Becoming clear that the vulnerability of trans stuff in America is it doesn’t have state-level infrastructure: the last decade saw an upsurge on the not-actually-a-polity youth-biased Everywhere of the internet, and signing-on of national groups that honestly needed a purpose to still exist after gay marriage, but there’s no state-by-state stuff, and the legacy queer orgs coming onsides for structural reasons means the organizational commitment isn’t matched at the grassroots

Meanwhile since the ‘70s social conservative pressure organizations have drawn on church congregations, which beyond representing a particular sect or interpretation and thus ideology, exist in a particular geographic location and have connections and influence on that basis. And strong local networks help in national-level operations because social issue affiliation is heterogeneous and even if you’re not ready to fight at national level you can identify more friendly territory to focus on, develop, recruit from, and pioneer policy in