Marcy Kaptur For Congress

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In recent weeks, controversy has been roiling the Democratic Party over how to handle Democrats who have taken an anti-transgender turn. Some have tried to use weak and wishy-washy language toward transgender people, like James Talarico in Texas, who said he opposes transgender girls competing in girls' sports "if it endangers safety or fairness." Others have taken harder-line stances, like Josh Turek, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa, who announced that he does not believe "biological males" should play women's sports and whose campaign said he opposes "taxpayer-funded sex changes." Today, however, brought what may be the most extreme anti-trans statement by a Democrat running for Congress in recent memory. Marcy Kaptur has released an ad announcing her support for anti-trans sports and school policies and casting transgender existence as an "ideology."

"My opponent won't talk about all that. He'd rather lie about my record. Here's the truth. I voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of our schools, because parents know what's best for their kids. And boys should not play in girls' sports. Don't let them change the subject. I'm Marcy Kaptur, and I approve this message because I'm focused on making your life more affordable," says the ad, released today.

See the full ad here:

Marcy Kaptur is running for reelection in Ohio's 9th Congressional District, covering Toledo and Northwest Ohio. At 80 years old, she is the longest-serving woman in congressional history, having been in Congress since 1983. She now becomes the Democrat with the most vehemently anti-transgender advertisement in a year in which a small but significant number of statewide and congressional Democratic candidates are capitulating on transgender issues, and, to EITM's knowledge, is the first major Democratic candidate to use the term "transgender ideology," a term popularized by Republicans and the anti-trans movement to cast a transgender person's identity as an extreme belief system rather than a sincere statement of fact.

EITM first alerted readers to Kaptur's anti-trans turn back in May. On May 20, the U.S. House passed H.R. 2616, the "Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act," by a vote of 217-198. Eight House Democrats voted for it. Though it has not passed the Senate, if a bill like it ever did, it would hand the Trump administration enormous leverage to strip funding from any school that let transgender students use the bathroom matching their gender or be called by their chosen name and pronouns. The bill specifically states that schools would lose funding for "teach[ing] or advanc[ing] concepts related to gender ideology." At its most basic level, even acknowledging that transgender people exist could be considered "advancing concepts." It was one of the most extreme anti-transgender bills any significant number of Democrats have ever voted for, though importantly, the vast majority of Democrats opposed it.

Kaptur's move comes as other Democrats have also taken harmful stances toward transgender people during this election. Earlier this month, Turek announced opposition to "taxpayer-funded sex changes" through his campaign, which would presumably include Medicare and Medicaid. Ohio's Democratic nominee for governor, Amy Acton, called transgender girls "boys" and announced her support for sports bans. Meanwhile, Iowa's Democratic nominee for governor, Rob Sand, was confronted at a rally over his own remarks. Now Kaptur takes the lead as the Democrat with the most hateful framing toward transgender people.

As these races continue, these anti-transgender stances have not spared any of these Democrats from further anti-trans advertisements. Elon Musk announced an ad blitz of up to $100 million, with most of the ads targeting transgender people, and the candidates it targets include some of the very same Democrats releasing anti-trans ads. Transgender constituents in this district are now stuck between a rock and a hard place, left wondering what the point of their vote is if both candidates view them as disposable and subhuman.

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