Transgender rights became a key line of attack for the GOP in last year’s elections, and the issue seems poised to remain top of mind for the party as it regains control of Washington — as evidenced by the House passage this afternoon of a bill that would bar trans student athletes from female school sports teams and Republicans’ attacks on Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.), the first openly transgender member of Congress.
— With some Democrats retreating from the issue in the aftermath of the election, a number of their colleagues are digging in, backing a new advocacy group aimed explicitly at building and exercising transgender rights advocates’ political power.
— The Christopher Street Project is a 501(c)4 group and hybrid PAC that launched this week and will work to make sure “Democrats are united in opposition” to bills that would restrict transgender rights, in addition to supporting candidates who openly support the issue and, potentially, funding primary challengers “to candidates who are scapegoating the trans community and voting in a way that doesn’t align with what we view as Democratic values,” said Tyler Hack, the group’s founder and executive director.
— “Democrats need a coordinated response to the attacks on trans rights that are to come from MAGA Republicans and the Trump administration,” Hack told PI, alluding to the lack of air cover Democrats got on the issue last year and the party’s subsequent splintering on trans rights. (Two House Democrats — Texas’ Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez — joined all Republicans in voting for today’s measure.)
— The group has the backing of Democratic Sen. Andy Kim (N.J.) along with Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Jasmine Crockett (Texas), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Judy Chu (Calif.) and Al Green (Texas). Its status as a hybrid PAC means Christopher Street Project will be able to directly support their campaigns in addition to funding independent expenditures.
