In several congressional races, Republican ads are claiming that Democratic candidates support “sex changes” for children or support taxpayer money being used for such surgeries. But the allegations of support for those claims are flawed.
Some of the ads cite politicians’ votes against measures that went beyond prohibiting surgeries. Also, it’s worth noting that gender-affirming surgeries typically take place after age 18, according to experts and studies on the prevalence of gender-affirming care, as we’ve reported before.
Republican politicians and outside groups are spending millions on TV, streaming and digital ads pushing these claims. Our search of AdImpact’s ad-tracking database identified more than $100 million in spending on more than 200 ads since Aug. 1 that contain the words “sex change.” In federal Senate races alone, the spending totaled more than $77 million.
We’ll look at ads in three toss-up Senate races:
- In Ohio, ads from the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC connected to the Republican Senate majority leader, say that Democrat Sherrod Brown “supports sex changes for minors,” citing a 2023 TV interview in which Brown said that “a child’s health care decisions are between them, their parents, their families, their doctors — not politicians.” One ad, featuring a woman who is suing her medical providers in Texas, leaves the false impression that she had surgery as a minor without her parents’ consent.
- In Texas, ads from an SLF-associated group, Texas PAC, say that Democrat James Talarico “supported using taxpayer dollars for sex change surgeries on young children.” The ads cite his vote against state legislation that went beyond that, broadly prohibiting gender-affirming care for kids. Talarico, a state representative, voted for an amendment that would have restricted the bill to banning surgeries.
- In Alaska, ads from No Going Back PAC Inc., which is linked to the MAGA Inc. super PAC, claim that Democrat Mary Peltola “voted against prohibiting taxpayer funded sex changes for minors,” citing her votes on amendments that pertained to gender-affirming medications or surgeries. In another vote cited by the PAC, Peltola, a former U.S. representative, voted against a defense spending bill because of an amendment that would have limited abortion access for military personnel.
These ads are a continuation of Republican messaging during the 2024 presidential campaign and reflect President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that Democrats want “transgender for everybody.” Some of the messages being pushed in the midterms suggest that surgeries are performed on children, even young children, without parental consent. “The law generally requires the consent of a parent before medical care can be provided to a minor,” according to the National Center for Youth Law. There are exceptions, such as state laws allowing minors to consent to emergency care and care for certain services, including abortion, contraception and substance use care.
