Another Democrat bends on trans rights in new ad responding to GOP attacks

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has become the second Democratic candidate this week to release an ad responding to the GOP’s transphobic attacks – an ominous turn for trans advocates who worry Democrats may be starting to throw trans rights under the bus.

Brown’s ad is a response to a smear campaign from the Ohio Republican PAC Senate Leadership Fund, which has spent millions of dollars on ads attacking trans people. One ad says Brown “voted multiple times to allow transgender biological males in women’s sports” and “supported allowing minor children to receive sex change surgeries.”

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“I would rather have a fighting chance with her than have no chance at all with Trump.”

Brown’s response ad plays clips from the attacks and calls them “a complete lie.” But instead of proceeding to express support for trans rights, he reminds voters that Ohio’s state lawmakers had already banned trans girls from sports. He then expressed agreement with the state’s anti-trans Gov. Mike DeWine (R) that the issue of trans women in sports should be left to individual sports leagues and associations rather than the government.

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The ad ends with a clip from Ohio news station WKYC verifying that Brown did not vote “to let transgender biological men participate in women’s sports.”

Trans activist and journalist Erin Reed said the language Brown perpetuates in the ad “reinforces the narrative that transgender women are ‘biological men’ and that his assertion about the Ohio state law “suggests a degree of distancing from transgender athletes.”

She said that the statement regarding sports leagues “has been better received and reflects the approach taken by most states in recent years.”

Earlier this week, Senate candidate and U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) became the first federal-level Democratic candidate ever to release a TV ad responding to Republican transphobic attacks.

“I don’t want boys playing girls’ sports,” Allred said in the ad, responding to several aired on behalf of his Republican opponent for the Senate, anti-LGBTQ+ Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Trans advocates have insinuated that Allred’s ad is transphobic and needless, seeing as most American voters aren’t concerned about transgender athletes. Now that Brown has also released an ad, advocates are worried that the strength of the GOP’s anti-trans campaign is causing Democrats to bend.

“I truly believe Sherrod Brown is a staunch ally to our community,” one Ohio advocate who wished to remain anonymous told Reed. “The fact that he’s even slightly rolling on this should be a wake-up call for everyone concerned about the strength of attacks on trans people. I’m also really, really scared about how the effectiveness—or perceived effectiveness—of this will impact down-ballot and future races.”

It may also be more beneficial for Democrats to simply go on ignoring the attacks. New polling indicates that most voters aren’t worried about gender-affirming care and are less likely to support transphobic political candidates.

Recent Human Rights Campaign polling shows that only 5% of voters say they’re concerned about gender-affirming care — comparatively, 52% are more concerned about inflation raising the cost of living. Additionally, 61% said they won’t support candidates who support banning gender-affirming care — including 41% of Republicans.

The polling also found that 70% of voters feel anti-LGBTQ+ bills have gone too far and that politicians have targeted trans people to divide Americans and “maintain their political power.”

Nevertheless, the ads from Brown and Allred indicate the anti-trans attacks from the GOP may be starting to fracture the Democratic party’s attitude toward trans rights.

“The future of transgender protections may rest on a Democratic Senate’s ability to confirm judicial appointments under a Harris administration,” Reed noted, “But perhaps the greatest threat is the potential for fracture within the Democratic Party itself.”

“If Democrats begin to compromise on transgender rights… the damage could be irreversible,” she warned. “The only way to protect transgender rights for the long term is through unwavering Democratic solidarity—because once the line is crossed, there may be no turning back.”

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