When Politicians Give Up on Reality
By Kalie Hargrove
As more anti-trans bills are being brought forth, we are faced with the reality that experts and facts have little to do with their creation. Rather, it’s social media influencers.
“For a time will come when they will not uphold healthy teaching, but they will pile teachers for themselves who are scratching their ears according to their own desires. And they truly will turn away from reality, and will turn to fiction.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4, translation my own; translation notes below)
Expertise was never the goal
When I was a kid, I loved learning about the way the US government worked. I believed that our politicians worked to make a better America and only the top experts in a field wrote the bills that became laws. However, growing up has shown me just how untrue that childhood belief was.
In fact, some of the laws being brought forward, especially those targeting trans youth and adults, are not being written by legal experts. Sometimes the people helping write and influence the bills are social media influencers.
Hiding in plain sight
One issue with recognizing when non-experts participate in the formation of a bill is that bills do not need to name everyone who participated in the bill. In the case of Georgia’s SB88, the full list of people who worked on the bill are not listed on the bill; only the senators are listed. Everyone else is included as “others.” However, in the initial hearing for the bill, Senator Summers (the main sponsor for the bill) brought two “experts” who helped him write the bill to speak on the details. One of those “experts” cited herfollower number on Instagram as credentials and made it known that her experience was through interacting with other angry parents on social media…
Kalie Hargrove (she/her)