Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson has a stark message for Democrats caving on trans rights: “You’re doing too much and getting too little.”
Robinson made the comment while speaking to The Advocate during a roundtable discussion with reporters on Monday. She added, “You don’t have to sacrifice any member of our community to win in these races, to have a message that resonates with voters.”
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The conversation comes at a time when several Democrats across the country have recorded ads in response to the GOP’s fear campaign against trans people, in which they assure voters they do not believe in things like “biological boys” competing in girls’ sports or in allowing minors to have gender-affirming surgery (which is very rare).
Since the 2024 presidential election, Democrats have struggled to figure out their messaging on trans rights. During that election cycle, Republicans invested about $215 million into airing anti-trans TV ads that repeated claims about Democrats wanting “boys to play girls’ sports” and supporting taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for inmates.
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Members of the party have since argued over how much these ads contributed to the president’s victory and the Republican Party’s overall performance.
The Human Rights Campaign argued at the time that the anti-trans ads were a waste of money because polls showed that only 4% of voters listed trans issues as among their primary concerns. Other polls showed that most Americans opposed anti-trans discrimination and political candidates.
And this election season, the anti-trans attack ads are still coming in full force.
Robinson shared that some Democratic candidates have told her their responses have been about trying to stop them. “The ads are not going to stop,” she countered. “This is not a well-intentioned or good-faith political debate that they’re trying to engage with you on. This is a scare tactic because they don’t have answers to the concerns of voters.”
But she doesn’t suggest ignoring the attacks either. “When your opposition is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a lie, you have to address it. That to me was the core failure of 2024: the lack of direct response.”
She says candidates should respond by clearly and succinctly stating their values and then focusing on the issues constituents are actually concerned about, since polls show trans issues aren’t one of them.
Robinson praised US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown in Ohio as an example of how to respond to anti-trans attacks the right way. Brown found himself in hot water in a past campaign over how he handled the vitriol, but he has clearly learned from that experience.
Instead of trying to defend or explain his views on trans rights, Brown released an ad last month slamming Republicans for focusing on trans people at all, when there are so many bigger challenges facing the state.
In an op-ed last month, Robinson similarly encouraged midterm candidates not to “take the bait” when it comes to anti-trans attacks.
“Don’t get played,” she added. “Turning on a vulnerable community is not a winning political strategy… It legitimizes their side and weakens ours. And it harms transgender people.”
“Midterm candidates: Do the right thing,” she concluded. “That’s how you win.”
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