Some Republicans try to make transgender issues the focus of this midterm election

Both major party candidates for Mississippi’s U.S. Senate seat in Tuesday’s midterm election have tagged their opponent with snappy, derisive nicknames.

Democratic challenger Scott Colom refers to Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith as Cindy High Prices. It is not clear whether High Prices should be hyphenated.

Hyde-Smith has labeled Colom a “Transgender Defender.”

Colom said he calls the incumbent Cindy High Prices because she has been unwilling to oppose President Donald Trump on his tariffs, his war with Iran and other issues that Colom argues have resulted in higher prices on gasoline, diesel and most retail items.

During a Trump rally last week in Corinth in northeast Mississippi, Hyde-Smith referred to Trump  as “the best president of our lifetime.”

On the flip side, why does Hyde-Smith refer to her challenger as a “Transgender Defender?” Colom, a district attorney for four counties in the Golden Triangle area, did sign a letter in 2021 stating opposition to “the criminalization of transgender people.” But he has said he opposes gender-affirming surgeries for minors, which have not occurred in Mississippi and are rarely performed nationally and then only with parental consent.

Colom told MPB in a recent interview, “Listen, I have two daughters. I believe in fairness in girls’ sports, and I don’t believe in gender-affirming surgery for children.” 

Still, fearmongering about transgender people should not be surprising. It is a tactic as old as the country for politicians to leverage people’s unease about minorities to further their own electoral goals.

Black people, gay people, immigrants and others have faced the scorn of politicians.

In recent election cycles, the nation’s very small transgender community has been the subject of the ire of Trump and other politicians. In 2023, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, facing a tough reelection campaign, accused Democratic challenger Brandon Presley of supporting transgender issues. It was in many ways the central theme of Reeves’ campaign, even though it was not an issue that affects most Mississippians’ daily lives.

In 2024, Trump used many of the same arguments against his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.

Now, President Trump and others are canvassing the nation before the midterm election campaigning for Republican candidates for the Senate and House and making outrageous statements about the transgender community.

At Corinth, Trump said Democrats “promote the transgender mutilization of your children,” meaning, presumably, mutilation.

A recent analysis by The Associated Press showed Republicans have spent an estimated $183 million on television ads attacking Democrats on the transgender issue.

Perhaps, the component of the issue that resonates the most with voters is what appears to be overwhelming opposition to “boys or men playing sports against girls or women.” Or, in other words, many say they are opposed to transgender athletes competing against people who were identified as female at birth.

A recent YouGov poll highlighted the opposition, with 51% strongly opposed and 11% “somewhat opposed” to transgender women competing in female sports categories, but the poll also identified many misconceptions on the issue.

For instance, despite the NCAA specifically limiting participation in female sporting events to only athletes who were female at birth, only 31% of respondents said correctly that less than 1% of NCAA female athletes were transgender.

In addition, according to the poll, 15% said they think up to 5% of the athletes competing in female events were transgender and 14% said they think up to 25% of the athletes were transgender.

It is obvious that a sizable number of politicians believe focusing on the transgender issue and attacking transgender people, regardless of the facts, can help them win elections.

It is an often-used strategy: Try to increase turnout by scaring voters.