Well, they’re saying the quiet part out loud. This week Keith Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, went on a conservative podcast and embraced the goal of outlawing all gender-affirming health care for everyone. Not just minors — everyone.

A reminder that the Heritage Foundation is the force behind Project 2025, the transformational playbook that Donald Trump disavowed when he was running for president but immediately began to implement upon taking office.

People like Roberts occupy the seats of power in the federal government. And the idea of banning gender-affirming care and kneecapping trans folk’s ability to live their lives is gradually taking hold in red states across the country. Roberts knows he can’t take such a radical step right now, but he wants to keep hammering away until trans people effectively lose the right to exist. He calls it “radical incrementalism,” and it’s happening all around us.

Meanwhile, here in exceptional little ol’ Vermont, a measure that would protect the rights of trans folk is apparently dying of neglect.

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