Maxwell Frost Accuses Some Democrats Of Betraying Trans Americans To Try To Win Elections

3/31/2025

At a 'Transgender Day Visibility' rally in Washington, DC, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) spoke about how some Democrats have betrayed trans-Americans.

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Transcript

00:00Well, hello everybody. I'm so proud to be here today and thank you to the

00:04Christopher Street Project and all the incredible partner organizations for

00:08having us all gathered and I want to wish everybody a powerful, impactful, safe

00:13and happy Trans Day of Visibility. Today we're gathered to send Donald Trump and

00:21this administration and anyone with hate in their hearts one message. The trans

00:26community is going nowhere. Trans people are human beings just like anyone else.

00:35They have the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and I'm proud to be

00:40from the state of Florida which I used to say the great state. Now I say the

00:46beautiful state because we have beautiful people but the reality and Jen

00:50just said this. When I was traveling the country last year I kept telling people

00:55that Project 2025 was Florida 2024, was Florida 2023, was Florida 2022. Where the

01:02state legislatures and authoritarians like Ron DeSantis have been targeting

01:07the trans community. Yeah, boo! Have been targeting the trans community and trans

01:12kids for years. Trans people are people first. Their identity and sexual

01:18orientation has never and will never make them any lesser no matter what any

01:23president or billionaire wants to say. See throughout human history the fascists,

01:34the authoritarians, the oligarchs have used the same playbook. They take the

01:38legitimate problems that our people have and they pick communities to blame. Not

01:44only has Donald Trump decided to scapegoat trans people but in even a

01:48more despicable move he's chosen to scapegoat kids, trans kids.

01:57The authoritarians lie to the people and say that the source of their issues are

02:02another group of people. They go to folks and say give me the power and I will

02:07deal with them. But history and the present has shown us that yes fear,

02:13fascism and bigotry sometimes can be a powerful force but what's more what's

02:18even more powerful than any politician, what's more powerful than any form of

02:23bigotry, what's more powerful than any executive order, than any billionaire, is

02:27the will of the people to throw out the bullshit politics of scarcity and to

02:32accept the politics of love and justice for all people.

02:39And can we have some real talk? There are some people who are learning all

02:46the wrong lessons from this last election. Some of them even in my own

02:52party. They'd have us believe that in order to win we have to betray trans

02:58Americans. That we have to throw them under the bus. But not only is that not

03:07true but I would say that part of the reason we're in the situation we're in

03:11in the first place is because we weren't loud enough to fight for the

03:15trans community. See the authoritarians and fascists succeed when we are quiet

03:23about what matters and I would tell you that it is not smart politically to

03:29champion a community and to throw them under the bus when you feel like it's

03:33not right for the politics. Because not only does it send a message to that

03:37community but it tells the entire country we will sell you out. We have to

03:42stand ten toes down for trans Americans and trans kids and so I'm just here to

03:52give you all the flowers you deserve. This has nothing to do with that

03:57fleeting weak feeling of hate and it has to do with love. The power of love. Of

04:03loving the oppressed more than we hate the oppressor. Because when you love

04:07somebody you want them to have true freedom. The freedom to love who they

04:12want to love, be who they want to be and be who they are. And as the

04:17authoritarians and the fascists try to pin neighbors against neighbors and

04:21communities against communities let's make sure that people across this

04:26country know the reason you can't pay your rent, the reason that you can't

04:30afford health care, the reason that you have to fear gun violence, the reason

04:34that you can't afford your grocery has nothing to do with trans people and

04:38everything to do with the billionaires and corrupt corporations that have been

04:43giving us crumbs for generations. That I promise you I swear to God your bank

04:51account looks more like your trans neighbors than it does look like

04:55Donald Trump's or Elon Musk's. So either way y'all I am proud and I am honored to

05:03be in this struggle with you especially with the queer community and all of our

05:07trans Americans in the South that have been struggling under authoritarian

05:12regimes for years and years and years. And because in the words of the late

05:20great the first black queer woman in the United States Congress Barbara Jordan

05:24what the people want is simple a country as great as its promise and remember

05:30that no Donald Trump no Elon Musk none of these motherfuckers can take that

05:35promise away from trans Americans from the queer community from the South all

05:40the way to the North. God bless you all and thank you for having me.

Maxwell Frost Accuses Some Democrats Of Betraying Trans Americans To Try To Win Elections

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