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data-activy-map="le-byle-article-top">By <span class="byle-name"><a href=">Marc Caputo</a></span></div></sectn><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><p class="">Two leadg Republin Senate hopefuls Pennsylvania are savagg each other TV ads over who supported transgenr surgery more. In Missouri, another GOP ndidate for Senate surged when she cricized transgenr swimmer Lia Thomas a mercial. And Alabama, a charter school for transgenr kids has been voked ads as an issue the Republin primary for ernor. </p><p class="">Like never before, Republins primari across the untry have ma attackg transgenr rights central to their paid media mpaigns and stump speech — focg on issu of tn, genr transng and sports, acrdg to the ad trackg firm AdImpact.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow"></div><p class="">In all, 21 ndidat and polil mte have so far spent at least $4.5 ln on TV ads that have n var media markets of 16 stat, acrdg to AdImpact. The firm<strong> </strong>also found that Democratic ndidat spent nothg on TV advertisg to rebut the attacks. Two transgenr ally groups aired ads opposg laws Texas and Florida, and advot limed more of their paid media to relatively small Facebook buys. </p><p class="">The explosn of mpaign advertisg cis wh a <a href=">dramatic crease</a> legislatn limg LGBTQ rights — mostly regard to transgenr people, sports and medil treatments, known as genr-affirmg re, for youths<strong> </strong>— stat led by Republins, makg the issue a ont le the natn’s culture wars fought lol, state and feral electns this year and urts throughout the natn for years to e. </p><p class="">On Friday, <a href=" target="_blank">a feral judge blocked an Alabama law</a> banng transgenr children om receivg puberty blockers and hormon. The judge left place a ban on genr-affirmg surgeri for mors, which doctors have said aren't performed the state anyway. On the same day, the Texas Supreme Court <a href=">allowed</a> state officials to vtigate parents and doctors for potential child abe if they’re given the medil treatments or surgeri.</p><p class="">Fifteen stat began nsirg rtrictns on genr-affirmg re after the first such law was passed last year Arkansas, where the GOP-led Legislature overro Republin Gov. Asa Hutchson’s veto to enact . The law has been on hold for a year ever sce a feral judge blocked .</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signaled his tert banng trans children om receivg puberty blockers or unrgog surgery. Florida beme the eighth state last year to sign a ban on transgenr athlet petg girls and women’s sports sendary schools and llege. At least<a href=" target="_blank"> 15 stat so far</a> have a siar transgenr sports ban.</p><p class="">Republin nsultants say the GOP will ntue prsg the issue general electn ntts and state pals across the natn. The sports bans, which began wily surfacg 2021 followg an early Print Joe Bin <a href=" target="_blank">orr </a>ncerng genr inty or sexual orientatn protectns, generally garner majory support om Republins and pennts most public opn surveys, wh jt Democrats and the youngt voters opposed. </p><p class="">"Voters overall are nowhere near Democrats on this and the hard woke left. There’s a blogil difference between men and women," said Curt Anrson, a top nsultant for the Natnal Republin Senatorial Commtee, potg to <a href=" target="_blank">pollg </a>om his firm, OnMsage Inc. </p><p class="">“Once a while, you fd an issue that is your opponent’s Achill' heel, where they’re way over their skis," Anrson add. "Democrats are stuck on this, bee if they step out of le, they get smacked as transphobic.” </p><p class="">Rodrigo Heng-Lehten, executive director of the Natnal Center for Transgenr Equaly, acknowledged the challeng of negative public opn when to advotg for the rights of trans people — pecially athlet — and characterized the Republin onslght as an example of "anti-LGBT iologu who are takg advantage of people's naïveté [about transgenr people]<strong> </strong>as an opportuny to take sre them."</p><p class="">But, he predicted, lims on transgenr athlet and other civil rights will go the way of racial segregatn sports and bans on gay marriage.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“It go to show that thgs that are shockg — or maybe even seem unacceptable at first — really dissolve and turn out to be no big al the end,” he said.</p><p class="">Public opposn to transgenr rights vari by the <a href=" target="_blank">poll</a>, wh some showg <a href=" target="_blank">closer margs</a> and others <a href=" target="_blank">wir spls</a> <a href="http:// PBS News Hour-NPR" target="_blank">opn</a>. A PBS Newshour-NPR-Marist College <a href=" target="_blank">poll </a>last year found most voters opposed laws limg transgenr rights.</p><p class="">But Republins have paid ltle price public-opn pollg as they've limed transgenr rights, and they see few reasons to stop phg forward wh the bans, which ptured <a href=" target="_blank">headl </a> March<strong> </strong>when swimmer Lia Thomas of the Universy of Pennsylvania blew away petors to bee the first transgenr woman to pture an NCAA Divisn 1 tle.</p><p class="">Wh a week of Thomas’ w, Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a client of Anrson’s who is nng the GOP primary for Senate Missouri, beme the first Senate ndidate the natn to make the swimmer a mpaign issue <strong> </strong>a <a href=" target="_blank">statewi ad</a> that juxtaposed the athlete's w-loss rerds.</p><p class="">DeSantis promptly issued a <a href=" target="_blank">proclamatn </a>clarg Thomas’ opponent, Floridian Emma Weyant, the real wner.<strong> </strong></p><p class="">Robert Cahaly, a Republin pollster who’s ntral the Missouri race, told NBC News that his pollg dited Hartzler ially surged to <a href=" target="_blank">top ntentn</a> the crowd primary bee of the ad but has now slipped to <a href=" target="_blank">third</a>.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">Stephen Webber, polil director of the AFL-CIO Missouri, said he unrstands why Democrats may be reticent to speak out agast Republins on the issu: The pollg isn’t on their si, and 's ght wh rhetoril landm.</p><p class="">“I thk everybody’s nervo about the right way to talk about . It’s a sensive issue. And when you’re beg supportive, you don’t want to e the wrong word and set off a trip wire,” Webber said. “So some people have termed that the easit thg to do is not talk about .”</p><p class="">That relative<strong> </strong>silence — both paid media and public disurse — ncerns Chase Strang, puty director for transgenr jtice wh the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project.</p><p class="">“I am worried that we’re not rpondg aggrsively enough. As someone who’s an anizer and a longtime advote, ’s not a polil rponse need necsarily. It’s not necsarily the Democrats firg back,” Strang said. “It’s a massive cultural rponse, which is what I’m tryg to do: to mobilize people to say, and as women athlet are out here now sayg, ‘This isn’t about me. Don’t e my name for this.’”</p><p class="">To that end, the ACLU partnered a <a href=">social media mpaign</a> wh women’s soccer legend Megan Rapoe and her partner, profsnal basketball player Sue Bird.</p><p class="">On Facebook, however, pro-transgenr rights groups outspent opponents by 84-16 percent om January through April, acrdg to the Democratic ad-trackg firm Bully Pulp Interactive, which intified nearly $231,000 spendg on the platform over the issue.  </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend" data-ttid="remend-wrapper"></div><p class="">The firm found that the ACLU and the Human Rights Campaign anized opposn to the mov by Texas and Florida, built lists of followers and fundraised. One of the biggt spenrs: Facebook self, which dropped $47,500 to celebrate visibily for trans people.</p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend" data-ttid="remend-wrapper"></div><p class="">On the other si, the nservative Daily Wire publitn spent about $33,000 promotg what Bully Pulp classified as anti-trans stori.</p><p class="">“Trans-supportive groups are g this moment to urge actn, while the digal spend on the Right om dividual rightwg personali lookg to palize and draft behd a hot button moment,” Jsi Reis, Bully Pulp’s managg director, said a statement.</p><p class="">When Florida lawmakers prepared to pass their law this sprg hibg teachers om discsg LGBTQ issu wh stunts, the AIDS Health Care Foundatn spent a most $63,000 on <a href=" target="_blank">advertisg </a>agast the "hateful" proposal.</p><p class="">The only other TV ad fendg transgenr people began airg last month, when the Gay & Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn lnched a 60-send public service <a href=" target="_blank">announcement</a>. It featured Texas mom Amber Briggle, who cricized “some policians who are tryg to tear my fay apart simply bee my son is transgenr.” It was aired wh donated time om Comst NBCUniversal, NBC News' parent pany, along wh donated time om Paramount, WarnerMedia, The Walt Disney Co. and the Ad Council, acrdg to the LGBTQ advocy group GLAAD.</p><p class="">Weeks before the ad was released, Briggle <a href=" target="_blank">said</a> her fay was qutned by Texas child welfare officials,<strong> </strong><a href=" target="_blank">tasked by Gov. Greg Abbott</a>, rponse to an opn om state Attorney General Ken Paxton, to vtigate parents of transgenr children for possible child abe if their kids receive genr “reassignment surgeri that n e sterilizatn, mastectomi, removals of otherwise healthy body parts" or are admistered "puberty-blockg dgs or … dos of ttosterone or trogen.”</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">The orr, issued by Abbott the wang days of his primary mpaign and opposed by medil and psychologil associatns who say genr-affirmg re protects the mental well-beg of transgenr children, was blocked by a urt March that said the vtigatns uld e “irreparable harm.” </p><p class="">On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court led the vtigatns uld ntue, but said that neher Abbott nor Paxton had the thory to orr the vtigatns.<strong> </strong>Paxton, who fac a primary noff March 24, hailed the lg <a href=" target="_blank">on Twter.</a><strong> </strong>Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, meanwhile, was the first ndidate this cycle to <a href=" target="_blank">advertise </a>his opposn to transgenr athlet women’s sports by airg a mercial early Febary.</p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Image: Mehmet Oz" height="1666" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer" data-ttid="ptn__ntaer">Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks at the 'Save Ameri' rally Greensburg, Pa, May 6, 2022.</span><span class="ptn__source">Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Imag</span></figptn></figure><p class="">In the wang days of Pennsylvania’s Senate primary, a super PAC backg Republin Mehmet Oz <a href=" target="_blank">swiped at</a> Dave McCormick, a venture palist, for nng a pany that “vered transgenr surgeri.” McCormick h back at the celebry TV doctor wh clips om his show of Oz ntrally discsg those who would “surgilly change the genr of their child.”</p><p class="">Those old Oz shows have now been removed om the ter. GLAAD <a href=">praised</a> Oz at the time. Oz now sounds more negative, notg at a recent town hall event that “we’re already seeg ligatn kids who have been treated wh different approach to transgenr health wh meditns as well as surgery.” </p><p class="">In all of the four ads Oz has n ncerng transgenr issu, all <a href=" target="_blank">foc </a>on<strong> </strong>transgenr athlet women’s sports. A Frankl & Marshall College <a href="unsafe:about:blank">Poll</a> released last month showed that 64 percent of Pennsylvania voters were opposed to trans women petg women’s sports; 29 percent approved. </p><p class="">Tony Fabriz, who polls for former Print Donald Tmp and other top Republins, said his survey work suggts voters oppose trans athlet women’s sports — even California last year when he surveyed for GOP gubernatorial ndidate Calyn Jenner, the former Olympic athlete and TV celebry who is transgenr but <a href=" target="_blank">opposed Thomas </a>petg agast women.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“This is an issue of fundamental fairns,” Fabriz said. “I don’t see that changg.”</p><p class="">In Utah, the GOP Legislature passed a bill barrg transgenr athlet high school and middle school girls’ sports and overro the veto of Republin Gov. Spencer Cox. Cox wrote a letter explag his veto that those born male have athletic advantag over girls, but he etted about monizg trans children, who have high suici rat, and noted only four of them play high school sports.</p><p class="">“That’s what all of this is about. Four kids who aren’t domatg or wng trophi or takg scholarships,” he wrote his <a href=">veto</a> msage. “Four kids who are jt tryg to fd some iends and feel like they are a part of somethg. Four kids tryg to get through each day. Rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few.” </p><p class="">In Alabama, the Republin primary for ernor has seen 11 ads vokg transgenr-related issu. A ndidate the state's GOP Senate primary ran one as well. That’s more than any other state, acrdg to AdImpact. </p><p class="">Gov. Kay Ivey has n two ads that mentn she signed a ban on transgenr athlet women and girls sports, wh <a href=" target="_blank">one mercial</a> emphasizg she ma “transgenr surgery on children Alabama” a felony, whout mentng those procr aren’t done the state. </p><p class="">The law’s ban on genr-affirmg meditns for kids was blocked Friday.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">Dpe Ivey's rerd limg trans rights, her two Republin opponents, Ldy Blanchard and Tim Jam, have attacked her bee of the existence of the Magic Cy Acceptance Amy, a Birmgham charter school that bills self as an LGBTQ-affirmg learng environment. The school says about 10 percent of the stunts intify as transgenr.</p><p class="">After Jam featured the school one of his <a href=" target="_blank">attack ads</a><strong> — </strong>misleadgly scribg as “the first transgenr public school the South" — foundg prcipal Michael Wilson told lol media that he had to hire extra secury and that one man yelled slurs at stunts while another person a separate cint was vio-rerdg the school. </p><p class="">“I jt uld not believe that someone would e a school and misreprent ,” Wilson <a href=">told CBS42</a>, notg that most stunts who attend do not intify as LGBTQ.</p><p class="">But veteran polil operators like Webber Missouri acknowledge that ’s probably good short-term polics for Republins for now, pecially durg this midterm electn season when Democrats are bracg for wispread loss and Republins are on offense.</p><p class="endmark">“That’s the whole story of civil rights: Somethg that seems impossible 40 years ago now seems mastream,” he said. “But you may pay an electoral price gettg there.”</p></div><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><div class="expand-byle-ntributors articleByleContaer"><div class="expand-byle article-expand-byle" data-activy-map="expand-byle-article-bottom"><span class="byle-thumbnail byle-thumbnail--no-image expand-byle__thumbnail"></span><span class="byle-name expand-byle__name"><a href=">Marc Caputo</a></span><span class="byle-social expand-byle__social"><a href="" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="byle-social--lk"><span class="in in-email"></span></a></span><div class="expand-byle__b-wrapper"><p class="byle-b expand-byle__b">Marc Caputo is a senr natnal polil reporter for NBC News.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body--right-rail-ntaer"><div class="article-body__right-rail layout-grid-em grid-l-4_5-l grid-l-3_5-xl grid-l-ph-half-xl"><div class="ad article-body__right-rail--ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxrail" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[300,250],[360,360]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="10" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div><span></span><div class="body-bottom-remend"><div class="ad ad--midrponsive ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="midrponsive" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[700,1],[5,5]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="300" data-reh-terval="0" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div></article></div></div><div id="hfs-footer" class="dn-prt" data-activy-map="hfs-footer"><footer class="hfsf" ><div class="ner"><div class="logo"><a href="><svg class="peack" viewBox="578 62 67 39" xmlns=" fill="currentColor"><g fill-le="evenodd"><path d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M597.563 75.863l9.442 21.613-19.478-13.35c-4.887-3.24-3.896-8.79-1.19-11.237 3.83-3.24 9.245-2.12 11.226 2.97"></path><path class="feather" d="M610.57 70.93l-3.433 24.19-9.772-23c-2.113-5.75 2.64-9.516 5.81-9.583 3.632-.396 8.188 2.38 7.396 8.394"></path><path class="feather" d="M625.494 72.103l-9.707 23.067-3.102-20.82c-.265-3.17 1.716-3.237 2.443-3.832-.133-.463-1.124-.463-1.124-.463h-1.848c-.198-5.42 4.028-7.8 7.462-7.535 3.697.132 7.856 4.428 5.876 9.583"></path><path class="feather" d="M635.338 84.167L615.86 97.584l9.177-21.348c2.775-6.742 9.245-5.42 11.556-2.842 2.51 2.51 3.235 7.6-1.255 10.773"></path><path class="feather" d="M637.448 99.9h-22.515l18.29-12.756c4.49-2.975 9.244-.266 10.498 3.635 1.327 4.36-1.65 9.12-6.27 9.12"></path></g></svg></a></div><nav class="lks"><ul class="lks__wrap" data-l-2="14" data-l-3=15><li><a href=" target="_self">About</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Contact</a></li><li><a href=">Help</a></li><li><a href=">Careers</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ad Choic</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Do Not Sell My Personal Informatn</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CA Notice</a></li><li><a href=">Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)</a></li><li><a href=">NBC News Semap</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Closed Captng</a></li><li><a href=">Advertise</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Shoppg</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Personal Fance</a></li></ul></nav><div class="py"><p>© 2023 NBC UNIVERSAL</p><div class="brands"><a href="><svg viewBox="0 0 120 20" fill="none" xmlns=" aria-labelledby="nbc_news_logo"><tle class="nbc_news_logo">NBC News Logo

republican candidates gay rights

Michigan’s Republin ndidat for ernor were asked if was also time to roll back nstutnal protectns for gay rights. None of the five ndidat me to the fense of same-sex marriage.

Contents:

AFTER ROE, REPUBLINS SHARPEN ATTACKS ON GAY AND TRANSGENR RIGHTS

* republican candidates gay rights *

Nikki Haley’s 2024 printial bid has seen her misgenr trans fluencer Dylan Mulvaney and claim Ron DeSantis’ ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law “don’t go far enough”. She nounced DeSantis’ ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law – which rtrictns LGBTQ+ discsns schools – for “not gog far enough” and misgenred social media fluencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Durg his time the Republin Party, Stt supported the US ary’s reviled ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, opposed same-sex marriage and told Newsweek that he nsirs homosexualy to be morally wrong. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez was ially a proponent of Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, but he said expandg the anti-LGBTQ+ legislatn was “excsive”. Suarez told NBC News he ially supported DeSantis’ ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, but he said expandg the anti-LGBTQ+ legislatn to all gras was “excsive”.

THE MOST ANTI-GAY US POLICIANS

Who are the most anti-gay US policians? The list is a long one, cludg policians om both parti (though a majory are Republin). The ... * republican candidates gay rights *

But the realm of LGBTQ+ rights, the movement recently appeared to be on the back foot, wh ngrsnal Republins 2022 helpg to pass a law that protected same-sex marriage natnwi, buildg on the supreme urt’s tablishment of the right rponse, groups opposed to rights for the gay, lbian and transgenr muni have orchtrated a well-fund backlash to the expansn of rights – one that is beg fostered by extremists, has seen the erosn of gay rights many stat across the US and clus a growg threat of vlence. All told, more anti-gay bills have been troduced stateho 2023 than the past five years, acrdg to HRC. The issue’s approval now stands at 64%, pared wh 71% last year, wh only 41% of Republins approvg – a cle of 15 percentage pots om last past newsletter promotnafter newsletter promotnLast week, rights groups Glaad and the Anti-Defamatn League found that at least 356 cinc of hate directed at LGBTQ+ Amerins occurred between June 2022 and the past April, cludg a mass shootg at a gay nightclub Colorado Sprgs that left five people the Fah & Freedom Coaln’s nference, speaker after speaker ma clear their rolve to ntue the mpaign agast trans Amerins.

For s, the William Way LGBT Communy Center has sat at the heart of Philalphia’s gayborhood, offerg art shows, unselg servic, vacce clics and a slew of other health and hog assistance to rints as the center’s agg headquarters started to show s wear, s lears turned to Washgton for some help. 8 ln feral aid for renovatns — until Hoe Republins mounted an extraordary blocka this week, nyg a requt to fund the anizatn and other lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr-foced groups two last year’s electns, Republin lawmakers creasgly have seized on the power of the feral purse, uplg their csa for stery wh a fierce ph to advance a nservative social agenda. In state legislatur across the untry, party lawmakers recently have moved to adopt a rerd number of rtrictns that lim gay and transgenr rights, while the GOP’s printial ndidat have attacked transgenr athlet and rebed schools that teach about genr inty.

LGBTQ+ issu are shapg the printial race, as some ndidat have repeatedly sought to emphasize their ristance to transgenr athlet petg women’s sports, stunts learng about sexual orientatn and genr inty schools, and drag tactics are part of a broar upheaval which GOP-led state legislatur have moved to pass a rerd surge of rtrictns on gay and transgenr rights and stor such as Target and Walmart have faced cricism om some on the right over their attacks also ci wh signs of a shift public opn, wh opposn to LGBTQ+ rights risg aga, pecially among Republins, pollg shows.

OPENLY GAY GOP NDIDAT STAND UP

” And the Log Cab Republins late Friday cricized a jt-released DeSantis mpaign vio attackg his rival Donald Tmp’s past exprsns of support for LBGTQ+ people, argug DeSantis had “ventured to homophobic terrory.

REPUBLIN CANDIDAT ON GAY RIGHTS: WHERE CA, BACHMANN AND OTHER GOP PRINTIAL HOPEFULS STAND ON LGBT ISSU (PHOTOS)

Acceptance of transgenr Amerins is lower than of people who are gay, lbian or bisexual, but for all, there’s a wi gap between Republins, pennts and Democrats, public pollg shows. ” DeSantis also fend the state law he signed that has led to the ncellatn of some Pri Month ftivi Florida ernor kicked off his printial mpaign last month om an Iowa church lled Eterny where the pastor, who spoke at the event, preach that homosexualy is a s and has been a vol cric of Pri. Last June, the Texas GOP amend s platform to ll homosexualy “an abnormal liftyle choice” and oppose all legal protectns for LGBTQ+ people.

There are gay nservativ out there.

TMP PRI: GAY REPUBLINS ON WHY THEY'RE BACKG THE PRINT

Liberal stat began difyg same-sex marriage to law, and more gay and lbian upl gaed accs to the stutn.

The followg year, Oh Senator Rob Portman beme the first stg GOP Senator to announced support for same-sex marriage legalizatn, sharg that his son was gay.

“They’ll say somethg like, ‘I personally don’t support gay marriage, but ’s settled law, so we’re not gog to addrs that. Moran says he rpond that he needs to go to gay and lbian voters the fall and tell them that the Republin Party has their back, and if the GOP vote unt for this bill is low, mak that msagg substantially more difficult. Pence has a long history of anti-LGBTQ activism, gog back to 1992 when he said that beg gay is “learned behavr” and his 2000 Hoe mpaign where he advoted feral funds for nversn therapy to fight HIV; ntug to his time the Hoe, when he opposed LGBTQ equaly every chance he got; and most notably, as ernor of Indiana, his mismanagement that led to the state’s worst HIV outbreak history.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES GAY RIGHTS

Republin Candidat On Gay Rights: Where Ca, Bachmann And Other GOP Printial Hopefuls Stand On LGBT Issu (PHOTOS) | HuffPost Voic .

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