cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/13118934
Josh Turek of Iowa, Democrat, comes out with one of the worst anti-trans ads yet.
Not only is it an anti-sports ad, it proposes a ban on federal funding for gender affirming care. That would hit all medicaid and medicare patients, and any ACA federally-subsidized plans as well.
Video links are not allowed.
To give context, Iowa isn’t going to be giving a Senate seat to a Democrat anytime soon but I did some digging and it’s actually a little more depressing than just this ad. Turek won the Democratic primary against a very pro-LGBTQ candidate, Zach Wahls (he’s son of two lesbian moms, even). It seems a lot less likely Wahls would run these types of ads.
That primary was around 60-40, but I’m not Iowan so my knowledge of why Wahls lost is limited. If I had to guess, it is due to centrist Democrats, but it’s a reminder that Democrats aren’t monolithic and if 11% more Iowan Dems voted better in the primaries, you’d see different ads… though I doubt either would win in a state like Iowa.
Edit: saw comments from Iowas on another platform and yeah, same primary nonsense about “safe bets in general” and establishment dems screwing over progressives with endorsements and money. I guess I’m grateful we see cracks in that finally, with better candidates in places like Michigan and such.
For more background the Dem running for Governor is also doing i’m actually center not left see me working with Republicans. Iowa Dems continue to do the failing move center strategy that has failed for decades. DNC also just gave up on the state after Obama so it’s not like they even try anymore.
This guy believes I have a fundamental right to go to a specialist and walk out looking like a cat or a Picasso — I can get sharpened teeth and implanted magnets and a bifurcated tongue or penis — but someone can’t decide to look and live like the gender that is right for them? That is some cognitive dissonance there.
It’s not cognitive dissonance if you don’t believe that playing in sports leagues is a fundamental right.
Do you think it is ok to make it illegal for women to compete in women-oriented sports because their AGAB was incorrect? That’s what’s getting promised here. What if I told you that this is merely a smoke-show to hide what they really want to push, namely incarcerating trans women along with men. Because if you truly believe that women need to be split along AGAB lines for competing in sports you surely believe this for incarceration as well. And one of those would have an effect on more than, like, half a dozen people in the entire state.
Wild you’re not complaining about the Republican…
Considering her main platform for Senate has been wanting to make anti-trans federal law…
Other than that she’s only known for protecting the Epstein class and voting to keep records secret.
If you think Dems might be lying, why is that worse to you then Republicans openly trying to do it?
Why would I complain about the republican on a forum that’s already staunchly anti-republican? It’s not really necessary, but there are a lot of people here that might not be aware about the ongoing capitulation of democrats to the republicans on trans rights. Or think it’s not such a big deal.
but there are a lot of people here that might not be aware about the ongoing capitulation of democrats to the republicans on trans rights
Again, that is based on your assumptions about what they mean, which is obvioused flavored by twiiter and/or .ml. two places widely known for propaganda against progress and explicitly LGBTQ issues.
Which always seem to ignore that Republicans are openly worse in every regard, openly say they want what you’re afraid of, and definitely want even worse than they’ll say publicly
Like, what the fuck is your goal two weeks before an election besides trying to help Republicans hold onto a Senate majority?
Again, that is based on your assumptions about what they mean,
Yeah, obviously. As is your counter-argument. The difference between us is that he is literally saying what I think he is saying, whereas you assume he is playing some trick to get the maga vote based on something you won’t share or even mention.
The difference between us is
You’re insisting you’re assumption has to be right, and all I’ve done is point out that you literally agree with what he said:
No males in female sports
Any male that transitions isn’t a male. A male that transitioned to female, is now female.
That’s what those words mean, literally.
You’re the one insisting the way he used those words is how a Republican uses them, and ignoring the only other option for this seat has no confusion around their stance. It’s worse than you think the Dem might be.
So what is the point of any of what you’re doing besides helping republicans and trump?
Yay. Another Dem asshole shooting themselves in the foot because they are a Nazi. Use your fucking brain Dems. You don’t have to erase trans people to win you need to talk about how you are going to fix the economy you dumb fucking Nazi. I swear to fuck!
Sadly they are running a campaign based on being an independent like republican not anything that people actually want.
They’re running ads like the governor candidate already saying they will be republicans just not trump republicans 😭😭😭
…who is?
Turek is
It’s a bad take, for sure, but I encourage any voter in Iowa to read about his platform on every other subject: https://turek4iowa.com/platform/
From his site
Health care is a human right. All Americans deserve access to basic care.
Guess thats not really true huh? So which is it, are trans people not Americans or are they not human?
If you want to abandon an entire set of people to win an election then dont ask people to care about his other opinions. Why should anyone who is or knows a trans individual believe him after this take?
Also from his site
We must protect and defend our fundamental freedoms
Guess that freedom only applies to some people.
Did you even listen to the ad?
Or did you just read OPs headline?
What do you think he meant when he said “I oppose tax-payers paying for anyone’s sex changes too”? Is that not a promise to gut health care for trans people that depend on medicaid or medicare to get the care they need?
“I oppose tax-payers paying for anyone’s sex changes too”?
You really need to understand the context is Turek’s actual support on LGBT issues:
Iowa Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ashley Hinson released an ad immediately after the June 2 primary that said her Democratic opponent, state Rep. Josh Turek, supports “sex changes” for minors.
The ad makes two similar but distinct claims. Its narration says Turek “supports kids changing gender without parental consent.” But the on-screen text says “sex changes for kids,” while video of surgeons in an operating room plays behind an image of Turek. Hinson’s social media post sharing the ad also used the phrase “sex changes for kids.”
“Sex change” is not a standard medical term. Gender-affirming care can include a range of approaches to support a person’s gender identity including, for minors, using a different name or pronouns. According to medical best practices, gender-affirming treatments are available only to adolescents and can include puberty blockers, hormone therapy and in rare cases, surgeries for older teens. Medical intervention for minors requires parental consent.
The ad distorts Turek’s position. The law cited in the ad as evidence does not mention medical interventions or “sex changes.” It has to do with notifying parents when a student expresses a different gender identity at school.
He was accused of wanting to pay for surgery on kids without their parents consent.
We can’t get society to pay for anything, why the fuck would an Iowan Senator decide to start paying for gender affirming surgery?
He supports preferred pronouns in schools, he supports hormone blockers for minors, he supports adults having surgery.
Have you even fucking looked at what his Republican opponent wants to do on this topic?!
You’re ripping all context out of this, and trying to decrease Dem turnout, seemingly somehow aware that is a million times worse…
He supports preferred pronouns in schools, he supports hormone blockers for minors, he supports adults having surgery.
Where are you getting this? I’m not seeing anything about it on his platform. That would be good to hear, but as it stands all I have him saying “I oppose tax-payers paying anyone’s sex changes too” in his latest ad. Right after saying “women should not be in women’s sports if they’re trans” too, which is already plenty transphobic before threatening to take away the healthcare of literally any person that needs a sex change (and lets not pretend that this isn’t a widely used statement to mean all gender affirming care).
Seriously how is “people can do it but the state won’t pay” fucking “anti-trans”?
Because it is making gender affirming health care less or in-accessible to trans people that rely on medicare or medicaid. Getting a gender affirming surgery is quite different from getting ice cream and definitely not something someone does “just because they wanna”. It’s incredibly intense surgery, with a whole lot of after-care. And again, let’s not pretend that “sex change” is not widely used code, especially in politics, for all gender affirming care.
He is obviously courting republican transphobes with this ad. He is capitulating to the fascists on the cultur war they started in an transparently desperate attempt to win over some of them, as if anyone who cares this much for getting a transphobe elected would go for the transphobe-lite when they can have the real deal.
He is obviously courting republican transphobes with this ad
He said something that anyone with basic critical thinking easily can understand, because they know a male who transitions to female is no longer male…
Will republicans hear it differently and think he’s “anti-trans”?
Yeah …
That’s literally why all these red state candidates to keep fucking phrasing it that way.
What the fuck is wrong with tricking stupid bigots?
Again, take a look at what his opponents stance is on this.
And try to give me some sort of answer based in logic for why you’re trying to get the Republican alternative in Iowa elected.
If Turek loses, how do you think that’s better for the trans community?
Again, if you have anything that demonstrates that he is not planning to take health care away from trans people or have women banned from womens sports if they trans then please do share it! I would love it if he isn’t actually anti-trans, that would be really great news! Why wouldn’t I be happy about that?
He said something that anyone with basic critical thinking easily can understand, because they know a male who transitions to female is no longer male…
But they don’t know that he knows that. His platform doesn’t even mention trans people (or queer or LGBT or any of those terms) at all. All there is right now is him repeating what the republicans are saying they want to do to trans people verbatim. Hopefully there is a clarifying statement in the next days, I would love nothing more than to eat crow on this. Because if people have to defend someone so hard after his own ad then it clearly is a shit ad and will get pulled and buried. Why confuse your electorate by saying the exact opposite of what you’re planning to do just to maybe pull like a 0.1% percent advantage…
Seriously how is “people can do it but the state won’t pay” fucking “anti-trans”?
Because some people are lucky enough to have state healthcare who would lose their care. And because we all know this wont’ be applied to other Gender Affirming care like hair restoration or Viagra.
There’s so many ways to see this as an attack on people it’s confusing how people refuse to understand it
Look at you, out here campaigning for right wingers.
campaigning for right wingers.
Really? Their comment didn’t seem to support Turek at all.
Health care is a human right. All Americans deserve access to basic care.
This is kinda off-topic but the juxtaposition of “Health care is a human right. All Americans deserve access to basic care” just jumps out at me. Are non-americans not human? Do foreigners living in the US not have the same human rights as citizens of the US?
The “all or nothing” approach to voting is not realistic. If Turek checks all but a few of your boxes and Hinson checks none, then vote Turek into office. THEN you can work on him to change his mind about whatever issue you have. You’d have zero chance to do that with Hinson.
I’d argue you should even stump for him. Go out to your trans friends and say “what he said is gross and awful, but his stance on expanding healthcare, lowering the minimum wage and refunding SNAP will help all marginalized people, including trans folk.”
As a trans woman who’s an army veteran using VA healthcare, this sentiment would deny me my right to medicine and treatment.
I served my country. I shouldn’t be penalized just because I also happen to be transgender.
Regardless, it shouldn’t matter that I’m a veteran. Anyone with access to government funded health care who happens to have gender dysphoria should be allowed to get treatment for it.
Grow a spine.
THEN you can work on him to change his mind about whatever issue you have.
Complete bullshit, this is a lie you tell yourself and others to make you feel better about it. The best time to pressure a candidate to change a stance is before they have your vote, because once they’ve got it, why on God’s green earth would they ever give a single shit what you think?
I’d argue you should even stump for him. Go out to your trans friends and say “what he said is gross and awful, but his stance on expanding healthcare, lowering the minimum wage and refunding SNAP will help all marginalized people, including trans folk.”
Fuck that completely. An attack on one is an attack on all. Cutting trans people off their health care will not “help” trans folk, and this divide and conquer shit is exactly how the ruling class keeps us weak and divided.
All marginalized people should pay attention to the fact that the liberals will throw groups straight under the bus the very moment they see it as electorally convenient. They did it to Palestinians, now they’re doing it to trans folks, there’s no limit to it. These people would ban interracial marriages if they thought they could appeal to the right with it and get away with it. These politicians do not believe in anything and do not care for anyone but themselves and their own political status, their own power.
It says a lot that this a twitter video, cross posted from .ml
With a headline completely misrepresenting what the ad actually says.
There’s gonna be a bunch of this shit till midterms are over.
One of their campaign ads is look how much I vote with Republicans
https://turek4iowa.com/news/new-josh-turek-for-iowa-releases-new-ad-prove-it/
“In the Senate, Josh will work with anyone to clean up corruption and secure the border, including President Trump,” the narrator says in the ad. “And he’s got 700 votes to prove it.”
With a headline completely misrepresenting what the ad actually says.
Bullshit. What part of it isn’t in the video?
If a male transitions to female…
They are female.
They are no longer male.
That’s what the whole “transitioning” thing means…
It seems like you’re arguing that the gender assigned at birth is permanent and transitioning doesn’t change anything…
Is that what you really mean?
So you’re deliberately ignoring what he obviously means.
I recognize that trans people are who the gender say they are. Turek obviously doesn’t.
We both know full well what he’s saying and pretending otherwise as a “gotcha” is meaningless.
I recognize that trans people are who the gender say they are
(Edit: to be honest you phrased that poorly, but I’m assuming you’re recognizing that gender transition actually changes genders)
So if a male transitions to female…
And plays on a team with females…
No male is on the team.
We all agree with the statement Tutek said then.
We both know full well what he’s saying
You have an assumption flavored by the headline you read before watching the video.
Me and you can’t be sure how Turek meant it, but we know for a fact what his Republican opponents stance is. She actually wants to make transitioning illegal.
So why aren’t you spending this time trying to get people to not vote for her?
Right now you’re helping her, even if you still don’t realize it somehow.
We all agree with the statement Tutek said then.
Jesus Christ, why are liberals like this?
No, I don’t agree with the statement because I understand what it means in context, because I’m not a fucking idiot. You also know what it means, you’re just pretending that you don’t for the sake of wordplay and pedantry.
You have an assumption flavored by the headline you read before watching the video.
No, I have an assumption flavored by the context that we live in.
Let’s play along with your obvious bad faith game. If Turek did mean that cis males wouldn’t be allowed in women’s sports, then why would he say that? There is no debate or discussion over that whatsoever. The only discussion is over trans women, who are often misgendered and called “males,” as Turek very obviously did here. So there is no other reasonable interpretation.
Your stupid fucking language games and technicalities and weaseling, none of it fools a single person, including yourself. You are saying it in obvious bad faith.
Me and you can’t be sure how Turek meant it
We both absolutely can be sure, and we both are absolutely sure how he meant it. You’re just lying and pretending not to.
Right now you’re helping her, even if you still don’t realize it somehow.
You shouldn’t vote for either one. If I’m helping her by saying don’t vote for him, I’m also helping him by saying don’t vote for her. So you’re completely full of shit on that point too.
A person is born and assigned the gender of male.
Later they transition to female.
Do you believe they are:
A. Male
B. Female
If I’m helping her by saying don’t vote for him, I’m also helping him by saying don’t vote for her. So you’re completely full of shit on that point too.
No, because decades of statistics show that Dems win with high turnout, and Republicans win in low turnout…
That’s just facts, the more people in America that vote, the more progressives win.
Depressing turnout, helps Republicans and trump.
Why do you spend so much time helping trump?
Rome wasn’t built in a day, we need to vote for these clowns and primary them next time. I’m not in Iowa but I’d struggle to vote for this guy if I were. I hope Iowans do the right thing for the sake of all though, because while this guy is trash, the gop are actual devils.
In December 2024 the NCAA counted just under 510,000 collegiate level athletes. That same year less than 10 of them were transgender.
One study found that of the trans women who competed in sports about 41% of them did improve their competition level.
However, the sample size used to determine this statistic was 52 transgender women over a period of 8 years.
This problem is so niche that it’s difficult to even study.
They have us all worked up over nothing, in the interim all trans people see is people debating our rights and fixating on all the ways we might be different.
Trans people are famously under-represented in sports as a percentage of our overall population… mostly because we are terrified of the bad optics and the circus it brings.
This shouldn’t be a political issue, like bathrooms.
These are private organizations and they should be able to make their own rules for their own competitions. Weight, sex, capability or lack thereof, steroids yes or no, and so on
Should there be government funding for sports programs in schools? No. So, again, not an issue. Most students aren’t in sports teams. Let the parents and teachers dictate their own sports programs and finance them (or charity, or their town even, just not feds)
It’s a non-government issue really, like abortion, it’s making something political where there should be no politics. Seriously, as is this will be one lawsuit after another for centuries, enough
We need to fucking ruin the quisling ‘campaign consultants’ who insidiously recommend this losing MAGA-courting shit.
I genuinely don’t get the sport thing. Like I can understand blanket prejudice, but specific to sport just strikes me as bizarre. How did someone cook this up and why does it seem to have traction?
Of all the things one could care about, why this? Maybe it involves hormones being more effective than most people know? Maybe it’s just a lie badly test, or just a dog whistle? A bonus sexism?
It kinda trips me out.
The sport thing triggers the panic in the intellectually challenged. It makes them think of their little girls upset and triggers their lizard brain revulsion.
It’s easy to use. Same with the bathroom argument
do you want your little girl to lose to a man or God forbid be in a locker room with them(ignoring that they could have male coaches. Same with how attacked gay marriage over nothing and before that integration
How did someone cook this up and why does it seem to have traction?
They cooked it up through careful focus testing to find something they could use as a wedge issue. The people behind it want to completely eradicate trans people, but they know that ordinary people aren’t there yet. So they have all kinds of think tanks trying to find ways to get people to side against trans rights on a particular issue, and once they found something they dumped tons of money into ads targeting that one thing. It could’ve been anything, sports just happened to be the thing that tested well for them. If we back down, then they’ll move on to the next issue, and so on until they get what they want.
Every time the Democrats break ranks, all they’re doing is validating the right’s attacks in hopes of a temporary advantage in a handful of races. The more they give in, the more the right will repeat the process and find new points to use as a wedges. Even if the Democrats completely surrender on trans rights, gays and lesbians will be next.
The fury these people fill me with. Iowa deserves better than this piece of shit.
So it’ll totally be fine if the next guy campaigns on “no cripples in government” because you know, accessibility costs money and you shouldn’t have to pay so this guy can have a job.
/s obviously
But fuck this guy for punching down when he’s already been punched down on his whole life. Do better man.
Ok then, as a trans woman, I’ll punch up:
Fuck this sitting in his own shit, limp catheter dick, spaghetti leg having motherfucker, but not in his numb ass, in his mouth, with a dirty, feral, rabid, porcupine dick!
And, I grant permission for anyone to punch him up for me. You’re hired! You speak for me when you besmirch hot wheel hitler over here.
Using your platform as a disabled person who “understands discrimination” to torture trans people and call them out as “the ones who are doing the discrimination” by existing?! By needing healthcare?! To paint us as men trying to hurt women?! That is far worse than trump or any able-bodied white male doing it!
You want to stand with the white men who’s legs work? Ok! Roll out down the stairs like a real man then!
Your ass is gonna look so dumb trying to round up minorities while we slowly just walk through the gravel. Get fucked! Even if trump gave you a participation trophy, your ass couldn’t get up the plinth to accept it!
Raggedy-ass ragdoll fuck of a man. You know who is the real danger to women? This “nice guy” Sitler, Josh Turek. He’ll get you alone with his little poor me couldn’t hurt a fly gomer pile looking haircut and vacuous eyed smile, and then he’ll rape you with a broom handle because he’s mad at his spagheto cock. And no one will believe you because he’s “just a nice guy”. You’ve been warned.
You’ve all been deputized. Now get out there and show this nay-walker his place wriggling on the pavement like the worm he is.
As a cis white male… with multiple disabilities… I approve of your message. :) <3
Man if we could bottle and distribute this level of rage, things might actually change!!
I agree with the sentiment you meant.
But let’s be real, if we could bottle and distribute this level of rage, under fascist capitalism, trans women would be factory-farm stuck in a cage, motionless hucows being sucked dry for the military and MMA, with the leavings sold to the magat man-boys who larp stoic.
But let’s be real, if we could bottle and distribute this level of rage, under fascist capitalism, trans women would be factory-farm stuck in a cage, motionless hucows being sucked dry for the military and MMA, with the leavings sold to the magat man-boys who larp stoic.
The problem is there is an insignificant population in the world that would love that and would be motivated to vote harder for the party doing it.
Is this post actually recommending that people go vote for the proven nazi pedophiles in that case?
Sure it’s a shit take but obviously we must not vote for the GOPedos, because you have to be reasonable about these types of things
Pointing out your team’s bad strategy isn’t an endorsement of the other side. There is a difference between analysis and support.
This is not a recommendation for anything, I just want to spread awareness of this guys transphobia. What things do you suggest we should be reasonable about?
Asshile
