>[According to](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/08/us/politics/trump-republican-transgender-ads.html) the *New York Times*, Republicans have spent more than $60 million on anti-trans ads, which flood battleground states with misleading portrayals designed to make voters afraid. The ads feature images of transgender athletes and claims that [Democrats](http://advocate.com/democratic-party), particularly Vice President [Kamala Harris](http://advocate.com/kamala-harris), support taxpayer-funded access to gender-affirming health care for incarcerated people. Former President [Donald Trump’s](http://advocate.com/donald-trump) campaign has leaned heavily on these issues, [ending one of its most-aired ads](https://www.advocate.com/election/glaad-slams-transphobic-trump-ad) with the line, “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”

>The *New York Times* reports that Republicans are hoping that transphobia will unite their base and sway swing voters, particularly suburban women. The ads are crafted to stir fear about the so-called dangers of transgender women in sports, framing the issue as one of fairness and safety for young girls. In reality, transgender participation in sports is rare, and research continues to show that transgender inclusion does not pose any threat to others.

>According to a [study](https://watermark.silverchair.com/waselewski_2023_oi_221561_1675111572.53103.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAzYwggMyBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggMjMIIDHwIBADCCAxgGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMlxapFFxDFp_XN_uZAgEQgIIC6Y_wNn2h4_zIFJRusIx24ZVQiQAJ_Gl5ItS0oTTm3QKqR-vXKao7JO7lVEWBDZvXTnY64l3thf4llsH-L3NWDX3uNLPlUMfjOumG-2nNYhunLe7rE2Lt0Jc6mMUPNKxRLSanKqmzArCoJuqXTPs07r-oPtNRD5uqE-9TYLqs_ALjDGy0nO66UhtVB4ji_NWfe1ImWkCN8jmjvZcH3dXJ8f0vUxuKOqtDaeVuXPv2D7WiC7MsGTT-_KpzhEYuM8wcLBfzUrrfdPTVlLUC3Z8_ch0pfSk7vheXUYsLpl4n-9g0ESdkww06W-1pBeJaw3SgoBKwRyWHLmZfWd5d40YSH2O_aDsbuUKhjQdo4_hkntVIqnp34BiQV9_ZQsLdc4yD9VRSfUtm4zig4FPX5yPkxaMZj_2MGMm6F67UcgBDnoFPv9J33j7_jd00qPiKwDJIfNmGv19Mhly-f5bxY-6Bpbq1NvtknP2N8bNV2-Sjh-cekOJ4KVTmuGmgVATrYi8rTCqz822R4Rzi-ALUtrNX-dEdbmW_axpjKekprQ4m3Bf4tM2LM36esg92n3NQWhqHHRK7lYtzW5u7gE5XqwpOp7a19lrG3vj3sV-yTmhHkhek5gthXWgXMecOZHn84z93yeRbhRZff6fGJYvXAyEE2-MCG2Pmd6HLTgenQNB_m-K5_qaeEOIruf8e2-siHqKRSKHMBnWBT9482tuExk-D2mu4oia4cSETmDVNZTg2PpidnzbhaYomKK2YHrBHg4FpiYnD9J7vniQYnfWKsLTQmf62r1rjD_HJFulb3lvGhnLoRQpP3FkugbbOjEz8D34g1lGNP7ObRtVQPCN7LK2t2MYKMyfzYqd-VCz2lSi6b5FW1JyStOnoLKYiGOdMKQp1H4BhN6nF5LIGHGGfbP4vpIinzvE-2tMEWdUWN7sw_AepW1YK-PMGUHxAkteQanme8b5ibmvcNc8J_5aEPyAy6iJcNj5VjRnkqDE) published in *JAMA Network Open* in 2023, the number of transgender youth participating in competitive sports is quite low. In a survey of 905 youth aged 14 to 24, only 3 percent of respondents identified as transgender, and a majority had little to no personal experience with transgender inclusion in sports. The data further showed that despite the political furor, the actual number of trans athletes competing, especially in youth sports, is marginal. Of those surveyed, nearly half supported transgender athletes playing sports based on their gender identity, while 35 percent favored participation based on sex assigned at birth or suggested separate leagues.

>But facts are secondary to the GOP’s aim of capitalizing on discomfort with social change. Republicans are doubling down on this messaging in the hopes that it will have a broader appeal than it did in the 2022 midterms when similar attempts to weaponize transgender rights failed to bring the electoral victories they hoped for. This time, the stakes are higher, and the rhetoric even more divisive.

I just don't get it. Christian nationalists always play up this whole "Satanic panic" about everything, from video games to gay marriage to trans people.

  
Yet, for some reason, people seem to buy it. I don't even understand it. 

  
They've been doing this for years. 

  
Why are these Christian nationalists so "gripped" with fear of what they think trans people are like, when they never meet trans people on a regular basis? It doesn't make sense to me why so many on the Christian right live scared of ghosts.