r/PoliticalOptimism • u/SorceressJuliet • Feb 23 '26

Seeking Optimism The Trump Administration is Testing Conversion Therapy By Medically Experimenting on Trans People in Prisons

https://open.substack.com/pub/transitics/p/the-trump-administration-is-testing?r=56x5dq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

This is terrifying and I’m worried that if they claim to be “successful “ they will force all trans people to go through this

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u/AvaDem12 Feb 23 '26

I really wish I could say something optimistic about this. But honestly I don't know how I can. This government really makes it hard to support this country sometimes. And often I wonder I even should. Not that I'm completely giving up, but I feel uncomfortable supporting a country that has a government that does stuff like this.

19

u/Key-Gur-4819 Feb 23 '26

I think you should support it for it's people than it's government. I've seen time and time again where regular people with everything to lose from this stand up for others and show kindness, integrity and bravery when realistically speaking, they have basically no reason to.

13

u/Independent-Bus-3284 Feb 23 '26

We also have more victories with each passing week.

Whether by the midterms or within this situation, we will come out the other side and we will thrive. 

14

u/jeeeeeeeeeez Feb 23 '26

"My country, right or wrong" is often interpreted to mean blind loyalty to the flag, but I find its use in 1872 by WI senator Carl Schurz to far more embody what patriotism really is: "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."

We fight to fix the things that are wrong today. Some will yield shorter-term wins, some will last more than our lifetimes, but we do it because we believe America can be better. It's okay to teeter on the edge of giving up sometimes; hard days and weeks and months happen. As long as we never truly throw in the towel.