Former Senator (and Saturday Night Live alum) Al Franken (D-Minnesota) once said of his colleague Ted Cruz (R-Texas), “I like Ted Cruz more than most of my other Senate colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz.”
Cruz’s unlikeability was well documented even before he deserted his fellow Texans for the beaches of Cancun during 2021’s historic winter storm.
He labels his opponents “elite” while he enjoys the privileges of graduating from a prestigious Houston prep school and earning degrees from Harvard and Princeton.
He helped fuel the racist “birther” accusations against Barack Obama, while his own pedigree almost perfectly mirrors that of the former President. The only difference is that Cruz was born in Canada, and the birther movement falsely accused Obama of having been born in Kenya. It doesn’t take much imagination to connect the racist dots in that picture.
Like so many of his fellow 2016 GOP presidential primary contenders, he took the personal humiliation he and his family received from Donald Trump and transformed it into a level of Trump sycophancy that boggles the mind.
And it isn’t just his opponents and colleagues who dislike him. Many in Trump’s MAGA base still remember Cruz’s non-endorsement endorsement of Trump at the 2016 Republican convention and retain their suspicion.
No one wants to have a beer with Ted Cruz. So, how can someone so widely despised continue to get elected?
The answer to that question is multifaceted, and one facet is that hate and fear are strong motivators for many voters. Cruz exploits that reality with near-Trumpian precision when his political opponents begin to gain ground on him. Tragically, politicians employ these strategies because they have proven, time and again, to work.
This election cycle, the primary targets of his hate and fear have been trans individuals who, like Cruz, are image-bearers of God.
The ads and accusations include the usual tactics and tropes– the dangers of “boys” in girls’ sports and bathrooms and the prevalence of government-funded gender-affirming care for prisoners. They use sensationalized rhetoric to describe medical procedures used to save lives and fabricate lies about the evidence-based therapeutic processes someone must go through to receive that care.
This statewide anti-trans campaign in the Texas senatorial race has mirrored the one being waged by Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, in the presidential election. And in both, they have added another wrinkle: Accusations that the U.S. government is paying for gender-affirming care for undocumented immigrants in detention for crossing the border illegally.
This addition allows the Republicans running for office to further marginalize two groups of people (image bearers of God) whose identities have been immorally turned into a political “issue.” Sadly, the Democratic response to these attacks has been found wanting.
When she was recently confronted with the question about undocumented immigrants receiving gender-affirming care, Vice President Kamala Harris’ response was to punt, saying that was a Trump-era policy. The strategy was to say, “If Trump is against this, why was it his policy to allow it to happen?” But it was hardly a ringing support for the trans community–those whose safety depends on acceptance.
Harris and Texas Rep. Colin Allred, Cruz’s opponent, have said this is a distraction and a minor issue, given how small the number of trans people there are. They aren’t wrong about that, and the sad political reality is that standing up and defending the dignity and humanity of trans people would be seen as “taking the bait” and a losing strategy. But in the wake of this political cynicism, trans people are desperate for someone to stand up and say, “This isn’t right.”
Allred came closest to doing this in his recent debate with Cruz when he declared, in response to his support for the Trans Bill of Rights, “I don’t support boys playing in girls sports. What I think is that people shouldn’t be discriminated against.” It struck a technically true tone (trans girls are girls) and extended general support of human rights. However, Allred could have gone further to protect those at most risk of being harmed in this conversation.
There is enough material in the public sphere, not to mention brave trans people who selflessly offer to share their stories, for me not to get into the minutiae of why trans people should be included and celebrated.
Also, as trans people are now only winning some level of long and hard-fought acceptance, there are still unresolved questions surrounding institutions like competitive sports and conventions such as public bathrooms. But I would argue those questions should be aimed more at our idolatry of these institutions and our lack of imagination about cultural conventions, and not on trans people.
What does need to be proclaimed now, as the attacks on their identities are being elevated during election season, is that trans people are people. Trans identities are not deviations from “normal” identities; they are normal identities, part of the beautiful spectrum of God’s creation.
After this election, regardless of who occupies the White House, people of good faith must work to repair the damage that these campaigns of hate and fear have inflicted on many of God’s image-bearers, including those in the trans community.
Senior Editor at Good Faith Media.
