Today, GLAAD is revealing research on anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and behavior from Tommy Tuberville, winner of the Alabama Republican Senate Primary runoff.
Tuberville defeated former U.S. Attorney General and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions in the runoff held July 14th. Sessions’ record on LGBTQ issues, as well as on Black civil rights and immigration rights, is among the most negative for any politician in history. Sessions opposed all bills on LGBTQ equality throughout his decades in the Senate, including hate crimes legislation. As U.S. Attorney General, he worked to roll back protections for transgender students and vigorously supported expanding religious exemptions to anti-discrimination laws.
Tuberville is a former college football coach and first-time political candidate, endorsed by Pres. Trump. Tuberville is a robust supporter of Trump, saying during the campaign “God sent Donald Trump to us.” Tuberville recently praised Trump’s leadership while also saying “the country is heading in the wrong direction, backing Trump’s border wall with Mexico and cuts to social programs. His frequent outreach to anti-LGBTQ activists was compared to that of Republican senatorial candidate Roy Moore (“Roy Moore without the Sex Scandals”), and Tuberville has been outspoken against LGBTQ rights and visibility:
- “I am against this transgender, guys turning into women, and winning all these state championships all over the country,” Tuberville said last week.
- “Hard to believe that right in my own backyard the city of Opelika allows drag queens in the city Christmas parade… what is next?” Tuberville wrote on Facebook last December.
- Tuberville says he knows of at least five former players who came out as gay, but only after their time on Tuberville’s teams, including Michael Sam who later came out while playing for Missouri. It’s unknown if Tuberville did anything to lead a welcoming environment or help LGBTQ players be open about who they are.
- Tuberville criticized Chick-fil-A’s decision to stop giving money to anti-LGBTQ charities: ‘Isn’t it horrible when liberal activists ruin something good?’