmm. And as we mentioned earlier in the show, Swedish pop supergroup ABBA wants the Trump campaign to stop using their music at rallies. Thank you very much. In a statement sent to multiple news outlets, a spokesperson for the band said, quote, “no request has been received, therefore, no permission or license has been granted.” The Trump campaign refuted the claim, saying it had obtained a license. We get it. Not even Donald Trump can resist the impossible pull of songs like Dancing Queen and The Winner Takes It All, but ABBA is the latest in a who’s who of major musical acts, telling the Trump campaign to cut it out. The list over the years includes Beyoncé, the Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Rihanna, Phil Collins, Adele and more. And the estate of Isaac Hayes has even filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the campaign. Maybe they should take a hint and stick to Kid Rock. I keep saying stick to Kid Rock, but they keep not listening Priyanka. 

Priyanka Aribindi: I don’t know. They have Kid Rock. They have that woman who wore that Trump gown to the Grammys a few years ago. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Mm hmm. They got options. 

Priyanka Aribindi: They’ve got options. Why do they keep going for all these people who clearly hate them? 

Tre’vell Anderson: Listen, they should just get Hulk Hogan, okay? To go into the studio and drop some custom beats for the Trump campaign. I mean c’mon.

Priyanka Aribindi: Don’t give them any ideas. Don’t give them any ideas. It’s just funny to me that they thought they’d get away with Beyonce and Rihanna. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Of all people, right. [laughing]

Priyanka Aribindi: Seriously. Anyways. And those are the headlines. 

[AD BREAK]

Tre’vell Anderson: That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe. Leave a review. Get down to Dancing Queen and tell your friends to listen. 

Priyanka Aribindi: And if you are into reading and not just ACLU lawsuits against bigoted policies like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Priyanka Aribindi.

Tre’vell Anderson: I’m Tre’vell Anderson. 

[spoken together] And we stand with ABBA! 

Priyanka Aribindi: Today, yesterday, forever. [laughter]

Tre’vell Anderson: They told that man stop playing our songs, okay? 

Priyanka Aribindi: Throw that on a red hat. [laughter] [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded and mixed by Bill Lancz. Our associate producer is Raven Yamamoto. We had production help today from Michell Eloy, Ethan Oberman, Greg Walters, and Julia Claire. Our showrunner is Erica Morrison, and our executive producer is Adriene Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. 

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