Democrats Embrace Anti-Trans Athlete Messaging Ahead of Midterm

Democrats have spent years on the defensive over transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports. Ahead of the midterms, some candidates in tight races are going on offense, highlighting support for restrictions on transgender athletes.

The debate over transgender athletes has become one of the most salient culture war issues in the past few years, and Republicans have used the issue to cast Democrats as out of touch with most Americans, most of whom prefer transgender athletes to play on the teams that correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth, rather than their gender identity, polls show.

It’s left Democrats in a tricky position, as most Democratic lawmakers have cast themselves as strong allies to the transgender community. Embracing calls for these restrictions could risk alienating a voting group that votes for them by large margins, but it's an issue Republicans successfully exploited in the 2024 election.

Facing the potential for Republican attacks, some Democrats have embraced more moderate or conservative messaging on the issue in a bid to appeal to swing voters, but have not widely stepped away from supporting the transgender community on other issues.

The shift in messaging comes as Democrats are hoping to expand the electoral battleground in November, and they’re hoping to win over more conservative voters in difficult seats as President Donald Trump’s approval rating slips amid ongoing concerns tied to the cost of living and economy.

Polls have shown that most Americans support some restrictions on the participation of transgender athletes, explaining why some Democrats see this position as politically advantageous.

Representative Marcy Kaptur, an Ohio Democrat, has garnered attention over recent advertisements on transgender rights. She is running for reelection in Ohio’s 9th District, which includes Toledo and rural, conservative areas of northwestern Ohio. It backed Trump by more than 10 points in 2024.

“I voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of our schools because parents know what’s best for our kids,” she said. “Boys should not play in girls’ sports. Don’t let them change the subject.”

GLAAD has referred to the phrase “transgender ideology” as a “malicious rhetorical construct that falsely asserts that LGBTQ — notably trans — people are an ideological movement rather than an intrinsic identity.”

Still, Kaptur has a record of supporting LGBTQ+ rights in her tenure in Congress. For instance, she’s voted for the Equality Act and has posted in support of Trans Day of Visibility, writing in a March 2021 X post that “transgender rights are human rights.”

Democrats like Kaptur have been speaking out on the issue of sports and locker rooms but have not gone as far on other antidiscrimination measures. Still, some more progressive Democrats have lamented what they view as a shift in their party on the issue as some moderate Democrats embrace rhetoric they believe is closer to Republicans.

In Iowa, several Democrats have made statements or released ads referencing transgender athletes.

Two House candidates did so, without specifically naming the transgender community and using milder rhetoric.

Sarah Trone Garriott, who is running for Iowa’s 3rd District, said in a recent ad that she opposes “letting men in women’s locker rooms.” Lindsay James, who is running for Iowa’s 2nd District, said that she believes “all children are made in the image of God,” calling for “common sense rules to keep sports fair for boys and for girls.”

“Parents know what’s best for our kids. Washington needs to stay out of it,” she said.

Josh Turek, who is running for Senate, told The New York Times in July, “As someone that spent a lot of my life in high-level sports, I don’t believe that biological males should compete against females in sports.”

Meanwhile, Rob Sand, the state auditor who is running for governor, told Politico that he believes fairness “rules the day” in sports.

“Everybody gets hard on the language; they get mad if you use this word or that word. I just think girls’ sports are for girls and boys’ sports are for boys. And I think that that’s fair and reasonable,” he said.

James Talarico, who is running for Senate in Texas, said during an interview with Fox News earlier in September that he opposes “trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it endangers safety or fairness."

Newsweek reached out to each of their campaigns for comment via email.

The trend has drawn pushback from some progressives.

Erin Reed, a transgender activist and writer, wrote in a September 17 post on Substack that described the stances taken by Democrats like Kaptur as “harmful.”

“Transgender constituents in this district are now stuck between a rock and a hard place, left wondering what the point of their vote is if both candidates view them as disposable and subhuman,” Reed wrote.

Sand has faced questions on the campaign trail. During a recent stop in Johnson County, one attendee asked him to “take back that comment,” according to video posted to social media.

Sand said he tends to agree with restrictions on trans athletes, prompting somebody in the crowd to call him a “coward,” but he also said he disagrees with Republicans repealing civil rights protections from the transgender community.

“At the end of the day, I want the state and government to get back to issues that impact 100 percent of Iowans,” he said.

Democrats have faced pushback from their base over their remarks on this issue in the past.

For instance, the issue dogged Representative Seth Moulton, who sought to challenge Senator Ed Markey in the Massachusetts Senate primary this year. Moulton said in an interview with The New York Times last year, “I have two little girls. I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete.”

But some progressives' view is not where most Americans stand, according to several recent polls. Most Americans prefer transgender athletes to play on sports teams that correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth, rather than their gender identity.

YouGov conducted a poll on transgender issues earlier this year, surveying 1,112 adults from May 7 to 10, 2026.

It asked respondents whether they would support or oppose “requiring transgender athletes to play on sports teams that match their sex assigned at birth, rather than their gender identity.”

Only 20 percent said they would oppose that restriction, while 57 percent said they would be in support of it. An additional 22 percent said they were unsure of where they stand on the matter.

At the same time, respondents were more likely to support antidiscrimination measures, suggesting many Americans may see the sports question differently than other transgender rights issues.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they support “including protections for transgender people in hate-crime laws,” 54 percent said they support “banning employers from firing employees on the basis of their transgender identity,” and 53 percent said they support “banning conversion therapy for transgender youth.”

Meanwhile, a Pew Research Center poll found that only 13 percent of Americans are “extremely” or “very” comfortable with trans athletes “competing on sports teams that do not match their sex at birth.” Sixty-six percent of respondents said they would favor laws that “require trans athletes to compete on teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth.”

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Gray R. Thomas