Election 2024
Mystery Group Is Sending Iowa Residents Mailers Hailing Trump A ‘Transgender Trailblazer’
A mystery group has been sending political mailers to Iowa households over the weekend that hails former President Donald Trump as a “transgender trailblazer” and “thanks” him “for standing up for LGBTQ+ rights!” (despite never having made good on any of his pro-LGBTQ+ policy promises.)
The front side of the mailer notes that Trump “celebrated” when President Joe Biden signed the Marriage Equality Act last December.
A mailer hailing Donald Trump as a “transgender trailblazer” is being sent to Iowa residents by a recently-formed political group
It goes on to selectively quote a Politico article by Meridith McGraw about a Mar-a-Lago gala for Log Cabin Republicans, the mailer reads: “But the main attraction … was Trump. He received a standing ovation after delivering an enthusiastic affirmation of gay rights not often heard in the GOP.”
It then goes on to declare Trump a “Transgender Trailblazer” for allowing a transgender woman to compete in a Miss Universe pageant in Canada. Trump defended the decision in a 2012 interview with a Fox News personality, but the mailer cites a FoxNews.com article from April 2023 to create the false impression that the Trump quote was recent.
The reverse side of the mailer claims that “Donald Trump stood up for MARRIAGE EQUALITY and TRANS RIGHTS” while “many Republican leaders are fighting against” those policies.
The mailer encourages voters to contact Trump through his “office” to “tell him to keep fighting for LGBTQ rights!”
The flyer claims to have been “Paid for by Advancing Our Values,” an entity that was registered in Iowa as a 504 non-profit on June 27, 2023, according to the Iowa Secretary of State’s business database. The group’s registered agent is listed as Cogency Global Inc., which provides registered agent services to numerous organizations.
The mailer appears to be an attempt by a rival GOP presidential candidate to bestow phony pro-LGBT praise on Trump to dissuade potential GOP caucus-goers from supporting the twice-indicted former president. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump’s leading rival for the GOP nomination, has recently attacked Trump for his previous statements supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
As ACLU communications strategist Gillian Branstetter notes: “Trump told homeless shelters to reject trans people, told federal prisons to ignore the risks of incarcerated trans people being raped, and let trans asylum seekers die in ICE detention. He removed protections for transgender students on Betsy Devos’s first day. He told SCOTUS that employers could fire people for being trans with impunity. He told doctors they could turn away trans people. He told the UN to scrub the word “gender” from reports on violence.”
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He removed protections for transgender students on Betsy Devos’s first day. He told SCOTUS that employers could fire people for being trans with impunity. He told doctors they could turn away trans people. He told the UN to scrub the word “gender” from reports on violence.
— Gillian Branstetter (@GBBranstetter) July 10, 2023
His Agricultural Department even once forced out the head of Iowa’s 4H program because he tried to adopt a nondiscrimination policy protecting trans kids. He left no stone unturned in his quest to make my professional life miserable every day for four straight years.
— Gillian Branstetter (@GBBranstetter) July 10, 2023
I know because WE COINED IT https://t.co/xSAISX3fEj
— Gillian Branstetter (@GBBranstetter) July 10, 2023
