Key Congressional races and the race for the White House are even closer, with Republican campaigns, including former President Donald Trump’s team, spending 65 million on anti-LGBTQ, especially anti-trans, attack ads, according to polling data released this week. They are spending dollars to target their opponents. .
With just 20 days left until November 5th, Sean Meloy, vice president of political programming at the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, weighs in on how the Republican Party’s “sneaky” paid media strategy is impacting the vote. He spoke to the Washington Blade about this.
“This is going to be the most anti-LGBTQ thing.” [election] “In terms of presidential statements, probably since 2004,” Meloy said.
Many of the LGBTQ candidates his organization supports are currently battling attacks on their very identities. Among them is Tammy Baldwin, the incumbent Democratic senator from the key battleground state of Wisconsin. Meloy said she came out as a lesbian and made history in the House and then Senate races, but is now in “the fight of her life.” ”
Vice President Kamala Harris’ re-election is critical to maintaining a narrow majority in the Senate, as winning the White House would allow her to implement her policies.
Mr. Baldwin has maintained a narrow lead over Republican challenger Eric Hovde for most of the campaign, but an internal survey released over the weekend by the National Republican Senatorial Committee found that real estate and banking For the first time, an industry mogul has surpassed Mr. Baldwin. . Cook Political Report considers their race a toss-up.
“Tammy has done a great job fighting for all people in Wisconsin, whether they are farmers, workers, and of course LGBTQ voters,” Meloy said. “I don’t know how you can get a better senator than Tammy Baldwin, but I’m saying that just because she’s probably going to be our only senator, rightfully so. do not have” [out] LGBTQ voices in the U.S. Senate. ”
Baldwin is unfazed by anti-LGBTQ attacks
The senator has been the target of “hundreds of millions of dollars in attacks, including anti-LGBT and anti-trans attacks,” as well as ads that “talk about where she sleeps and who she sleeps with.” It has also become. Meloy’s messages are full of blatant homophobia and have been considered outrageous in electoral politics for decades.
“Competition has completely intensified,” Meloy said, adding that in response, Hovde’s campaign is “rolling out everything and the kitchen sink, including these anti-trans ads. [Baldwin] And her girlfriend. ”
“Even though she’s been attacked about her identity, she’s not running away from herself,” she said, pointing to the “amazing story” she shared on X in honor of National Coming Out Day on Friday. .
Can I tell you my coming out story? 🏳️🌈
The first time I came out was in college. At the time, I knew I was interested in public service, but I wasn’t sure if I would be faced with the serious choice of pursuing my dream field or living my true life openly. I was worried.
Observing other LGBTQ+ people… pic.twitter.com/6L4nmkdOde
— Tammy Baldwin (@tammybaldwin) October 11, 2024
“I think that’s exactly what people want from their representatives, what they want from their senators, what they want from their government,” Meloy said. “They want their government to look like the people they represent, and they want their government to look like the people they represent, just like people who won’t say anything because they have tens of millions of dollars in advertising attacking them. I hope it looks like this.”
Baldwin “achieved work, proved herself, built relationships, and contributed to the great representation of our community. That’s why so many of you are supporting her. I’m excited.”
Meloy said the next 20 days will be spent “in partnership with her campaign to ensure we have the funds we need to fight Hovde’s lies and malicious attacks.” He said it would be extremely important. He noted that recent calls for rapid action were organized to support Baldwin through “anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ advertising.”
Victory has “already raised over $300,000,” Meloy said, adding: [Baldwin is] Whether it’s that we’re the highest-raising candidate this year or that her 2024 campaign fundraising total is a record number, she’s definitely in the fight of her life. Body.”
Straight allies in close Senate race respond to anti-LGBTQ attacks
Texas Rep. Colin Allred is running to unseat anti-LGBTQ Sen. Ted Cruz, and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is fending off a challenge from Republican businessman Bernie Moreno. There are also Democratic senators who are competing in close races in the Senate. , has also been targeted by anti-LGBTQ ads.
The deceptive ads primarily focus on lawmakers’ support for allowing trans women and girls to compete on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
In response, Allred made the cut. commercial In it he says: I’m also a Christian. My faith has taught me that all children are children of God. So let me be clear. I don’t want boys playing girls’ sports or any of those stupid things that Ted Cruz is talking about. ”
Brown’s team also responded to the attack. advertisement In it, the senator denounces misinformation and makes clear his position that trans-athlete participation in competitive sports should be decided by individual leagues, not governments.
Meloy noted that Victory does not work with non-LGBTQ candidates, so there is limited insight into their campaigns, but Allred and Brown withdraw their support for transgender people. He emphasized that he has been criticized by some LGBTQ advocates for appearing to show his intentions. Both athletes have strong records of fighting to advance the rights and protections of their communities.
“I think we know where their hearts are in terms of non-discrimination beliefs,” Meloy said, adding that running against a candidate like Cruz means “a lot of false statements. This means that we must dispel “information and many lies.”
In situations like this, “sometimes nuance is not on our side,” he said, adding that he is “using this rhetoric” to weaponize LGBTQ lives and identities in hopes of winning in November. He added that Republican “bigots” must be defeated.
“And we, as a community, need to take strong action as a community to ensure we reciprocate the support we receive from LGBTQ voters. Specifically, the Equality Act, which codifies LGBTQ-inclusive anti-discrimination rules. “by passing “to the fullest,” and by codifying into law the protection of reproductive rights.
Anti-trans strategies will fail, but the most effective messages are about sports
Meloy referred to the Republican strategy of “demonizing our communities to score political points,” adding, “I think ultimately it’s going to turn out to not work.”
Echoing statements from other LGBTQ leaders like Human Rights Campaign President Kelly Robinson, Meloy said Republicans largely failed to capitalize on anti-LGBTQ/anti-trans attacks in last year’s and 2022 elections. .
He said the strategy “didn’t work for wins in battleground states, wins in battleground states, even conservative states.” “If these messages have little effect on independent voters, then who are they aimed at?” Meloy asked.
Trump and other Republican candidates are “starting to drain some of their base voters, and we need to keep shedding them in droves,” he said. So the campaign uses transphobic rhetoric to make its right-wing supporters “foam again” while also encouraging disaffected men who are less likely to vote and give anti-trans praise. We also want to reach out and get involved. A contrarian in the style of Elon Musk.
He said the Republican strategy of “exploiting transgender lives to get votes” while “lying along the way about transgender lives in order to do so” reeks of desperation, and at the same time is a threat to conservatives and He said it also hinders his efforts to reach out to independent LGBTQ voters. Republican campaigns have been trying to win over these voters in the first place.
At the same time, the New York Times said last week that “Republican strategists believe that focusing on transgender women and girls in sports will appeal to key voter groups where the party has garnered a ton of support in recent years: college and university students.” It is said to be particularly effective among educated suburbanites.” woman. “
The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board agreed, publishing an op-ed on Sunday titled “Transgender Sports Is the Sleeper Problem of 2024.”
“A Wisconsin ad claims that Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin ‘voted to allow biological males to participate in women’s sports,'” the authors write. When I raise this issue at election events, there is spontaneous applause.”
Meloy acknowledged that Republicans are likely to have more success on sports issues compared to other anti-trans messages, but it’s still “the best part of a bad narrative that hasn’t quite done the job on migration.” We have increased the number of people in the purple area to more than 50. ”
He pointed to anti-LGBTQ messages from Republicans during last year’s Virginia legislative elections, including attacks focused on the participation of trans athletes in competitive sports.
Despite this, Danica Rome ran for state senate, becoming the first openly transgender person elected to both chambers of the state legislature. Four Democratic colleagues who targeted support for the trans community also won their races. Their victory secured a Democratic majority for equality in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate.
Harris may discuss trans athlete issues with Joe Rogan
The vice president is reportedly considering a meeting with Joe Rogan, whose podcast has 17.3 million subscribers and is especially popular among young men.
Logan has repeatedly criticized trans athletes who participate in competitive sports. “Women’s sports are in big disarray,” he said last summer. “If you care about biological women at all, you should oppose it.”
“Kamala Harris has proven to be a very strong ally for LGBTQ people and transgender people,” Meloy said. “So if she chooses to appear on a podcast, I don’t think she’ll be afraid to tell the truth there.”
The Democratic candidate will be “going out there to show people that she is not who the right wing makes her out to be” with attacks on her record, history and identity.
Just as the Trump campaign and Republican supporters are lying about transgender people, they are also lying about Harris, Meloy said. “She came out and visibly said, ‘Hey, I’m here.’ This is what I actually want to do. Transgender people just live their lives. I think this conversation can go a long way in adjusting people’s mindset of, “Oh, this ad is saying one thing,” when that’s actually not true. ”
He added: “I’m very hopeful that these tactics and Trumpism will be repudiated and we can get back to the establishment. Right?” You can close this chapter. As Kamala Harris says, we need to close this chapter of history and get back to a healthy, solid debate based on what you think for people, not who you are. You can. And I think the work is being done to ensure that such a victory occurs. ”
The campaign, led by Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, epitomizes that positive, forward-thinking message, Meloy said. “So many Americans from all walks of life” resonate with “defending freedom and democracy and bringing an end to these last eight extremely difficult years.”
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
