Let me tell you a story about silence. Not the kind that heals, but the kind that cuts.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a letter to the Catholic Church—a theological appeal for the dignity of transgender people. Not rage. Not a protest. A prayerful appeal. The kind of letter you’d expect a church to welcome if it meant what it preaches about conscience, dignity, and the image of God.
Behind closed doors? I was told it was “beautiful.”
In public? Silence. Distance. Deflection.
That right there is the Outrage Machine in its purest form. A system that praises in private but stays quiet in public, because real compassion costs political capital. It’s the same machine I mapped in The Manufactured Outrage Machine: pretend to care, but only when nobody’s watching. When the spotlight turns on, weaponize silence and let “others” carry out the dirty work of shame, exile, and ridicule.
This isn’t theory. It’s documented, timestamped, inbox-to-inbox proof. And it shows how even “progressive” leaders fall back on the same compassion–deflection playbook when trans lives are on the line.
And here’s where it connects to the fight in Maine. The exploitation of a trans minor’s identity to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for political campaigns wasn’t an accident—it was the Machine doing what it always does: commodifying trauma, turning identity into outrage cash, and calling it “values.” That exploitation is exactly why we need the Eden Protection Act .
The Act does something historic:
- It stops politicians and PACs from using minors’ trauma or identity as fundraising bait.
- It forces transparency—where the money actually goes, who actually benefits.
- It gives families and individuals the right to fight back against narrative exploitation.
Because let’s be clear: what happened to Eden in Maine wasn’t just cruel. It was systemic. And unless we change the system, it’ll keep happening—whether it’s a grieving family, a bullied teen, or a trans child whose life becomes campaign cash fodder.
The Church’s silence, the PACs’ exploitation, the outrage machine—they’re all the same disease. Different masks. Same virus. And the Eden Protection Act is our first real vaccine.
I didn’t come this far to play nice with hypocrisy. I came to put it under a spotlight so bright the Machine can’t hide in its shadows anymore.
The receipts are here. The pattern is undeniable. And the bill is ready. Now the only question left is: who actually believes their own sermons about dignity and love enough to back it?
— Jerica Morningstar
