cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/54506028
cross-posted from: https://quokk.au/c/politics/p/1270828/iowa-dem-josh-turek-releases-anti-trans-ad-calling-for-a-federal-funding-ban-on-trans-care
On Saturday, Oct. 24, Josh Turek, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Iowa, released a new ad targeting transgender people—perhaps the worst anti-transgender ad of the entire election cycle to come from a Democrat. The ad begins with Turek talking about his disability and the importance of not discriminating, before immediately turning to adopt discriminatory policies toward transgender people. One such policy is a sports ban, a position sadly becoming increasingly common among high-profile Democrats in competitive races, and one that alone would have made this yet another newsworthy anti-trans ad. But Turek then goes further, advocating for a new policy: a proposal to ban federally funded gender-affirming care in the United States, one that would impact a substantial number of transgender people and make their care difficult to impossible to receive.
Imagine trans rights being the thing you chose to chicken out of in an attempt to get undecided voters.
Do you think there’s a bunch of people who won’t vote republican, but will vote dem if they’re just transphobic enough?
They see the fight for trans rights as “Not worth fighting”, and I worry they’re right, especially with polls showing public support for trans rights is dropping and women’s rights groups view trans women with suspicion.
Calling for a ban on federal funding for trans care isn’t “not fighting”.
This is the same shit we saw in 2023 when democrats campaigned on military spending and migrant caravans. You can choose to ignore random shit the republicans are running with, you can tell voters why its fucking stupid, but if you try to triangulate your position to be closer to the republican one, you make it look like the republicans were right all along.
This dipshit is literally campaigning for republicans at this point.