Vulnerable Ohio Democrat's last-minute flip-flop on trans insanity has LGBT activists crying

Despite early recognition that their party's obsession with gender ideology contributed to its humiliating electoral losses in 2024, Democrats have largely spent the past two years draped in the LGBT flag, defending so-called "gender-affirming care" and cross-dressing men in women's sports.

With the midterm election just weeks away, Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio has joined other vulnerable Democrats in changing her tune on trans extremism.

'Your words create deep emotional harm.'

Kaptur was long a darling of the LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign and like-minded activists. After all, she co-sponsored legislation that would prohibit public accommodations and federally funded programs from discriminating on the basis of so-called "gender identity" and voted in opposition to the Department of War's ban on military "dudes in dresses."

The congresswoman has, however, signaled a new approach in recent ads.

In one ad titled "Say No," Kaptur noted that she has "said no to gender ideology in schools." In a second ad pushed online late last month, she stated, "I voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of our schools."

In both instances, she was referring to how she voted with Republicans in May to pass the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act, which would require public elementary schools to obtain parental consent before changing a kid's pronouns or sex-based accommodations.

According to Blaze News' Poll Watch, Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in congressional history, is currently neck and neck with Republican Derek Merrin, whom she beat by only a few thousand votes in 2024.

RELATED: Trans radical who massacred kids in Canadian school allegedly had American support

Kaptur's late-stage flip-flop has, of course, enraged the usual suspects.

Upon seeing one of Kaptur's ads, Erin Reed, the romantic partner of cross-dressing Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D), wrote, "This is getting out of control," adding, "Do NOT vote for anti-transgender Democrats."

Former Kaptur intern Nick Fulton whined in the pages of the Buckeye Flame that "as a 27-year-old working journalist who challenges oppression and interrogates transphobia daily, I am embarrassed at Rep. Kaptur’s name on my resume. So much so that I removed it."

"Rep. Kaptur might win over some far-right transphobes with this ad, but she is losing her integrity — and every queer voter who thought that her democratic membership meant allyship," added Fulton.

The non-straight advocacy group Equality Ohio slapped Kaptur with a D-grade, noting that while she at one time "earned a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign," she "recently released anti-trans ads."

Lucas County Stonewall Democrats published a letter on Sept. 21 demanding that Kaptur take down her "transphobic ad" immediately, stating, "Not only do your words create deep emotional harm and place an unnecessary spotlight on our Trans community members, putting them in more danger than they already are given the current climate, but you have also now engaged in a race to the bottom with Republicans."

The Christopher Steele Project, a trans advocacy group, whined, "We can want Democrats to win and secure a Democratic majority while also recognizing that the queer community’s organized political power does not have to fund the first Democrats willing to abandon us."

Alienating her radical base may not have been worthwhile since Republicans have already framed Kaptur's about-face as little more than naked election-time opportunism.

Her opponent, Derek Merrin, said at his rally with President Donald Trump on Saturday, "Marcy Kaptur is desperate to hold onto power. She is resorting to the typical career politician handbook: slander your opponent, distort the facts, and hope voters don't check the record."

"Marcy Kaptur is claiming that she no longer wants men to be able to play in women's sports," said Merrin. "The problem is she's voted two times against a bill that would have prohibited that practice. She's also co-sponsored six times the radical Equality Act that would allow men to play women's sports and allow men into women's locker rooms."

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Zach Bannon told Fox News Digital, "Lies from desperate Democrat Marcy Kaptur can't erase her radical record. Kaptur is in damage control, and she must remove herself as a co-sponsor of the Equality Act and disavow her previous votes or remove her lies from the airwaves."

Kaptur's change in messaging strategy comes months after Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton (D) was downgraded by Equality Ohio after she claimed that she does "not support boys playing in girls' sports"; weeks after Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico of Texas walked back his support for men in girls' sports "if it risks safety or fairness"; and days after North Carolina Rep. Don Davis (D) released a commercial in which he states that "there should always be a safe and fair space for women and girls in sports."

Pew Research Center surveys found last year that:

• 73% of Americans are uncomfortable with trans-identifying athletes competing against members of the opposite sex;
• 66% favored requiring athletes to compete against members of their sex;
• 56% support making it illegal for health care professionals to provide minors with "medical care for a gender transition";
• 49% support requiring trans-identifying people to use public bathrooms that match their sex; and
• 47% favor or strongly favor making it illegal for public schools to push gender ideology in elementary schools.

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