Republicans unleashed vile transphobic attacks against her, but trans lawmaker Brianna Titone just won an increased majority
Democratic rep. Brianna Titone (Aron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Colorado transgender lawmaker Brianna Titone has won re-election with an increased majority, despite Republicans launching vile transphobic ads in a bid to unseat her.
Titone was among the first handful of trans lawmakers elected anywhere in the US in 2018, when she flipped Colorado’s GOP-controlled 27th house district by just 439 votes – less than one percent of the vote.
Aggressive transphobic attacks failed to stop Brianna Titone
Ahead of her re-election battle on Tuesday (November 3), Republicans threw the kitchen sink at attempting to unseat her – with Republican state representative Stephen Humphrey recording a robocall that disparages and misgenders Titone.
In the robocall, paid for by the right-wing PAC Colorado Family Values Victory Fund, Humphrey told voters: “Representative Titone is a transsexual state representative who wants to force a radical sexual agenda on every Coloradan.
“Titone supports policies that force your wives and daughters to share bathrooms with biological men who identify as female.
“Titone also supports taxpayer-funded sex change treatments for children, even before puberty. Titone is just too dangerous for Colorado families.”
Democratic rep. Brianna Titone (Aron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, groups supporting Titone’s opponents took out a series of targeted Facebook ads, referring to her as a man and using her birth name.
Data from Facebook’s ad transparency library seen by PinkNews indicated thousands of dollars have been funnelled into ads using Titone’s birth name, which have been served 80,000 times and remain active on the site several days after the issue was first raised.
Trans lawmaker overcomes vile anti-trans attacks
However, despite the attacks on Titone, she was re-elected with an increased majority of 2,280 over GOP opponent Vicki Pyne.
Titone said: “The voters have spoken and selected me to continue to serve the people of House District 27. Thank you!
“It has been my honor to serve you the last 2 years and it is my honor again to serve for you the next two years. I will always do my best to represent the district to the best of my ability, to listen to views that differ from my own, and apply science and logic to the decisions that we face in governing the great state of Colorado.
“As always, please reach out with any constituent issues that come about. We’ll be working for you while we begin to craft new legislation for the 73rd General Assembly.”
Despite a largely worse-than-expected night for Democrats, LGBT+ candidates performed remarkably well in Tuesday’s elections – which saw a number of trailblazers elected – including the first Black and Afro-Latino congressmen, first transgender state senator, and bolstered representation in state legislatures.
“Tonight’s wins for LGBTQ people of color and transgender Americans across the country are historic and long overdue,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said. “Their victories represent a leap forward for LGBTQ acceptance and a demand for more of the progress and equality that their very presence demonstrates. We can’t wait to see them shine in their new roles.”
