Powerful argument about the loss of status. As a gay man and longtime LGBTQ activist, I feel that kind of political othering in my bones.

I understand instinctively that populists are appealing to a swath of American public who want me and people like me to disappear — so that they can hold on to status for themselves.

It’s hard to counter a phenomenon like that. It’s so deeply emotional that reason and facts can’t make much impact.

I think a lot of leaders in activist movements understand this quite thoroughly. Most activism today revolves around storytelling, which can itself deal in powerful emotion.

The echo chamber tends to make this a challenge, of course. People have to hear the stories to be moved by them.