As the AIDS crisis taught us, there's a significant portion of American society that believes health crises are only crises when they begin to significantly affect cisgender heterosexuals.
Phyllis Schlafly Eagles organization president and poster child for mediocrity Ed Martin reminded us of that when he appeared on a radio show for the far-right Breitbart News Tonight (the term "news" is doing a LOT of work here).
For those unfamiliar with Martin, he's the protege of infamous bigot Phyllis Schlafly. Schlafly gained notoriety for her women belong barefoot and pregnant mantra and her activism against the Equal Rights Amendment, LGBTQ equality and racial equality.
Martin didn't stray far from his roots.
With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down schools, churches, restaurants, bars and other businesses across the country, numerous bipartisan politicians are calling for some form of financial aid to keep the lives of those affected as uninterrupted as possible.
Even some Republicans are proposing to send checks directly to Americans in order to offset the financial burden of sudden unemployment or underemployment.
Martin wasn't in favor of that:
"Here's what I told somebody today: If the answer is, 'We'll send you $1,000 because times are tough,' every Democrat in America will tell you times are tough for every hyphenated American. We'll have: 'Transgenders need $1,000 a month because it's tough.'"
If you have some I.Q. points to spare, you can listen to the recording below.
There's a lot to unpack here.
First off, "transgender" is an adjective, not a noun.
There is such a thing as transgender people and historical records show there always has been. But there is no such thing as "transgenders," despite the constant attempts of people like Martin and his ilk to erase their humanity.
Second of all:
You can let your imagination do the work of just whom you think Martin is okay with the government aiding, if it is not any "hyphenated Americans" and "transgenders."
People on Twitter could certainly read between the lines.
Maybe we should give Ed Martin a thousand dollars to never go on a radio show again. Or to just go away.
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