A Republican in your bathroom? New ad highlights GOP’s anti-trans obsession

This story originally appeared on Them.

In a marked contrast to prominent Democrats equivocating in response to Republican political attacks on transgender people, one super PAC is addressing the issue head-on.

Progress Action Fund (PAF), a political action committee founded by former Obama administration intern Joe Jacobson, released an ad on October 13 highlighting the ridiculousness of the Republican focus on trans people this election cycle, taking a decisive stance on the issue.

The 30-second spot, entitled “Republicans In Your Bathroom,” targets the GOP over its fixation on restricting trans people’s access to restrooms and locker rooms. The ad, which The Hill reports is part of a larger buy worth over $1 million per The Hill, begins with a young girl entering a bathroom and to her horror, encountering an older white-haired man sitting in the stall waiting for her. He greets her with a short hello. Immediately, the girl presses the man for answers, “What are you doing? Who are you?”

“I’m your Republican congressman. Now that we’re in charge, I’m checking to make sure that there’s no trans people in the wrong bathroom,” he says.

Her response: “Bathrooms are private. Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“I won the last election, and this is my priority,” he says, “Now let’s make sure you’re really a girl,” ending with an ominous smirk.

- YouTube

The ad, while brief, is meant to draw attention to the absurdity of the GOP's focus on trans people at a time when energy prices are skyrocketing amid the war in Iran, and when most Americans report affordability as their top issue in the 2026 midterm elections.

Jacobson, who serves as PAF’s executive director, shared an accompanying statement with The Hill, saying, “Americans want their elected officials to lower gas prices and end the war in Iran, not follow them into the f**king restroom. Republicans are creepy as hell. Democrats need to grow a spine and call Republicans out for their creepy fetish of monitoring children’s bathrooms.”

The ad in question is set to air on TV and streaming services in both Texas and Ohio. The televised spot stands out compared to other Democratic campaign materials that either dismiss the attacks on transgender people, or backtrack on previous stances in apparent attempt to appease indecisive voters.

For instance, South Carolina Democratic Senate hopeful Annie Andrews has a long track record of supporting trans rights with her opposition to South Carolina’s version of the Save Women’s Sports Act in 2022, even calling the proposed legislation “harmful” on X, saying that it “does nothing to protect or support women or children in SC.”

But earlier this month, after President Donald Trump called Andrews an anti-trans slur in a lengthy Truth Social rant, the pediatrician released a direct-to-camera statement in her lab coat, referring to transgender women in sports as “biological men” and sharing her opposition to “gender surgery for minors.” Other Democrats in closely watched races, including Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, have been criticized for appearing to soften their defenses of trans people — and LGBTQ+ people more generally — amid Republican attacks.

Some prominent LGBTQ+ advocates and Democratic politicians have warned against capitulating to the GOP on trans issues. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer told The Advocate in September, “Michigan is a very swing state, and I’ve never wavered on these issues, and politically, I’ve been successful.” And in October, Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson told The Advocate that Democrats who cave on trans issues are “doing too much and getting too little.“

Transgender individuals have been the subject of intense national scrutiny in the 2020s, enduring a flurry of Republican-penned laws that restrict access to healthcare, bathrooms, sports participation, and more. As the midterm elections draw nearer, with some states having already begun their early voting process, Republicans have doubled down on inflammatory political attacks that target transgender individuals in states with key battleground races like Texas and Ohio that could tip the majority of both congressional chambers in favor of Democrats.

As of Tuesday, the day of the ad’s release, the races in both Texas and Ohio remain incredibly close, with Democrats narrowly leading against their Republican opponents. In Texas, Talarico holds a two-point lead per polling averages compiled by Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) over Republican opponent Ken Paxton, who has made jabs at Talarico for his support of transgender rights in a wide-ranging smear campaign.

In Ohio, former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown leads in the Senate race by an average of nearly three points, per DDHQ, against Republican incumbent Jon Husted. Ohio Republicans have attempted to attack Brown’s reputation with an ad aimed at the Democrat’s support for legislation protecting transgender people.

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