The Democratic candidates who could win back the Senate for their party appear to be abandoning transgenderism in sports and medicine. Democratic Senate nominee for Texas, James Talarico, said “Absolutely” when asked in September if he would ban gender surgery for minors. He added, “I will oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it risks safety or fairness…There are not six sexes. There are two.” Democratic Senate nominee for Ohio, Sherrod Brown, noted that, “In Ohio, it’s against the law to perform transgender surgeries on kids. That’s right, it’s illegal.” Iowa Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek ran an ad last month where he noted that he is against males in female sports and that the state already bans them. “I’m against taxpayers paying for sex changes, too. Anyone who tells you any different is lying,” he said in the same ad. Democratic Senate candidate Amy Acton said in June, “I do not support boys playing in girls sports. This is already settled law in Ohio, and as governor, I will enforce and uphold the law.” And Democratic Senate candidate for Alaska, Mary Peltola, said in 2024, “No, I don’t think that we should have men competing in women’s sports.”
But there is less to these shifts than meets the eye. In September, a woman asked Talarico if he would defend her trans-identified nephew’s ability to compete against females in women’s sports, and Talarico said, “Always. The way I fought for trans kids in the legislature is how I will fight for them in the U.S. Senate… I think I have the most inclusive policy of any candidate who’s running.” CBS’s “60 Minutes” last night released an interview with Democratic Senate candidate for Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed. Correspondent Ross Douthat asked him about trans-identified males playing in female sports. El-Sayed was dismissive. “A lot of the culture war issues that get fought right now are about trying to distract us from the fact that we can’t afford our gas, can’t afford our groceries, can’t see a doctor, are worried about whether or not our kids are gonna have a good life. And instead, we’re out here talking about who gets to play what sport, which, you know, should be the question of the people who govern sports.”
Others have similarly dodged the issue. Democratic Senate candidate for North Carolina, Roy Cooper, in 2023 vetoed a bill that would have banned males in female sports, Peltola voted against a House sports bill in that same year that would have banned males from female sports, called it “bullying” and “federal overreach,” and Democratic Senate candidate for Georgia, Jon Ossoff, has repeatedly voted against federal legislation to ban males from female sports.
