Harper Steele Doesn’t ‘Give a F—‘ About Politicians and Pundits Blaming Kamala Harris Loss on Democrats’ Support of Transgender Rights: ‘We’re Not Here to Be the Sacrifice’
As political pundits spent the hours and days after the election dissecting why they thought Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris so badly at the ballot box, some blamed the Democratic Party’s so-called “wokeness,” particularly its support of transgender rights, for the loss.
“The Democrats have to stop pandering to the far left,” New York Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi told The New York Times. “I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in girls’ sports. … Democrats aren’t saying that, and they should be.”
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MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough also blasted the left for embracing trans rights because it was too scared of offending “some small subset of their base.”
Harper Steele, whose transition and friendship with Will Ferrell was chronicled in the recent Netflix documentary “Will & Harper,” is having none of that. “I don’t give a fuck about those people,” she says. “Trans people are not the canary in the cave. You know what I mean? We’re not here to be the sacrifice that we’re going to make so the rest of us can live. That’s fucked up…I can make compromises, but trans people are not a compromise.”
“Will & Harper” followed Steele and Ferrell on a road trip they took from New York City to Los Angeles. Steele had made the journey many times before, but the movie captures her first time crossing the country after her transition.
She insists she’s not worried about doing the same post-election. “I’m not scared at all,” she says. “I’d go across by myself right now. There are bad actors, but I’m pretty good at noticing bad actors. I’m sure it’s more dangerous today than it was three months ago and two years ago or whatever, but I’m not afraid to go across my country. It’s still my country. They’re not taking that away from me.
I caught up with Steele on Friday over Zoom from her home in New York state. She was getting ready to fly to San Francisco to join “Will & Harper” director Josh Greenbaum at a Saturday screening and Q&A for the film. On Sunday, she and Ferrell will be honored in Los Angeles at The ACLU Foundation of Southern California’s annual Bills of Rights Awards.
The following Q&A has been edited and condensed.
How are you doing?
I was a little numb day one, and then day two I became depressed. But I don’t live in depression for very long because I try to be funny all the time. So, I’m pulling myself out.
What did you do on election night?
If it’s a big soccer game or an election night, I’m going to hide. I was afraid. I actually was with a bunch of people who reminded me of where I was the first time Donald Trump was elected, who were reading me all these polls that were very positive and projecting positive results, and by positive, I mean Harris polls. But I just think people have amnesia. They forgot that these polls mean nothing, and they’re getting their news from liberal sources, so it’s just not accurate.
When you see that the Trump campaign spent so much money on anti-trans ads to get their base and undecided voters fired up, what goes through your mind? (According to AdImpact, the Republican Party spent nearly $215 million on anti-trans network TV ads.)
It’s horrifying…There are 531 bills I believe that are out there that are anti-LGBTQ bills being considered in state houses at this very moment. So trans people have never had it very good, and it’s tough for me to speak on these issues on some level because I’m in sort of a protected environment and I carry around a lot of privilege. But it’s horrifying. It is just absolutely horrifying. I think the two biggest issues in what they were targeting was healthcare and sports. Sports and trans youth were the overall hot button issues, and I’m a big proponent for trans youth healthcare, so this is very scary.
I spoke to Laverne Cox yesterday, and she wasn’t the first person who told me this, but trans folks are now stockpiling estrogen and testosterone if they can. Are you doing that for fear that it might not be available?
I literally thought about doing that yesterday and what that would mean. I’m not projecting a Dallas Buyers club for this stuff at some point, but it is scary to think that’s something that we would be doing. If I ran out of my estrogen, it would destroy me. These are literally life-saving drugs for me. It would be devastating.
What do you say to a trans kid who is trying to find themselves right now in this atmosphere?
I love you and I care about you. I think the messaging that they’re hearing, hopefully not from their families or their parents, but from their government, even before Trump, the message they’re hearing is, ‘we’re suspicious of you. We don’t totally care about you.’ And I want not just trans people, but people in this environment to know that they’re cared for and loved, but especially trans children. I don’t like the phrase that will get better. It applies to every kid really. But what I really want them to know is that one, that I care for you, and you’re loved, but also that your transness is something that cis people never understand and it’s special.
When I spoke to you and Will at the premiere, you both talked about how you insisted Netflix release the doc before the election with hopes of starting conversations. Ideally that conversation would turn to support of trans people.
I wanted the doc to come out because it was sitting there on the shelf, and I just wanted it out in the world. The march for LGBTQ rights has been a long march that I think requires a lot of action and activism. I want this to be part of that conversation specifically about trans people. I make the point that if I’m the only trans person they know, one, that’s incredibly sad, but two, it won’t be that way forever. It won’t be long before you know someone who’s trans and not because trans people are a trend or popping up in a trendy way. It’s because trans people hopefully are finding it easier to express themselves that way. But when you think about trans people, I hope the whole LGBTQ community understands that this is not stopping at trans. They rolled back Roe v. Wade; they’re going to roll back gay marriage. They’re going to start going back and people are going to be in closets again, and people are going to be hiding. We just have to put things out like “Will and Harper” and better things than that more and more.
Do you get scared because you’ve become more of a public figure that you will be targeted?
Yes. I think I’m reasonably scared. What happens in this environment, and we saw it the last time, was people feel emboldened now to act out. They stormed the Capitol, they brought guns to Black Lives Matters marches. It emboldened sort of the worst of the party, and I don’t think that Republicans are necessarily all this way, or I don’t think that necessarily middle America is all this way. I will remain hopeful that the middle of the country does not really care as much about trans people or queer people as the politicians and the press make us think they do, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t bad actors. They’re emboldened, they’ve won. They feel like there’s the kind of puffing out of the chest that’s going to happen.
Did you talk to Will after the election?
We talked on the phone yesterday briefly. A lot of people have called to ask me how I’m doing, which is sweet. But it’s my nature to remain hopeful for the queer community. One thing that I take some heart in is that the queer community, long before I came along, had been expert at setting up their own worlds and their own communities to help each other. And if that’s what it takes to get through these times, then I’m sure smarter people and more compassionate people than me will figure that out for us.
Do you see yourself, because of the political climate, becoming more of an activist?
I see myself becoming more of a political activist because I’m a trans woman who walks out my door. I write fart jokes and silly pieces of bad humor for comedy, and I want to continue to do that. But no, I definitely am a political creature now.
Come Inauguration Day, I think people are going go through another wave of fear and anger.
It just was shocking when I woke up the next day and saw that Republicans won all three branches [of government] and decisively. that’s the scary part. I do have a lot of anger towards RBG and Biden, for the arrogance of hanging on.
Is there going to be a sequel to “Will and Harper?” Maybe taking a road trip after the election, or would you be too scared to do that at that point?
The sequel is to continue the work. It’s not to do another documentary. It’s put a trans person who is positive and wonderful in a project I’m writing or whatever. I don’t do law. I don’t do politics. I do representation. That’s only a part of the puzzle, but that’s my part.
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