Airing on Detroit’s ABC affiliate, WXYZ, the second debate between Michigan U.S. Senate candidates Elissa Slotkin and Mike Rogers played out much like the first. Many of the same questions were given a spotlight, running the gamut from the economy and electric vehicle production to immigration and health care. There were no specific LGBTQ-related questions asked, but Mike Rogers brought LGBTQ youth and policy into his response to a question about abortion.
Abortion is an LGBTQ issue, and according to GLAAD’s poll is the second most important issue to LGBTQ voters. WXYZ Anchor Carolyn Clifford asked the candidates, “How do you plan to address this topic in a way that respects both individual rights and differing viewpoints?” Slotkin expressed support for codifying Roe while highlighting her pro-choice record before turning her attention to Rogers.
“Mr. Rogers has voted for every bill, every ban, every restriction on abortion that came in front of him for 20 straight years,” said Slotkin, who later noted Rogers’ anti-abortion voting record stands at 56. “I can’t tell you how strongly I believe that people tell you who they are when they vote. They are making it very, very clear. He has shown us who he is. Do not trust him on this issue.”
In his response, Rogers called abortion “the most heart wrenching decision a woman would ever have to make. And I think it’s best made with her family, with her partner, with her faith, with her doctor where she lives.” Calling out 2022’s Proposal 3, which amended the Michigan Constitution to secure the right to reproductive freedom, Rogers added “the State of Michigan and the people of Michigan went to the polls and voted. They voted to make abortion legal, and put it a part of their Constitution – our Constitution. And, so I won’t do anything when I go back to the United States Senate to undo the vote of the people.”
Rogers later avoided defending his abortion record to attack transgender people and youth: “If you care about all women, this is a great time to talk about Title IX, where my opponent said I’m not protecting girls in women’s sports, and I’m not protecting girls by allowing men into locker rooms. Both of which she voted for. If you want to protect women, there are other ways to do it.”
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Rogers joins other battleground state Senate race candidates in misgendering transgender people on the debate stage while avoiding mention of any active plans to support restoring access to reproductive health care. Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick also went after Sen. Bob Casey’s LGBTQ record in their debate earlier this month. Ohio car salesman Bernie Moreno baselessly claimed that “women over 50 don’t care about abortion” while waging one of the most expensive Senate campaigns in the country to target transgender people and opponent Sen. Sherrod Brown. Sen. Ted Cruz is actively avoiding his record promoting and celebrating abortion bans, instead deploying a multi-million dollar ad campaign to slam opponent Colin Allred’s trans allyship. (Cruz debates Allred tonight and McCormick returns to debate Casey tonight in Pennsylvania. Brown and Moreno have not agreed to debate in Ohio.)
An estimated $100 million ad campaign attacking transgender people is underway in the final weeks before Election Day to include ads that support former President Donald Trump and down-ballot candidates like McCormick, Moreno, Cruz, Josh Hawley of Missouri – who managed to lie about both Missouri’s ballot measure expanding access to abortion and trans health care – Eric Hovde in Wisconsin, Montana Sen. Jon Tester’s opponent, and Michigan’s Rogers.
Rogers’ inaccurate claim about Title IX borrows from Trump’s Title IX rhetoric. Trump vowed to “end” Title IX protections that cover sexual orientation and gender identity “on day one.” Trump has also vowed to “be a dictator” on day one, among his campaign promises.
Reality check: As it stands now, Title IX does not currently provide protections for transgender athletes who wish to participate in school sports. Recently enacted Title IX regulations protecting LGBTQ students from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity did not include access to sports. CDC data shows transgender youth face dramatically higher rates of bullying, “violence, poor mental health, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and unstable housing, and a lower prevalence of school connectedness than their cisgender peers.” Protections for trans students who want to play school sports are off the table, for now, as a way for schools to help those students feel connected.
Additional reality check, about the lack of effectiveness of anti-transgender campaigning and rhetoric: The vast majority of non-LGBTQ adults, 95 percent, believe schools should be safe and accepting places for all youth. GLAAD’s voter poll shows all voters overwhelmingly agree that politicians “should stop focusing on restricting women’s rights and banning medical care for transgender youth and instead focus on addressing inflation, job creation, and health care costs.”
Targeting transgender people is an odd strategy, and not just because it tanked campaigns of anti-trans candidates in recent elections. In the current election, as Erin Reed reported, “voters rank transgender issues as the least important to their vote among a list of 22 issues. Of those who rank it as very important, most are Democratic voters.”
3. The latest poll asked voters about the importance of 22 issues to their vote, ranging from China to Palestine, Supreme Court Justices, race relations, taxes, and the economy, and more.
Voters ranked transgender issues dead last in the order of importance. pic.twitter.com/Yb0oSXnOvq
— Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) October 10, 2024