Trump Won Big by Promising to “Save the Children.” But That Was Never the Real Goal.

On the inaugural day of Donald Trump's second term in office, the president’s long-promised assault on trans rights began without delay.

But curiously, it did not start with anything much related to “saving the children,” an issue that had been a major theme of his campaign.

Instead, as an opening volley, his administration went after government-issued IDs, something that affects virtually every trans adult in the U.S ..

Christian singer Anita Bryant , who recently died at age 84 , mounted the “Save Our Children ” campaign in 1977 .

It was a darkly brilliant strategy: The protections would not be restored for another 21 years .

It’s striking that the contemporary equivalent to the anti-gay moral panics of the 1970s and ’80s has once again focused on many of the same spaces.

The scope of Trump ’s anti-trans crusade is limitless.

The president has already banned trans people from serving in the U.S. armed forces (for a second time) and prohibited trans federal employees from using gender-congruent restrooms in the office.

Despite claims that the GOP is merely “protecting” children from best-practice medicine and competing in sports alongside their trans classmates.