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Republican Winsome Earle-Sears said that firing gay people for being gay is "not discrimination."
The Democrat is not letting the Republican forget the outrageous claim she made about LGBTQ+ people during a statewide debate in the Virginia governor's race.
A new campaign ad from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger is turning her opponent’s own words into a central argument against her bid for Virginia’s highest office, casting Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican candidate, as an extremist on LGBTQ+ rights who, in the ad’s closing line, is “so far right she’s wrong for Virginia.”
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The 45-second spot, titled “That’s Not Discrimination,” stitches together moments from last week’s fiery Norfolk State University debate with archival footage, drawing a direct line between Earle-Sears’s rhetoric and what the Spanberger campaign calls a “decades-long, extreme record of opposing marriage equality and equal rights for all Virginians.”
The ad opens with a voice-over: “MAGA Republican Winsome Earle-Sears.” The lieutenant governor responds on-screen, “I am speaking!” The narrator continues, “And what she says about discrimination is extreme.”
Clips of TV news reports appear next, one noting that the Republican nominee for governor “hand-wrote a note on a bill that passed the General Assembly, implying she’s morally opposed to same-sex marriage.” The ad then cuts to Spanberger saying, “My opponent has previously said that she does not think gay couples should be allowed to marry.”
Earle-Sears’s voice interrupts: “That’s not discrimination.”
Spanberger responds, “My opponent has also previously said that she thinks it’s okay for someone to be fired from their job for being gay. That is discrimination.”
Again, Earle-Sears replies: “That’s not discrimination.”
The ad ends with the narrator’s rebuttal: “Yes, Lieutenant Governor. It is. And what you said about rights couldn’t be more wrong. Winsome Earle-Sears — so far right she’s wrong for Virginia.”
The ad builds on a now-viral moment from the debate at Norfolk State, when Earle-Sears dismissed anti-LGBTQ+ bias in the workplace as “not discrimination.” Her remark drew immediate backlash from across the political spectrum. LGBTQ+ advocates and civil rights groups, including the Human Rights Campaign, condemned the comment, noting, “Yes, Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears, that is indeed discrimination.”
The debate was combative and chaotic, with Earle-Sears repeatedly interrupting her opponent and moderators, prompting multiple admonishments to let Spanberger finish speaking.
Spanberger’s ad highlights a series of actions that Democrats say reveal a consistent pattern. In 2024, Earle-Sears left a handwritten note on legislation codifying marriage equality in Virginia, stating she was “morally opposed.” In a 2025 interview, she reaffirmed opposition to same-sex marriage, saying she would support only civil unions. A resurfaced candidate survey shows her pledging to support allowing employers to fire workers for being gay and describing homosexuality as “an immoral lifestyle choice.”
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Those stances, the Spanberger campaign argues, show that Earle-Sears’s comments in the debate were not slips but reflections of a worldview that places her outside the Virginia mainstream.
The ad also comes as Earle-Sears continues to lean into provocative cultural messaging. Her earlier “They/Them” commercial accused Spanberger of supporting “radical” transgender rights policies, ending with the line, “Radical Abigail Spanberger is for they/them, not us.” Critics said the ad mirrored the Trump campaign’s 2024 culture-war tactics and weaponized gender identity for political gain.
The issue has also created tension within Earle-Sears’s own ticket. Her running mate, John Reid, who is gay and battling a Nazi porn scandal, has publicly confirmed that Earle-Sears “100 percent” opposes marriage equality, though he said they would “put aside differences” to run together. Reid was linked to a Tumblr blog through a username that he uses on social media that fetishized slavery and bondage, and included Nazi imagery. He has denied any connection to the blog. Reid has also pledged to vote against any constitutional amendment enshrining same-sex marriage. According to the Public Religion Research Institute, 68 percent of Virginians support marriage equality.
Earle-Sears’s debate comments contradict established federal law. In Bostock v. Clayton County, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that firing someone for being gay or transgender constitutes discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Watch the new ad below
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