When I was first reading, you might as well have been describing the political situation in the United States where I live. The culture wars here are incredibly toxic and incredibly partisan.

But we have not reached the point (yet) where the Democratic Party has abandoned or gone silent on queer issues the way Labour has in the UK. Part of the reason might be that our traditional two-party system has spawned a fierce tribalism, which has grown so intense that it almost seems like issues matter less than opposing the other party.

In other words, there's no way mainstream Democrats are going to go soft on LGBTQ issues as long as the Republicans are going hard on them.

However, we do worry that will change. Some strong voices on the left have been urging the Democratic Party to reevaluate vocal support for trans people. So far, that's not happening. But will the center hold?

We gaze across the Atlantic and worry.