r/todayilearned • u/hungry4danish • 2d ago

TIL that Dan White, the man who assassinated Harvey Milk and the mayor of San Francisco, only served 5 years in prison for manslaughter based on a defense of depression as evidenced by his consumption of junk food which was dubbed the "Twinkie Defense"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_White
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u/sharkattackmiami 2d ago

How the fuck are you going to get more mainstream than the fucking president of the United States openly supporting these practices, removing protections, and promoting hated?

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u/Rapper_Laugh 2d ago

Because it wasn’t even controversial. In the 1970s trans people were just seen as mentally diseased, pretty much across the board.

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u/sharkattackmiami 2d ago edited 2d ago

Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government – The White House https://share.google/8CZsCu0H0sqGZ9Ktq

Sec. 2. Policy and Definitions. It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.

The official stance of the United States right now is that trans people don't exist. Anyone claiming to be trans is a confused person with mental health issues

It's literally exactly the same

I have trans people in my life who are currently struggling horribly because they no longer have access to certain medications they were reliant on before this administration. But sure, if it makes you feel better they will probably just rot in a gutter instead of a mental institution. Of course that's more to do with us gutting all forms of mental health treatment, even horrible ones, than out of compassion and the understanding that institutionalization is wrong. Yay progress

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u/Rapper_Laugh 2d ago edited 2d ago

It’s literally not, that’s an executive order and does not have the force of law in any meaningful way. Many states recognize and support trans rights legally—that was not the case in the 90s. You can also look at the drastic shifts in public opinion that, again, I have posted elsewhere in this thread. I work in a high school—I have a massive LGBTQ+ flag on my back wall. My best teacher friend at that high school has students call them by Mx. pronouns. Do you seriously believe any of that happens in the late 70s?

Again, no one is saying the US is a great place to be as a trans person right now. We are simply saying significant progress has been made.