There is no doubt that the $225M investment paid off. But the mistake is assuming that it worked “because trans people exist.” It worked because Republicans are so skilled at instilling fear and resentment into vulnerable, uninformed voters. Woke liberals were lambasted and villainized too… but not because they exist, rather because of the scary, negative stigma R’s were able to attach to the words to describe them. Trans folk were intentionally and strategically dehumanized and scapegoated, Democratic politicians were declared guilty by association, and a lot of misinformed voters fell for it.