Two Dem Senate candidates stand up for trans athletes in the face of GOP attacks - LGBTQ Nation

"The anti-trans campaign in Maine [is] funded by an out-of-state billionaire to make sure that we have this discussion and we don't talk about raising his taxes. I think there are, like, two trans kids that compete in high school sports in Maine. There are 40,000 Mainers who are going to lose health care because of the lack of the Affordable Care Act extension."

"EqualityMaine, GLAD Law and the Maine Women's Lobby called Uihlein's effort a cynical attempt by one of the richest people in the world to manipulate voters and said the initiative would increase bullying and harassment and cost local schools millions of dollars for construction and litigation."

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner contends that Republican opposition to transgender rights represents an invented culture-war distraction from economic issues, particularly taxing billionaires. Maine Governor Janet Mills refused to comply with President Trump's demand to ban transgender female athletes from girls' and women's sports. Conservative billionaire Richard Uihlein subsequently donated $800,000 to a state ballot initiative supporting the ban. Advocacy groups criticized this as a cynical manipulation tactic. Platner emphasized the scale disparity, noting only two transgender students compete in Maine high school sports while 40,000 Mainers face potential healthcare loss from Affordable Care Act extension lapses. Similar arguments have been made by Texas state representative and U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico.

Read at LGBTQ Nation