Following the  2015 Supreme Court decision in Obergefell, it was unclear how Republicans would respond - if there would be some significant backlash. It seemed that Republicans accepted the decision as the final word on gay marriage, and public opinion polling consistently showed high support amongst voters. And, that support was bleeding into other queer-related issues, notably trans issues. But, in about 2019, early 2020, Republicans started focusing on trans related issues – bathroom bills, who could play on sports teams, etc. Over the past couple of years this has intensified. This year alone, over 400 anti-queer bills have been introduced in statehouses across the country, and the lion’s share of them target trans folks and drag performers. In some ways, this is confounding, because by and large – public opinion of queer-related issues remains high. So, why are Republicans doing this? 

To help me understand this, I’m talking to Dr. Andrew Flores. He is an Assistant Professor of Government at American University and a Visiting Scholar at the Williams Institute at UCLA. He has published extensively on public opinion and the queer community. He also researches hate crimes and violence committed against the queer community. We talk about all of these things. 

And, after the interview I check in with friend the pod, Justin Hentges (you might remember him from a couple of prior episodes of Deep Dive). I’m checking in with him to, hopefully, remind me that the world is a wonderful place full of wonderful people. 

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Majestic Earth - Joystock