With Republicans enjoying a clean sweep from last Tuesday's election results, it certainly looks like they have a mandate, and it's one they better make use of. Even Democrats are willing to come on board in acknowledging how boys and men should not be able to participate in girls' and women's sports. Not only is this a basic biological fact, but it's also a popular stance when it comes to elections. As Madeline covered, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) was among those acknowledging such a truth, and he even faced calls to resign over it, though he's standing strong. Others aren't so lucky, though, including when it comes to state party chairmen.
Last Tuesday, Democratic Rep. Colin Allred lost his race against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for the U.S. Senate race in Texas. While Democrats may have had hope that Allred could be the one, Cruz easily won by 8 percentage points. Issues pertaining to LGBTQ+ causes, specifically Allred's insistent denial that he supported boys and men playing in girls' and women's sports, played a major role in the final weeks of the campaign.
Unfortunately for Allred, his claims were easily debunked. He signed onto letters about the issue, and his vote history as well as the bills he's sponsored tell a different story.
In the end, not only did Allred take heat from both sides, as groups and outlets like The Advocate were not too thrilled with him hiding from his radical leftist positions, but he lost.
Allred had been going for such a desperate tactic in the final weeks of the campaign, but he had also been hiding from citizen journalists, including about why he spoke at the Texas Democratic convention in June, where an outspoken drag queen, Brigitte Bandit, who spoke in support of trans minors, was also given a platform.
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Colin Allred shared the stage with a drag queen who defended sex changes for minors and drag queen story hour in schools.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 28, 2024
He then refused to answer questions about it. Get the facts about his record at https://t.co/aaPtMWGeO6 https://t.co/fXTJz2bx94
Allred wasn't the only one finding himself in trouble, though. Gilberto Hinojosa was forced to end a 12-year run as the party chairman, after he had been elected in 2012. He'll step down in March, when the party's governing executive committee meets, according to The Texas Tribune. Such news came last Friday. The headline for such a piece focused on a "dismal election performance," and it indeed was. But, Hinojosa was forced to offer a groveling apology over his remarks on how supporting "transgender rights" could be a losing issue, as it indeed is, especially in Texas.
As that same article mentioned:
In an interview with The Texas Newsroom this week, Hinojosa said Democrats’ poor performance was in part a result of the way they handled the issue of transgender rights — comments that stirred backlash from party members and LGBTQ advocates.
“You have a choice as a party," Hinojosa said. "You could, for example, you can support transgender rights up and down all the categories where the issue comes up, or you can understand that there's certain things that we just go too far on, that a big bulk of our population does not support."
Hinojosa later apologized for the comments, saying he recognized “the pain and frustration” my words have caused.
KUT Austin had more about Hinojosa's remarks and subsequent apology:
In a statement posted to X late Wednesday, Gilberto Hinojosa said he recognized “the pain and frustration” his words caused.
“I extend my sincerest apologies to those I hurt with my comments today,” he wrote. “In frustration over the GOP's lies to incite hate for trans communities, I failed to communicate my thoughts with care and clarity.”
He added: “You deserve to feel seen, valued and safe in our state and our party. My unequivocal and unwavering support for LGBTQ+ Texans remains steadfast, and I am committed to ensuring our party never abandons you, especially when you need us most.”
Hinojosa issued the apology hours after he told The Texas Newsroom that the issues of immigration and transgender rights hurt Democrats at the polls.
“You have a choice as a party," Hinojosa, a former county judge from the Rio Grande Valley who has led the party since 2012, said in the Texas Newsroom interview on Nov. 6.
He added: "You could, for example, you can support transgender rights up and down all the categories where the issue comes up, or you can understand that there's certain things that we just go too far on, that a big bulk of our population does not support."
The story gained traction on social media, with other party members, transgender advocates and LGBTQ rights groups criticizing Hinojosa’s comments — and some calling for him to step down.
“These aren't comments made out of frustration. these are comments made out of unchecked transphobia. this is unacceptable leadership. resign,” Brigitte Bandit, a nonbinary drag queen who spoke at the state party’s convention this year, wrote on X.
Sure enough, that same drag queen, Brigitte Bandit, is among those mentioned. Hinojosa's post over X is still up. Naturally, he blames the Republican Party, which managed to win handily throughout Texas.
I've been committed to fighting against the very rhetoric that has caused trans people across this country to grapple with the fear of simply existing because of the hate spewed by Donald Trump and TX Republicans.
— Gilberto Hinojosa (@HinojosaTX) November 7, 2024
You deserve to feel seen, valued and safe in our state and our party.
— Gilberto Hinojosa (@HinojosaTX) November 7, 2024
My unequivocal and unwavering support for LGBTQ+ Texans remains steadfast, and I am committed to ensuring our party never abandons you, especially when you need us most.
With Democrats, it's always someone else's fault. It's not about "GOP's lies" on the issue, as Hinojosa claimed. Texans just aren't on board with such radical leftist causes. Not only did this show with last Tuesday's elections, but also with a June poll from the Manhattan Institute, as mentioned previously when covering the Allred-Cruz race:
A June survey from the Manhattan Institute found that just 13 percent of likely voters in Texas believe transgender athletes should be able to compete on teams that match the "gender they currently identify with." Seventy-three percent of all respondents said they should compete with teams of the "gender that matches sex at birth." Even a plurality of Democrats, at 37 percent, say they should compete against their biological sex.
The poll's findings also clash with Allred's views on the issue in other ways:
- 67 percent of all respondents, including 43 percent of Democrats who are evenly split, say schools should be required to inform parents if their child wants to use different gender pronouns at school.
- 69 percent of likely voters say "children who identify as transgender should not be allowed to receive medical treatments to move toward transitioning before the age pf 18."
- A majority, at 51 percent, believe that "lawmakers around the country should be doing more to prevent minors from transitioning," with that number being similarly at 52 percent when it comes to "lawmakers in Texas."
- 76 percent of likely voters agree minors are not old enough to consent to puberty blockers, and 82 percent say they're not old enough to consent to gender transition surgery.
- 53 percent say such laws aimed at limiting puberty blockers/transition surgery, parental notification about how children identify at school, and limiting what public schools can teach are "motivated primarily by a desire to protect children.
- When asked what age they believe a person is old enough to decide to transition, 69 percent said 18 or over, with a plurality, at 41 percent saying "21 or older." Twenty-percent said 18. Just 1 percent children "younger than 11" are old enough.
That poll was conducted June 25-27 and included 600 likely voters in Texas. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The Texas Tribune also put out a headline on Friday about the issue, "How 'wildly successful' anti-trans ads fired up Texas voters for Republicans."
Such a piece mentioned these telling points:
Even before the votes rolled in, the fact that Texas’ senate candidates were arguing about youth sports, rather than the economy, immigration or the future of democracy itself, was a Republican victory. For years, conservative political strategists had been pushing the party to hammer Democrats on what they see as “extreme” stances on gender.
...
Democrats have struggled to develop a unified stance on trans issues, leaving them flat footed in the face of this barrage of messaging from Republicans. This intra-party conflict was on full display in Texas, where Allred’s response ad drew support from moderates and condemnation from progressives.
The piece also closed with referencing the "dashed" hopes of Equality Texas, which a disclaimer noted has financial ties to the outlet.
As we also covered, Ohio's U.S. Senate race was another one where a desperate Democrat just couldn't pull it off. Vulnerable Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown ended up losing to Republican Sen.-elect Bernie Moreno, which also signaled that Republicans had enough seats to control the chamber. Brown had tried to depend upon a shoddy fact-checker hiding the soon to be former senator's stance on boys participating in girls' sports. Just like Allred, Brown received criticism from the left on the issue, while the right wasn't buying his excuse. Just like Allred, he also lost.
It's not just in statewide races, though, where Democrats are downright delusional on this issue. As Matt covered last week, author and rabbi Jay Michelson throw an absolute fit on CNN over Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton daring to point out that boys were playing in girls' sports. As she's prone to doing, in a move that made Matt refer to her show as "the next great thing for comedy," host Abby Phillip played right along with Michelson's tantrum on the issue insisting that biological boys be referred to as "trans girls" and it's "a slur" to not say otherwise.
This show is just banger after banger. The election didn’t slow it down at all. Honestly it might succeed in a comedic genre over the long haul. https://t.co/SLKqZgF4AM
— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) November 9, 2024
