US Rights Groups Face Criticism for Endorsing Democrats with Anti-Trans Views

On September 9, 2026, American journalist Erin Reed and other trans activists published a list of Democratic candidates for federal and gubernatorial elections in the US who had previously made anti-transgender statements or voted for such legislation. The activists urged voters not to support them and criticized the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) for endorsing these politicians.

According to Reed, if candidates with anti-trans positions win, the Democratic Party might consider abandoning the protection of transgender people a “winning strategy.” She cited the UK’s Labour Party as an example. The activists’ list included gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra (US Secretary of Health and Human Services running in California), Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, and former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton. All of them have at various times opposed the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports.

Furthermore, the list included candidates for the US House of Representatives and the Senate, such as Mary Peltola, Eugene Vindman, and Sherrod Brown, who have supported anti-transgender initiatives in Congress. According to preliminary polls, many of these candidates are in competitive races or are highly likely to win.

Reed also pointed out that the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ rights organization, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), endorsed several candidates from her list. In response to the criticism, HRC representatives stated that if the organization only endorsed politicians with a perfect voting record, they “would likely never make progress.” In their view, cooperation is necessary to gradually change lawmakers’ stances. However, critics insist that without withdrawing endorsements in the face of anti-transgender decisions, the HRC risks becoming “merely another branch of the Democratic Party” and losing the trust of voters.