House Democrats’ preferred Arizona candidate draws backlash over anti-LGBTQ+ campaign attacks

A Democratic congressional primary in Arizona has erupted into a fight over LGBTQ+ rights, with outside groups accusing former state Rep. Amish Shah of supporting conversion therapy and state advocates calling the attacks false. Political ads airing in Arizona attack Democrat Shah over a bill they claim would allow conversion therapy in the state. But LGBTQ+ advocates who helped craft the legislation say it did the opposite.

Now, many are expressing anger at the groups attacking him and connecting them to Shah’s Democratic primary opponent, Marlene Galán-Woods, a veteran broadcaster and former Republican who supported anti-LGBTQ+ leaders in the past. Some LGBTQ+ leaders in the state are questioning Galán-Woods’ commitment to the community — and asking why House Democrats in Washington are supporting her campaign.

LGBTQ+ advocates call the ads dishonest

Michael Soto, president of Equality Arizona, took issue with a recent spate of ads paid for by several super PACs. That’s partly because he and Equality Arizona helped write Shah’s 2024 bill, which would have threatened the professional licenses of therapists offering services intended to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

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“We worked with then-Rep. Shah to put these bills forward to put equality and fairness for all Arizonans forward, a comprehensive non-discrimination bill for LGBTQ Arizonans. It also had a conversion therapy ban,” Soto told The Advocate. “We wanted to make sure to correct the record, because they're not only lying about Amish's record but also lying about our record.”

A group called Pro-Choice Majority Action, which could not be reached for comment, has produced ads attacking Shah for writing legislation that supposedly allowed “forced conversion therapy on Arizona youth,” the Arizona Republic reported. Others say those aren’t the only ads from third-party groups making similar claims.

Soto said that’s a dishonest mischaracterization. While some critics blasted Shah’s legislation for including religious exemptions, Soto said the provisions were included in anticipation of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a Colorado conversion therapy ban on First Amendment grounds.

Shah’s campaign also said his record was being wrongly maligned and blamed Galán-Woods.

“After spending decades funding the campaigns of anti-LGBTQ+ politicians, lifelong Republican Marlene Galán-Woods is now attacking Amish for cosponsoring the highest priority legislation of Arizona’s LGBTQ+ community at their request—a bill to expand nondiscrimination protections and ban conversion therapy,” said Colin Lauderdale, a spokesperson for the Shah campaign.

“That she has directed her dark money backers to tell a direct lie about Dr. Shah’s work to protect Arizona’s LGBTQ+ kids is gross, cynical and desperate, and it shows that she and her cronies will do and say anything to try to win. It’s telling that Galán-Woods will ask her dark money Super PACs to air this disgusting lie, but won’t bring it up herself. And it’s exactly the behavior that voters are tired of seeing from politicians.”

Galán-Woods defends her LGBTQ+ record

Gálen-Woods’ campaign provided a statement to The Advocate from the candidate affirming her support for LGBTQ+ rights,

“True equality means every American can live, work, and love with dignity—free from fear of discrimination. In Congress, I will be an unyielding ally for the LGBTQ community, not just in words, but in action,” Galán-Woods said.

“As a mom and a neighbor, I want every person, young and old, to know they are worthy of love and belonging exactly as they are. I will fight every day to pass the Equality Act and write comprehensive federal protections into law, so our schools, workplaces, housing, and public spaces are safe and welcoming for everyone."

The campaign also noted that concerns about Shah’s bill are not new and weren’t first raised by the recent super PAC activity. The ACLU of Arizona said at the time the bill was considered that the carveout for clergy “creates broad and harmful exceptions to our nondiscrimination laws while placing the onus on transgender persons to prove their identity to receive protections."

Soto still defends the bill, saying its viewpoint-neutral language recognized the legal boundaries of the U.S. Constitution.

“But it was a clear ban. It didn't in any way support conversion therapy or allow it,” Soto said, “and in fact, it was kind of forward-thinking because we kind of saw the writing on the wall.”

Galán-Woods’ Republican past draws scrutiny

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Galán-Woods has faced her own criticism as a recent convert to progressive politics, becoming a registered Democrat in 2018 and once calling herself “more conservative” than her husband, Grant Woods, the late Republican Attorney General of Arizona. During her husband’s career as a prominent GOP politician, she supported Mitt Romney and John McCain for President, and backed anti-LGBTQ Gov. Jan Brewer. Galán-Woods also supported the late McCain’s reelection to the Senate as he actively opposed the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Galán-Woods has the support of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political arm of House Democrats. In May, the DCCC added her to its “Red to Blue” program, an unusual move before a Primary is held. Officials there expressed confidence in Galán-Woods’s policy platform and said she was best positioned to flip Arizona’s 1st Congressional District open seat for Democrats and secure a House majority.

“Arizonans already know Marlene Galán-Woods as a trusted voice who spent 20 years in broadcast journalism speaking truth to power, telling their stories, and advocating for hardworking people,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene. “She is the common-sense fighter Arizonans deserve to cut through the noise, push back against extremists, and get things done.”

Democrats in Washington said concerns persist about other parts of Shah’s record, including his casting the only vote in the state House on a Republican bill restricting access for women to contraception.

Equality Arizona has yet to make an official endorsement in the race. But Soto said the group has worked closely with Shah in the past and considered him a stalwart ally. He also noted that the organization has published profiles of four major Democratic congressional candidates, including Shah but not Galán-Woods. That’s because she was “the only serious candidate who declined to participate in a candidate questionnaire."

The Democratic Primary in the Arizona district is scheduled for July 21.