It's easy for me to judge living in anonymity in a progressive city with a supporting network around me (I'm trans).

More likely she was raised conservative, built a career and family around it, in a small southern town where maintaining that facade is the only way to be accepted, then realized "oh shit I'm trans" and panicked.

At that point, I can totally understand how difficult it would be to escape decades of baggage. Many trans ppl are reluctant to come out for precisely those reasons: career, family, lack of acceptance. The result is turmoil.

I view her more as a lost trans sibling who was born into a cruel world and should be mourned, while not excusing her poor choices of political affiliation. I'm sure it was a daily struggle trying to reconcile what conservatives were saying about people like her, with her own identity.

Not everyone is strong enough to fight this fight.