Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) Photo: YouTube screenshot
Saddled with a felon for their presidential nominee and with no platform to run on other than Donald Trump’s dementia-tinged ramblings, Republicans are reaching back 2o years for their tried-and-true campaign strategy: when in doubt, attack the LGBTQ+ community.
Back in 2004, it was an assault on the idea of marriage equality. This year, it’s a heavily financed ad blitz against trans rights. From attacks on trans student-athletes to efforts to restrict gender-affirming health care, Republicans have decided that exploiting the culture war playbook is their best chance to win voters over.
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Unfortunately, Democrats often assume a defensive crouch and grant Republicans the field before the argument even starts. That was on display last week, when both Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and would-be Senator Colin Allred of Texas responded by agreeing with attacks on trans athletes.
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Brown is being pilloried in ads funded by a GOP PAC that claim Brown “voted multiple times to allow transgender biological males in women’s sports” and “supported allowing minor children to receive sex change surgeries.” Brown responded with his own ad, not in support of trans rights, but instead noting the state already bans trans girls from competing. The ad even echoed the offensive line about “biological males in sports.”
As a congressman, Allred has a record of support for LGBTQ+ rights, including voting against the offensive “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023.” That bill was an example of the kind of over-the-top posturing that makes voters despise Congress for not addressing real issues.
But that’s not what Allred said. Moreover, both he and Brown recycled the GOP talking point that trans students are actually boys in disguise, language that not only perpetuates lies about trans athletes but puts them at risk for violence.
When Democrats come under attack for being too liberal, their immediate response is to fold. When Republicans come under attack for being too conservative, their immediate response is to double down.
Why can’t the Democrats learn from the Republicans on this one point? The attack on trans rights is an opening to go after the GOP for extending their efforts to control every part of citizens’ lives. The GOP wants to tell women what do with their bodies, but it doesn’t stop there. They want to tell parents what to do with their kids’ bodies. It’s as if the GOP wants to be in every exam room – which, in fact, they do.
In schools, do you want a senator telling you who gets to play on the high school soccer team? Because it doesn’t stop there. Republicans will tell you what your child can read. They will dictate what teachers can teach. Given the chance, they would probably want to decide who gets to play the glockenspiel in the school band.
Even if you don’t want to directly defend trans rights for fear of offending a more conservative electorate, there are plenty of ways to turn the argument around and make it about the GOP playing Big Brother. It would be nice if Democrats would lose the defensive crouch and instead go on the offense whenever someone tries to tar them as too friendly with the LGBTQ+ community.
Candidates can’t let attacks go unanswered, of course. But there are ways of doing so that don’t betray some basic principles. One of them isn’t to cede ground to your opponent. The other is to do your best to protect your supporters. That isn’t always easy. But at least you have to try. Last week, it didn’t look like they were trying all that hard.
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