Gay and trans Republicans shocked DeSantis now targeting them
By Erin Reed | Gay and transgender Republicans expressed dismay after the DeSantis campaign’s rapid-response Twitter account, DeSantis War Room, recently released an attack ad that unabashedly promotes what it calls the “most extreme slate of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in history” and claims its policies “threaten trans existence.” The ad also goes after former President Donald Trump, critiquing him for his purported support of Pride and the LGBTQ community — in spite of his anti-LGBTQ record.
LGBTQ advocates have continually warned about the escalation of anti-trans attacks into broader anti-hostility, and LGBTQ Republican operatives are suddenly finding out the consequences of supporting such policies.
The ad itself has been described as one of the worst anti-LGBTQ attack ads ever, with one reporter calling it “the closest thing to what a Benito Mussolini TikTok ad would’ve looked like.” The backlash to the ad was swift.
A number of gay and trans Republicans, who have in the past supported anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ policies, now found themselves criticizing the campaign for turning on them.
