Do Trans People Have to be Liberal/Progressive?

If you swing on by the interwebz, there seems to be more surprise that Jenner is a conservative Republican than a trans woman. Because everyone knew about the trans part, right? Am I right? But a Republican? How can it be? Republicans hate the LGBT, especially the T! Except they all don’t. And there are plenty of Democrats who are not the most LGBT friendly people. And yes, most legislation that is anti-LGBT comes from the right, but it doesn’t mean that everyone on the right hates us. Not that they love us, mind you. But they don’t all hate us. As a matter of fact, many don’t care about us at all. More to the point, identity politics matter less to the moneyed right than money does. Many wealthy people tend to be conservative because they have a deep and abiding personal relationship with their money and possessions. The Republicans are much better at keeping rich people and their money together. LGBT issues (and race issues…and religious issues) are just red meat for the social conservatives who would rather vote against their own financial interests than see themselves aligned with people they fear and/or hate. At the high end, most people could give a damn who sleeps with who or what their gender ID is. Does it make sense for Jenner or other wealthy trans folk to be conservatives or Republicans? Of course it does. Is it surprising? It shouldn’t be. Money trumps most everything to many people, especially those who have had a rocky relationship with it and then find themselves in possession of a lot of it.