How do we provide a face-saving way back to reality for the politicians / public figures who are currently transactivism's minions?

There has to be a golden bridge in Sun Tzu terms otherwise people will fight to the death when there's no viable escape route.

A different take on why people need golden bridges from an anti-vaxxer perspective and using what is known about perpetrating cons/fraud:

Goffman observed that all “marks” eventually come to understand that they have been defrauded. But strangely, they almost never complain or report the crime to the authorities. Why? Because, Goffman argues, admitting that you have been conned is so deeply shameful that “marks” experience it as a kind of social death – the painful end of one of the many social roles we all play.
…
Within those groups, we can pinpoint influential members who may be turning their backs on Covid denialism, and encourage them in their journey. We can message them offering support, particularly if our reference groups overlap – whether that means sharing the same home town, or practising the same faith. The more shared social space, the better. We might offer to back them up if they get trolled for expressing misgivings about Covid denialism. Or we could let them know that we would admire them for telling the truth.

Those people may not have a television audience of millions, but they nonetheless have the potential to act as “coolers” for those in their reference groups – both online and off. The higher their status within the groups, the more influence they will have in reconciling their fellow travellers to the reality of the pandemic, perhaps enabling them to rejoin society, or at least preventing them from endangering the rest of us.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/09/convince-anti-vaxxers

I've no idea how the above is possible if SM platforms keep banning some people because this reduces interaction. And, much as I think the ability to block and mute is much needed (especially by women) it does facilitate being in a bubble - which is why those crossover coolers are so necessary.

NB: I'm a relentless pessimist about the power of sunlight as it means nothing to people when they're in the death grip of consistency and will embrace any level of gaslighting or denial to assure their own cognitive self-soothing.

I am hoping that one or two will be brave enough to simply say "I got it wrong, I was trying to do a pressured job where time constraints led me to take as fact the opinions presented to me by lobbyists."

Think of all the people that would love and praise them!

Then more will come out in support.

I really think this is possible.