Virginia gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican and the state’s present lieutenant governor, launched a brand new advert Tuesday attacking her Democratic opponent Rep. Abigail Spanberger for asserting that the LGBTQ+ neighborhood deserves human rights.
The whole advert focuses on Spanberger’s previous assist for transgender rights and falsely accuses the Democrat of wanting males—together with intercourse offenders—to make use of ladies’s loos. The advert goes on to cite Spanberger saying that “our LGBTQ neighbors have the same legal rights as anyone else,” casting the assertion as a part of the left’s “insane” perception system.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger
However Spanberger’s assertion is a bedrock basis of U.S. regulation and custom.
The Declaration of Independence clearly notes in its preamble that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Equally, the 14th Modification to the Structure states, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
To observe Earle-Sears line of argument would contain stripping rights away from hundreds of thousands of People, echoing the assumption system of teams just like the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazis, who didn’t imagine in equality.
The advert ends with the tagline, “Spanberger is for they/them not us.”
This is identical development utilized in 2024 adverts by President Donald Trump attacking Kamala Harris for supporting LGBTQ+ rights, accusing her of being “for they/them while President Trump is for you.”
Earle-Sears’ advert, together with Trump’s, is a part of an ongoing right-wing development of attacking the essential humanity of LGBTQ+ individuals. These assaults are supposed to whip up assist amongst conservative voters who oppose equality, resulting in Republican electoral wins.
For her half, Spanberger lately launched an advert highlighting how Earle-Sears has “been in lockstep” with Trump. Virginia is likely one of the few swing states that Trump misplaced within the 2024 election to Harris.
In her advert, Spanberger notes the destructive impact that Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce have had on Virginia, the place federal staff compose a lot of the inhabitants.
Republicans presently maintain the governorship in Virginia, however Spanberger has led in current polling. And election forecaster Larry Sabato lately shifted the state from “lean Democratic” to “likely Democratic,” maybe highlighting why Earle-Sears felt determined sufficient to launch her bigoted advert.
