Why the right is losing it over Virginia governor’s pick for state’s LGBTQ+ advisory board

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s appointment of an Arlington LGBTQ+ advocate to a state advisory board has drawn right-wing criticism.

Kellen MacBeth, president and founder of Equality Arlington, was appointed May 22 to the Virginia LGBTQ+ Advisory Board, a panel that advises the governor on issues affecting LGBTQ+ Virginians. The appointment was one of dozens Spanberger announced that day across state government, including appointments to boards focused on housing, health, education, public safety, transportation, veterans services, and tourism.

“Today’s appointments reflect the depth of talent and dedication that exists across our Commonwealth,” Spanberger, a Democrat, said in the announcement. “Each of these leaders shares my commitment to public service and finding solutions that deliver for communities in every region of Virginia. I know they will strengthen the boards and commissions they are joining.”

On Wednesday, the conservative Washington Free Beacon attacked the appointment, accusing Spanberger of embracing “left-wing gender activism” and criticizing MacBeth’s support for transgender and nonbinary students. The outlet also pointed to MacBeth’s advocacy for policies allowing transgender students to participate in school activities and use facilities consistent with their gender identity.

Related: Virginia school board adopts anti-transgender policy and blocks LGBTQ+ club

Equality Arlington has urged Arlington Public Schools to resist state and federal efforts targeting transgender and nonbinary students. In a July 28 letter signed by MacBeth as president, the group said those students were “under attack from multiple state and federal sources,” including a U.S. Department of Education investigation into Arlington’s nondiscrimination policy, the Virginia High School League’s ban on transgender girls participating on girls’ sports teams, and a Virginia Department of Education change limiting student gender markers to male and female. Until January, Virginia was led by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, an anti-trans Republican.

“These threats to the rights and wellbeing of transgender and nonbinary students are the latest wave of efforts to erase transgender and nonbinary children from society, and they will not be the last,” the letter stated.

The group urged Arlington school officials to “stand up for the rights of LGBTQIA+ students” and take “every legal and other appropriate action” to oppose efforts by the Trump administration, the Virginia High School League, the Virginia Department of Education and others that it said were harming transgender and nonbinary students.

Republicans repeatedly used transgender rights to attack Spanberger during the governor’s race. In September, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears released a campaign ad that accused Spanberger of supporting policies that would allow “men in girls’ locker rooms” and concluded, “Radical Abigail Spanberger is for they/them, not us.” The ad echoed language used by Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, which spent heavily on anti-trans messaging and often closed with the phrase “Kamala is for they/them, Trump is for you.”

In October, a 30-second ad funded by the right-wing Restoration of America PAC went further, accusing Spanberger of being “as extreme as it gets” and using inflammatory claims about transgender students in sports, locker rooms, and gender-affirming care. The ad claimed she would allow boys to “play girls’ sports” and “shower in girls’ locker rooms naked,” then accused her of being “all in on horrifying gender mutilation” and “irreversible sterilization of children.” The Advocate reported at the time that the ad offered no factual basis for those claims.

Related: LGBTQ+ ally Abigail Spanberger trounces anti-trans Republican to win Virginia governor’s race

Spanberger, a former member of Congress, went on to handily defeat Earle-Sears. During the campaign, Spanberger addressed questions about transgender students by pointing to a prior Virginia process in which schools, principals, parents, and coaches made decisions on an individual basis, considering “fairness, competitiveness, and safety.” She told WSET that she would support legislation with “clear provisions” that allowed local input based on children’s ages, the sport, and competitiveness.

The Free Beacon also connected MacBeth’s advocacy to unrelated criminal cases involving students in Loudoun County. LGBTQ+ advocates have long criticized that tactic, arguing that it uses isolated incidents to stigmatize transgender students broadly and justify restrictions on an already vulnerable population.

Spanberger’s May 22 announcement named MacBeth alongside Dr. Inta “Maggie” Tolan of Midlothian and Lissa Frances Brown of Henrico County as appointees to the LGBTQ+ Advisory Board.