A catalyst for his second victory in 2024 was a $21 million GOP \u201canti-trans and anti-LGBTQ advertising campaign,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe White House has\u00a0denied the existence of trans identity,\u201d Nelson writes, \u201cand states have introduced a\u00a0deluge of legislation\u00a0that restricts trans people\u2019s rights and protections, from\u00a0access to healthcare to passports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interestingly, however, Nelson notes that unlike other topics, the public\u2019s views on transgender issues in large measure align with the president\u2019s.<\/p>\n
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U. Tampa<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Nelson (pictured) invokes the 17th-century \u201cmoral panic\u201d of the Salem witch trials, as well as last century\u2019s War on Drugs \u2014 examples which \u201cstoke[d] fear against a perceived threat to a society\u2019s values or well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moral panics, coined by sociologist\u00a0Stanley Cohen\u00a0in 1972, follow a similar pattern: a threat is defined, media exaggerates the threat, public concern increases, authorities respond with laws and policies, and society is transformed.<\/p>\n
Research on anti-trans moral panics illustrates their success in propelling\u00a0anti-trans lawmaking in the U.S.\u00a0and suggests they are often\u00a0initiated by people with power, who use their platforms to shape public discourse.<\/p>\n
Moral panics elicit a range of negative emotions, but disgust and paranoia are especially potent. Originally a response meant to protect us from disease and spoiled food,\u00a0disgust has evolved\u00a0to also express social inappropriateness. Disgust asserts that its object is inherently bad. Since\u00a0disgust is culturally dependent, it can also be used to\u00a0marginalize groups of people.<\/p>\n
Nelson further refers to the Trump administration\u2019s language on \u201cgender-affirming\u201d care (\u201cthe chemical and surgical mutilation of minors\u201d and \u201cchild mutilation programs\u201d) as \u201crevolting\u201d and that which \u201cmisleadingly [\u2026] incites shock, concern and disgust.\u201d<\/p>\n
She concludes in part that as a \u201crhetoric scholar,\u201d she believes Trump uses \u201callusions to religion and war \u2013 using words like \u2018desecrate\u2019 and \u2018victory,\u2019 respectively,\u201d to assert the country is in the midst of \u201ca battle between good and evil.\u201d<\/p>\n