Sign up for The Agenda — Them’s news and politics newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Thursday.
On the brink of a debate face-off, Democratic Texas Rep. Colin Allred is facing criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates over his response to an anti-trans attack ad from his U.S. Senate Race opponent, Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.
A September 16 Cruz campaign ad drew attention to Allred’s vote against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, a 2023 bill that would have prohibited Texas school athletic programs from allowing trans girls and women to participate in alignment with their gender.
“Colin Allred supports boys playing in girls’ sports,” a narrator says in the video. The ad also claims that Allred’s support of the 2021 Equality Act — a federal bill that would have prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender identity, sex, and sexual orientation — means that he effectively “voted to allow boys in girls’ bathrooms, [and] boys in girls locker rooms.”
In a response ad released on Friday, Allred tells the camera, “Ted Cruz is lying again, but now he’s lying about our children.”
“I’m a dad, but I’m also a Christian,” he continues. “My faith has taught me that all kids are God’s kids. So let me be clear: I don’t want boys playing girls’ sports or any of this ridiculous stuff that Ted Cruz is saying.”
The wording of that response has drawn criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates. In a recent statement to The Advocate, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which endorsed Allred earlier this year, called on the politician to further clarify his stance on trans athletes.
“Congress Allred needs to explain his comments in this ad,” HRC National Press Secretary Brandon Wolf said. “They simply don’t square with what we know about his record. For years, he has supported our community and worked to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination.”
As journalist Erin Reed noted in her own reporting on Allred’s ad, his messaging is likely to be interpreted as an anti-trans dog whistle given that Republican anti-trans campaign ads repeatedly frame trans girls as “boys.” Them has reached out to the Allred campaign for comment.
In an August 22 interview with Spectrum News, Allred previously clarified his stance on trans people’s participation in sports, but without mentioning the trans community by name.
“What I’ve supported is basic protections for folks on the basis of their sexual identity or who they love, or how they identify, and trying to make sure that they’re not discriminated against,” he said at the time. “That’s what I support.”
According to the Texas Tribune, the Cruz campaign has spent $6.7 million on anti-trans ads targeting Texas Democrats in coordination with the Republican Party of Texas, marking the campaign’s biggest ad buy so far. Meanwhile, an October 8 New York Times analysis of AdImpact data found that Republicans have spent more than $65 million on anti-trans campaign ads since the beginning of August.
The extent to which anti-trans ads can help or harm campaigns is unclear but polling data suggests they are unlikely to win over undecided voters. An October 9 Gallup poll asked voters to gauge the importance of 22 issues, ranging from the economy to Supreme Court justices. Among those issues, “transgender rights” was ranked last.
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.
