Democrats keep asking trans people for money. We’re asking for a backbone

In recent campaign ads, Ohio Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur said, “I voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of our schools” and “boys should not play in girls’ sports.” In two sentences, she offered a solution to an illusory problem and denied the identities of transgender girls. It was surrender.

Republicans need trans people as an enemy, having already spent more than $60 million on anti-trans ads in 2026. Without us, they lose a scapegoat to distract from affordability, health care, and the war with Iran. They claim trans people aren’t real, yet blame us for America’s problems.

Democrats who accept that premise also accept the idea that trans people are a liability to be managed rather than members of the majority they need. Democrats should offer voters something to believe in. Defeating authoritarianism requires a coalition committed to caring for one another.

Democrats should commit broadly to freedom and specifically to the ability to make choices about one’s own body. That means medical decisions belong to patients, families, and doctors. Reproductive freedom and gender-affirming care rest on the same principle: the decision belongs to the person, not the state.

For kids, Democrats need to focus on safety and education. Glisten’s 2025 report found that 71 percent of trans and gender-expansive students felt unsafe in school at some point because of their identity. Research shows a “consistent negative relationship” between feeling unsafe and test scores. Making schools safer is part of helping students learn.

And Democrats need to be clear: There is no such thing as the wrong kind of American. No one should face discrimination based on identity, and everyone should have the opportunity to thrive. That principle extends to military and federal service, where trans people have already proven their capability. When a Trump-aligned PAC put me, in uniform, in an Alaska attack ad, I was glad more people got to see a transgender colonel.

A campaign ad in Alaska included Col. Bree Fram's image.Screenshot via Bree Fram

Those urging Democrats to “moderate” argue that supporting trans people will cost them votes, citing declining support for trans athletes in particular. But that decline came amid massive Republican spending, including more than $200 million in anti-trans ads in the 2024 election cycle. That spending can shape public opinion, particularly when the attacks go unanswered. A study found the “they/them” ad moved few votes but made viewers less accepting of trans people.

A recent CNN poll found trans issues ranked below all 10 other issues tested in importance to voters. In Virginia’s 2025 governor’s race, most voters called it the only issue unimportant. That was despite the losing campaign of Winsome Earle-Sears spending more than $2 million on anti-trans ads in a single month. Abigail Spanberger focused on voters’ everyday concerns. Since winning, she’s governed in support of trans people.

Conceding the point doesn’t stop the attacks. It marks you as vulnerable. Kaptur voted with Republicans, got attacked anyway, and then ran an ad agreeing with them. Toby Buckle points to Britain’s Labour Party, which tried to “moderate” on trans issues. By June, YouGov found its support among lesbian, gay and bisexual voters had fallen from 42 percent to 18 percent since 2024.

Democrats have also shown they can win while defending trans people. In Kentucky, Andy Beshear won a second term as governor despite vetoing anti-trans bills passed by the Republican legislature. Beshear said, "If a legislature is going to show people hate, a governor’s there to show them love." Sen. Ed Markey embraced trans rights and credited the issue with helping him decisively defeat Rep. Seth Moulton in the primary.

For voters, anger at Democrats cannot mean sitting out November. Given the alternative, every Democratic seat is a check on an administration that endangers our democracy and has already decided who counts as an American.

When a candidate gets this issue wrong, the first response should be to educate, not to excommunicate. Endorsing organizations can’t skip that first step. Democratic Party organizations should also speak up, instead of actively silencing discussion as they’ve done in Ohio.

A text from Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton.Bree Fram

Silence lets a harmful position harden without requiring candidates to confront its consequences. Sit them down with trans constituents, parents of trans kids, affirming teachers, and trans veterans. Show them the harm. Give them the chance to do better.

In May, two days after Congressman Eugene Vindman, a Democrat from Virginia, voted for H.R. 2616, a national “Don’t Say Trans” bill, I received this text: “It’s Eugene Vindman. Is there ANYTHING I can say to convince you to chip in just $10 to my campaign today?” I published an open response.

Yes, congressman, there is something you could say.

You could say you were wrong. You’ve already acknowledged there are policies in H.R. 2616 you disagree with. But your vote helped pass them. You could say that “parental involvement” cannot come at the expense of a vulnerable child’s safety.

You could say that voting for H.R. 2616 was a mistake. You could say you understand why transgender Virginians, LGBTQ+ families, educators, students, veterans, and allies feel betrayed. You could say that you will never again give bipartisan cover to legislation designed to erase transgender people from public life.

And then you could prove it.

Last week, I got an almost identical text from Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for governor of Ohio, who has said she does “not support boys playing in girls’ sports.” I replied, “Yes, say that transgender girls are not boys.” My reply may go unread, but local officials are making the same case. Two of Ohio’s openly transgender elected officials are raising similar concerns, calling for accountability while still asking voters to support Acton.

Some candidates will listen and improve. That should be welcomed.

Some won’t. When they refuse, LGBTQ+ organizations need to say so, withhold their resources, and fund a pro-equality challenger in the next primary.

Equality PAC offered an example of drawing a public line. After its Kaptur endorsement was reported, the PAC issued a statement saying it “will not support any candidate who chooses to campaign by targeting or demonizing members of the transgender community.”

Trans Americans are not a problem for Democrats to manage. We are part of the majority they need. We knock on doors. We give. We serve. We vote. So do our friends and families. A governing majority worth building has to know who it is protecting.

Bree Fram is a retired U.S. Space Force Colonel and former Democratic congressional candidate from Virginia. She is the most senior transgender person promoted to the rank of colonel.

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