Campaign ads for the presidential and senate races have dominated Wisconsin’s airwaves in the last few months, addressing key issues like immigration, the economy and reproductive rights in an attempt to sway voters in the swing state.
But in recent weeks, some ads supporting former President Donald Trump and Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde have also focused on the rights of transgender Americans.
During the first half of October, the Trump campaign and its supporters spent tens of millions of dollars on ads attacking Vice President Kamala Harris’ past support of certain rights for transgender people — including access to gender-affirming care that is deemed medically necessary for detained immigrants and incarcerated people.
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“Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you,” one such ad says.
“What he’s saying is, ‘You’re watching this TV ad. And what I need you to know is that you are not the person she cares about. She cares about this nebulous they/them pronoun,’” Marquette Journalism and Media Studies professor Patrick Johnson told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
Senate candidate Hovde’s campaign is using a similar strategy. His ads attack Democratic opponent Tammy Baldwin and Harris for allegedly, “allowing men to compete in girls’ sports,” and “funding a clinic that offers transgender therapy to minors without parents’ consent,” a claim that has been proven false.
Sheri Swokowski is a retired Army colonel from Wisconsin with 35 years of service, and she is the highest-ranking openly transgender U.S. Army veteran. She also serves on the ACLU of Wisconsin’s Board of Directors and is a longtime advocate for transgender rights.
“The intent of the ads is to incite fear and division by shaping trans people as somehow being different than the norm,” Swokowski told “Wisconsin Today.”
Johnson said he is doubtful that focusing on transgender issues will pay off for Republicans on election day.
“I don’t know if the people he’s trying to target with these ads aren’t already voting for him,” Johnson said. “(When) you look at polling, you don’t necessarily see LGBTQ issues or transgender issues being something that is going to sway independents and moderates.”
As a member of the transgender community, Swokowski said seeing the frequent anti-trans ads has a real effect on her.
“It’s a constant reminder that we live with a lot of discrimination,” she said.
The consequences of the recent anti-trans political climate are tangible, according to a recent study by The Trevor Project. Researchers found states that passed anti-transgender laws between 2018 and 2022 saw up to a 72 percent increase in suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth.
Abigail Swetz, Executive Director of Fair Wisconsin, said that the anti-trans rhetoric she’s seeing in political ads is dehumanizing.
“These people are your coworkers and neighbors. These children are members of families, and that means that they deserve respect and love and trust,” Swetz said. “I think it’s really important that we try to center humans in the conversation, because that is the exact opposite of what’s being done to these people (through) these attacks.”
She also thinks they divert attention from issues that are more relevant to voters.
“(It’s) a pretty ridiculous distraction from the actual issues facing Wisconsinites,” Swetz said. “Certain candidates are trying to turn people — specifically trans people — into issues, as opposed to focusing on the issues people truly care about.”
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