Ad attacking Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear over trans rights – Photo: American Principles Project PAC via YouTube
An attack ad against Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear claims Democrats will use the power of the state and law enforcement to abduct children from their parents if those parents don’t affirm a child’s transgender identity without question.
The one-minute ad, by the right-wing American Principles Project — a “pro-family” political organization that has focused much of its political messaging on opposing LGBTQ rights — alleges that if Beshear wins re-election in November, non-affirming parents will soon lose custody of their children.
In the ad, “Dinner Table,” a mother, father, and teenage girl are eating dinner when the teenager says, “Mom, Dad, I’m transgender. I think I might be a boy.”
“Honey,” the mother says, “you know we love you no matter what, but, you’re a girl, so why would you say that?”
A short-haired woman in a black blazer appears and interrupts her.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold it right there, Mom. You don’t get to ask questions. That could hurt your child.”
The mother tells the woman to leave their house. “This is a family discussion,” she says.
But the woman opens a leather briefcase and says, “Not anymore. Democrats passed a law banning these types of discussions. We’re going to have to take the kid with us. This home isn’t safe for them.” Two FBI agents walk in.
The ad then crosscuts to a white van driving down the street, away from the house. “Learn more about Andy Beshear’s ‘Equality Agenda’ for Kentucky families,” a voiceover says as the ad directs viewers to visit a website opposing the governor’s re-election, which redirects to a page asking for donations for the American Principles Project.
The ad strains credulity on many levels.
First, Kentucky Democrats have not said they plan to remove trans-identifying children from their parents’ custody. Nor are Kentucky Democrats, even if Beshear were to win re-election, in a position to take any such action, because such a policy would have to be passed into law by the General Assembly, where Democrats are permanently entrenched as the minority party, holding only 7 of 38 Senate seats and 19 of 100 House seats in the solidly Republican state.
Even at the national level, Democrats have not called for separating transgender youth from non-supportive families, making it even less likely that lawmakers in Congress would ever pass such a proposal — let alone by those in Kentucky.
However, the ad does repeat rhetoric that is frequently echoed by anti-LGBTQ groups, who frequently allege that the government is seeking to take control over people’s children to “indoctrinate” or “groom” them into either identifying as LGBTQ or accepting the concept of LGBTQ identity as normal.
The commonly-repeated trope appears to be based on the story of a Texas father who lost custody of his children and objected to his ex-wife recognizing one of their children as transgender.
The American Principles Project’s ad is one of several by independent conservative political action committees bashing Beshear to elevate the candidacy of his opponent, Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
Consistent with messaging adopted by the GOP in various states, and in Congress, the ads frequently claim that “woke” ideology or cultural trends pose a threat to American society in general, and especially to children and nuclear families.
While “woke” is ill-defined, it is generally considered a catch-all phrase encompassing any idea of diversity or representation of historically marginalized groups, particularly concerning LGBTQ people and their allies, racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, and discussions of race, racism, or discrimination.
It is frequently used as a slur against those who advocate for greater visibility for members of marginalized groups, accusing them of favoring political correctness over common sense.
Cameron has embraced the national GOP strategy of attacking Democrats for having a slavish allegiance to “wokeness” and has employed anti-transgender rhetoric on the campaign trail and in speeches to draw voters to his side.
He has accused teachers of attempting to “indoctrinate” children, arguing that social issues have taken precedence over fundamental academic skills in schools. He has railed against transgender girls and women, whom he calls “biological males,” playing on female-designated sports teams, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Even though Cameron is not behind the ads attacking Beshear over his support for LGBTQ equality, several Republican PACs have taken up that cause on his behalf.
For example, in July, an ad from Kentucky Values, a group affiliated with the Republican Governors Association, which depicted a drag queen reading a book to children, accused Beshear of pushing a “radical transgender agenda.”
Beshear campaign spokesperson Alex Floyd blasted the most recent ad as untruthful.
“There are no words for how absurd this ad is, and it blatantly lies to the people of Kentucky,” Floyd told the Herald-Leader.
Rebecca Blankenship, Kentucky’s first openly transgender elected official and the executive director of Ban Conversion Therapy, called APP’s ad “just another in a long line of the delusional and feverish. There is not one state or country on earth in which a family conversation about gender identity will result in a home visit by the FBI or any other law enforcement agency, and nobody supports making it that way.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has reposted a CNN clip featuring Doug Wilson, leader of the Christian evangelical movement he follows, in which the pastor calls for making gay sex illegal.
“In the late ’70s and early ’80s, sodomy was a felony in all 50 states. That America of that day was not a totalitarian hellhole,” Wilson says in the seven-minute segment, reports the Daily Beast.
Wilson goes on to say he wishes the United States would revive anti-sodomy laws, which criminalized same-sex relations -- and, in some states, even certain non-vaginal sex acts between consenting heterosexual partners.
Third Way, a centrist think tank tied to the Democratic Party's pro-corporate shift of the 1990s, has issued a memo listing 45 "profoundly alienating" words it says Democrats should avoid.
Marketed as advice on how to "speak plainly," the list is framed as a way to keep moderates and swing voters from viewing the party as elitist or out of touch.
In its summary of its recommendations, Third Way argues Democrats have fallen into a trap of using activist-approved language to court advocacy groups.
"These activists and advocates may take on noble causes, but in doing so they often demand compliance with their preferred messages; that is how ‘birthing person' became a stand-in for mother or mom," the memo states. The term was originally meant to acknowledge that some transgender men and nonbinary people can become pregnant.
In March 2022, Justine Lindsay made history as the NFL’s first openly transgender cheerleader. Three seasons later, the Carolina Panthers TopCat is stepping away from the squad to pursue pageantry and community outreach.
In a statement to Outsports, Lindsay said she wanted to grow beyond the sidelines, striving to be “recognized not just as an NFL cheerleader, but as someone making a positive impact, especially during these uncertain times.”
The announcement marks a reversal, as some news outlets had previously reported she would return for the 2025–2026 season.
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