When Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton called trans girls "boys" and endorsed her state's sports ban, the state's leading LGBTQ+ organization didn't know what to do with her. That confusion, playing out from Columbus to Washington, has exposed a widening split inside the LGBTQ+ advocacy world over whether to hold Democratic candidates accountable for anti-trans statements and votes, or to keep endorsing them anyway.
A Statement That Shook Ohio
Acton made her remarks to the Toledo Blade shortly after the Supreme Court decision allowing states to ban transgender girls from girls' sports. "I do not support boys playing in girls sports," she said, framing it as "settled law" she would enforce as governor. Local activists erupted, and even the Ohio Democratic Party's own Progressive and Pride caucuses publicly rebuked her, before state party officials reportedly forced the Progressive Caucus to walk its statement back and stonewalled the Pride Caucus.
Equality Ohio initially pulled Acton's A rating, moving her to "Pending" and calling her comments "extremely harmful." Acton then put out a broader "pro-LGBTQ+" statement that never mentioned gender identity, scheduled a meeting with trans advocates and LGBTQ+ leaders, skipped it herself, and sent a campaign staffer while barring the Ohio Pride Caucus vice chair from attending. Equality Ohio has since restored her to a "B," a grade its own scorecard defines as reflecting "insufficient record but supportive public statements." She still has not retracted the original comment.
If you can misgender trans girls, support discrimination, and still get a 'B,' Equality Ohio is telling us transphobia isn't a big deal, or they're admitting their scorecard is completely meaningless.
Ari Childrey
Equality Ohio's Answers Don't Add Up
Asked directly how a candidate with no retraction and an unresolved meeting with trans leaders qualifies for a grade meant for "supportive public statements," Equality Ohio pointed to general pledges from Acton, statements about standing up for "all Ohioans" that never mention transgender people specifically. The organization also acknowledged the meeting it had requested with Acton "has not happened yet" and that it could not confirm any real engagement between her campaign and trans communities. When asked whether it had pushed Acton to retract her comments, or about her staff barring a Pride Caucus official from a call, the group didn't answer either question, instead redirecting to Acton's campaign and describing her comments as part of a broader pattern of politicians scapegoating trans people using "data that's simply false." That's a striking admission to pair with a rating that improved rather than worsened.
HRC's Endorsements Draw the Same Question
The Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest LGBTQ+ organization, has its own version of this problem. Its list of endorsed candidates for the midterms includes Shomari Figures, who voted for an amendment stripping gender-affirming care from transgender service members and their families just three weeks after HRC endorsed him. It also includes Susie Lee and Tom Suozzi, who both backed an amendment targeting trans athletes (Suozzi has separately blamed transgender people for the Democrats' 2024 losses), and Sarah Trone Garriott, who is currently airing an ad declaring she opposes "letting men in women's locker rooms." None of it has cost them HRC's endorsement.
HRC defended the approach in a statement, arguing that if it only endorsed candidates who "never take a vote we oppose, we would likely never make progress," and describing its strategy as meeting politicians "where they are" to move them toward supporting the LGBTQ+ community over time. The organization pointed to the Respect for Marriage Act and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act as evidence the approach can work.
Erin Reed's List and a Rival PAC
The friction isn't confined to Ohio. Trans journalist Erin Reed published a broader list of Democratic candidates in federal and statewide races who've made anti-trans statements or cast anti-trans votes, urging supporters not to reward them at the ballot box. Her list spans gubernatorial races (Acton in Ohio, Xavier Becerra in California, Aaron Ford in Nevada), Senate contests (Mary Peltola in Alaska, Josh Turek in Iowa, Sherrod Brown in Ohio), and House seats including Henry Cuellar and Eugene Vindman, both of whom Reed says have voted for numerous anti-trans provisions.
Reed's warning cuts to the heart of the strategic disagreement: if these candidates win without consequence, she argues, it teaches the party that "throwing transgender people under the bus is a winning strategy," a dynamic she compares to the UK's Labour Party's rightward drift on trans issues. A newer PAC, the Christopher Street Project, was founded specifically to offer an alternative, endorsing lawmakers who've stayed firm on trans rights rather than triangulating against them.
MQ's Take
Scorecards and endorsements exist to give voters a shortcut: this candidate has our community's back, this one doesn't. That shortcut only works if the grade means what it says. Equality Ohio's own words, harmful scapegoating built on false data, describe exactly the kind of conduct its scorecard reserves a low mark for, and yet Acton's grade went up, not down, while the retraction and the meeting both remain outstanding. HRC's
Source: Erin in the Morning
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