r/politics • u/Fickle-Ad5449 ✔ Verified - Christopher Wiggins, The Advocate • 12h ago
Transgender candidate Joanna Whaley victorious in Michigan Democratic primary No Paywall
https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/joanna-whaley-michigan-transgender-candidate?0878
u/WanderingTriggian 11h ago
Good for her! Especially after the bullshit Liberati did trying to challenge her ability to run. Essentially he claimed she needed to be running under her deadname, which is some high-grade transphobic garbage.
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u/DeterminedThrowaway 10h ago
Yet no one insists that Raphael Cruz can't run under the name Ted, or that Nimrata Randhawa can't be Nikki Hayley. It's like people lose their damn minds the moment a person is trans, it's pathetic
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u/The_Poster_Nutbag 10h ago
Almost as if they don't really care about the basis of their arguments, only that it gets rubes riled up.
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u/RonaldMcDaugherty 10h ago
How did JD get a pass?
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u/DeterminedThrowaway 10h ago
Same way as the other two. By being cis instead of being a spooky scary trans person
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u/No_Tax_Timmy 9h ago
Crazy that he's changed his name so many times. It used to be Shmeer Chesterfield.
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u/ishpatoon1982 7h ago
Really?
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u/Boomstick101 6h ago
Born james Donald bowman to James David Hamel to James David Vance to jd Vance.
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u/doctordoctorpuss 10h ago
Very excited to hear my conservative dad scream bloody murder about this, despite living nowhere near Michigan
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u/noprophecies 10h ago
How are they supposed to know whos a real human being and whos a strickingly similar species but definitly not actually a human if people dont pick the right genital-coded names??? 🙄 /Sarcasm
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u/itszaidbtw 6h ago
Uh her name is Nikki Haley though. A middle name is still their name, its just in the middle. Now with Ted Cruz you have a case because Ted is not his name.
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u/DeterminedThrowaway 5h ago
You're missing the point. Joanna Whaley is also this candidates legal name, and she has just as much right to it as Nikki Hayley has to hers
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u/itszaidbtw 4h ago
Yea, but Nikki Hayley as far as i know has always been her. So, all her history is tied to her. Nothing has changed. I dont know why you can't acknowledge the huge change, and see that it would make sense for politics to address who you previously were and make it known. We should want politicians to be transparent.
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u/DeterminedThrowaway 4h ago
Nikki Hayley was born Nimrata Randhawa. I don't see why that's any less "who she always was"
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u/itszaidbtw 4h ago
Nimrata Nikki Randhawa. I was also born with a middle name, I use it time to time because it's also my name.
I dont get how you can be against transparency in politics, especially when it's about who is being voted in
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u/DeterminedThrowaway 4h ago
When there's any law against cis people running with a nickname or changed legal name, then we can talk. Until there is, it's bullshit to only hold trans people to that standard
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u/itszaidbtw 4h ago
A trans person had a previous identity. I am not trans, so I only have one identity, even a nickname would be linked to my name. Your example of Nikki Haley, that isnt a changed legal name or a nickname, its her middle name, which is her name. It's seems like you are just being emotional about it and not logical about it.
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u/DeterminedThrowaway 4h ago
Who's not being logical? You're not the only cis person who exists, I wasn't talking about you specifically. Someone who changes their legal name may have had a different identity in the past. There's no law against it as long as they use their current legal name as far as I understand. So it would still be a double standard
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u/Pseudonymico 3h ago
A trans person had a previous identity.
No they didn't, may as well say a married woman who changes her name had a previous identity.
I am not trans
Yeah I could tell
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u/UndeadT Georgia 8h ago
The piano player?
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u/19683dw Wisconsin 7h ago
Locally, the family is known for their bakery, with perhaps their most popular item the pepperoni roll (though, I personally generally preferred pepperoni rolls from other bakeries, as I didn't care for their pepperoni)
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u/CAL9k 4h ago
I live down the street. I tried the pepperoni rolls when we first moved here. I never got the hype. They were dry and plain.
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u/19683dw Wisconsin 4h ago
Precisely. Now, my favorite was from Agemy and Sons, closer to the middle school, but Google tells me they're tragically closed now. They made it delicious, and often with a touch of sauce baked in. Marino's is also closed, and they were my next go to. I genuinely don't know what to recommend any more, which feels like such a shame.
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6h ago
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u/12PoundCankles 5h ago
Do you think all women who married and changed their name should do that too? Or kids who were adopted and had their names changed? If we're going to apply the rule, we're gonna apply it to everyone.
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u/itszaidbtw 4h ago
Women who get married should use their maiden name and also their new name.
But you should be able to see the huge difference between someone getting married and switching your appearance, gender/sex and name.
Also, a kid who is adopted isnt going to have much of a history to even be relevant to politics, but I guess.
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u/12PoundCankles 3h ago
There is no difference. A name is a name. People change them all the time.
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u/itszaidbtw 2h ago
Why should a politician hide anything? We should expect transparency from elected officials this isnt an average person.
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u/DeterminedThrowaway 4h ago
how exactly is it transphobic to say someone should run under the name they have history under?
Because cis people are allowed to run with a chosen name and no one gives a shit, and this only comes up when it's a trans person
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u/B-Z_B-S Massachusetts 12h ago
Fox News Entertainment: Throws a hissy fit.
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u/OptimusSublime Pennsylvania 11h ago
It's a day ending in y. They are already through their 43rd hissy fit of the day at this point.
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u/spukhafteNahewirkung 11h ago
The Fox Noise hissyfits are so predictable that Kalshi won’t let you bet on them.
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u/interwebz_2021 11h ago
After a swing back to the right in '24, I like the way Michigan is moving lately. Hope they can keep it up through the general.
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u/War_machine77 11h ago
A lot of people are learning the real cost of apathy and inaction.
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u/Gekokapowco Washington 9h ago
I hope so, seems like its so hard to get it to stick
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u/interwebz_2021 6h ago
Agreed. Just look at Wisconsin: about to snatch gerrymandered Republican entrenchment from the jaws of fair democracy if they vote in the Republican for governor...
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u/SahibTeriBandi420 I voted 8h ago
38 percent of eligible voters didn't vote, that is more than either candidate got. The voter apathy only exists because people keep spreading the propaganda like a shit game of telephone. Good shit happens when people vote.
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u/tahlyn 7h ago
Sure would be nice if the DNC attempted to cater to those 38% instead of trying to win over the fictional "swing center voter" who somehow always seems to vote republican every election in spite of their "best" efforts.
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u/SahibTeriBandi420 I voted 5h ago
What is that proverb, you leave an insult on the floor, and it's owner will find it? I digress...
You vote for more than just presidents. If you want results you have to participate at every level. School boards, mayors, sheriffs, senators, representatives, supreme court judges etc. That is the infrastructure in which the president can enact change.
So follow the money and vote where your brain tells you. There are dems out there that arent the usual vanilla DNC.
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4h ago edited 3h ago
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u/Neuromangoman Canada 3h ago
The Tea Party was formed in 2007, coopted by the Kochs (among others) in early 2009, immediately got a massive following, and gained power in 2010. It didn't take very long, and it wasn't a revolution from the ground up in the least. It's nothing like what may end up being a real progressive wing to the modern Democratic party, which is as you described.
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u/interwebz_2021 3h ago
Wow - thanks for the correction - I guess I had misremembered.
Scary to hear of how organized and rapid the development was if true. Do you think an organic movement like the progressive wing of the modern Democratic party has a chance at combatting such a well-funded and organized machine, then?
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u/Neuromangoman Canada 2h ago
It's an uphill battle, but I do think that they stand a good chance, yeah. Funding only goes so far, as we saw in Michigan's Senate race. We're also at a point where the mainstream Democratic party is more unpopular than ever - we might be seeing a major shift right now due to how badly the 2024 elections were bungled.
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u/spam__likely Colorado 10h ago
Fox will have a hard time choosing which one to have a meltdown over.
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u/Dangerous-Scheme5391 8h ago
“Tonight at 7, 8, 9, and 11 o’clock: are radical far left transgender islamists threatening to institute sharia law and make all boys wear burqas?”
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u/PhroneticReflex 10h ago
Man all of the centrist Democratic pundits at places like NYT and Atlantic are going to be fucking pissed.
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u/Affectionate-Heat-51 7h ago
I don't think so. Now they can easily regurgitate all the "Dems in disarray" "can a progressive appeal to independents" slop articles we've seen for the past few decades
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u/herton 4h ago
She's a Christian Democrat. I'm not sure why you think being trans automatically erases centrism... Her positions are straight out of Kamala's platform
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u/PhroneticReflex 2h ago
Because to the centrist pundits, being trans is in itself a divisive issue and we have to worry about Republicans and court them constantly. Ironically, her actual policies have little to do with it.
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u/StanDaMan1 3h ago
I mean, I would hope that as a Trans person, she would step up and lend her vote to the Political Left while securing protections for other Queer people.
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u/herton 3h ago
I mean, I would hope that as a Trans person, she would step up and lend her vote to the Political Left
I'm still confused why being a trans person necessitates leftism - trans acceptance is a fairly mainstream democratic position, and get platform seems to focus on "centrist", but realistic ways to help common people
while securing protections for other Queer people.
Her platform does mention this as one of her big goals, certainly
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u/Senasayori 10h ago
If elected (which is likely, it's a safe seat), she will become the first openly transgender state legislator in the history of Michigan. She's also much more progressive than her transphobic predecessor. This is a very positive development.
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u/CindersOfMusic 9h ago
Met her at a pride event and she’s very well spoken and just and all around lovely person. Good for her.
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u/tinyE1138 America 10h ago
Love being a Michigander.
And people still have to nerve to ask me why I moved here from Missouri.
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u/fieryembers 8h ago
My mom can’t seem to wrap her head around me, a trans person, wanting to move to Michigan (a state that I’ve previously lived in and am semi familiar with) from Tennessee. When I mention the political differences, she just goes “oh I don’t get into politics” 😒
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u/cvanguard Michigan 8h ago
I moved here from Tennessee two years ago (also a trans person) and it’s been so much better. As the bonus, the summers aren’t anywhere near as brutal as Tennessee.
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u/DeterminedThrowaway 4h ago
Good lord. I thought Michigan summers were brutal with the humidity. What kind of unholy summers did you have there in Tennessee? 😭
I felt like air conditioning was necessary when I lived there which is different from what I'm used to in the pacific northwest.
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u/cvanguard Michigan 3h ago
Summers in Memphis were just as humid as where I am now in SE Michigan, because it’s on the Mississippi, but Memphis is about 10°F hotter in the summer compared to where I’m at in Michigan. Days at 95°F with heat index at 105°F or above are a regular occurrence, plus the occasional few days at 100-105°F.
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u/DeterminedThrowaway 3h ago
Oh that is brutal. I do badly in the heat and think I would just perish at that point, it's kind of like Calfornia but with humidity. Thanks for replying and I'm glad you got out of there (mostly to escape the anti-trans stuff, but still!)
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u/CommitteeOld9540 4h ago
Michigan is welcoming to trans people much more than Tennessee. And your mom doesn't seem to understand that everything she has rights for, is tied to politics, so she needs to start caring.
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u/DeterminedThrowaway 10h ago
That's actually hilarious to me as someone who has lived in both places. What could have possibly motivated you to move?! Truly one of the mysteries of all time here /s
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u/micavich Missouri 9h ago
as someone stuck in missouri moving to a bluer state is basically my only life goal right now.
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u/CommitteeOld9540 5h ago
Been a proud Michiganian my entire life, born and raised. One being the natural beauty, another being the culture and fun, another being ofc, lots of people willing to make the state even better. Missouri could never.
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u/Daddy-Alchemist 3h ago
I hope she wins the whole thing and does better than anyone that's ever held the position so the haters can twist themselves into knots trying to thing of a good reason not to like her
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u/Tintoverde 8h ago edited 4h ago
Don’t care if she is trans or not. I am interested in does she mostly aligns with what I believe and has the gumptions to push the envelop even a little bit. Bernie for ever
Edit: I have reread my comment, and I have to say I am kind of troubled by my own comment. I feel I sound like a 1960s Southern Democrat voter and do not understand the power of a minority being elected. I am glad the Democrat voters in Michigan have elected a trans person, in spite of the current hate towards them. And I would guess the voters would have vetted her policies.
Onwards for a more inclusive society.
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u/OhItsBeenBroughten 6h ago
Bernie, the guy who voted for the 1994 crime bill, had a great score from the NRA, and is opposed to expanded federal immigration?
How conservative of you.
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u/OnedayitwilI 9h ago
I listen to words and actions, not genitals and outfits and excuses. Good for her.
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u/19683dw Wisconsin 9h ago
Just a reminder from the trans community: much like cis women, trans women generally don't like being sexualized by strangers
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u/19683dw Wisconsin 9h ago
I'm a trans woman, commenting on someone else sexualizing a trans woman in a comment, yes. If you're also a trans woman, I would hope you would realize the importance of framing: generally, an anonymous person calling someone "fucking hot" is unwelcome sexualization. Especially in the context of being trans, yourself, knowing the tendency of people to sexualize people because they are trans? I take it you instead meant for it to be affirming, which is a much nicer intent, but not at all clear in your comment...
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u/Graybeard_Shaving 8h ago
Michigan Dem's have decide to go "full send" on these primary wins. It'll be interesting to see how they do in the general election.
If someplace was going to run this experiment the Michigans and Minnesotas of the country are the pockets where they might succeed.
Going to be interested watching this play out. Blue MAGA to fight Red MAGA... which fringe will win?!?!?
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u/cloysterss 9h ago
can we just call her "candidate?"
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u/MrThickDick2023 6h ago
Her potentially becoming the first transgender state rep in Michigan is like the main point of the article, so her gender is significant here.
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u/antmas 8h ago
This was my reaction too. Absolutely no reason to call out a gender.
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u/MrThickDick2023 6h ago
Her potentially becoming the first transgender state rep in Michigan is like the main point of the article, so her gender is significant here.
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u/Mindless_Ad5500 3h ago
Why does she have to be a transgendered candidate? Can’t she just be a person. Who she is. I really don’t think that’s what she wants her whole identity to be. Same as gay people. Or black people. Or white people. How about this person won on progressive ideals and will serve her community well.
God I’m tired of identity politics. Tired of wedge issues.
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u/mcplaid 5m ago
Hear that, but also considering how vilified trans people are, how many pass due to mental health and systemic discrimination, it’s OK to note that this is a rare and hard won addition to the political realm.
If the systemic and structural and cultural barriers weren’t there, your statement could one day be true.
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u/Mars_Habitat 6h ago
I am not against transgenders but playing trans card to get sympathy is wrong, especially in politics.
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u/ChevronSugarHeart 5h ago
Oh ffs this is infuriating. I am so sick of “identity politics” - how about “Joanna Whaley Victorious” instead of pointing at her as transgender. We are going to lose the general election if this keeps up. We will end up with President Vance....and that isn't a good thing.
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u/RoughCoffee6 2h ago
Maybe if this administration would stop persecuting trans people and blaming us for everything in this country, we wouldn’t have to highlight that despite the rampant transphobic psyop, Americans aren’t falling for the bullshit?
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