Two Democrat congressmen running for U.S. Senate seats in Arizona and Texas endorsed keeping LGBT radicalism in the U.S. military on Friday.
In a letter sent to leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, more than 160 House Democrats voiced opposition to provisions in the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025 that prohibit the Pentagon from adopting several extreme LGBT policies. Among the letter’s signatories are Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, both of whom are running for Senate seats in their respective states.
“The federal government should be working to ensure all service members and their families can thrive,” the document reads. “This includes working to ensure that LGBTQ+ service members and family members feel welcome in the military and that symbols and art forms related to the LGBTQ+ community are not singled out for censorship.”
Approved by House lawmakers in June, the lower chamber’s NDAA includes various amendments nixing neo-Marxist policies plaguing America’s armed forces. Among those specifically opposed by House Democrats are provisions prohibiting the Defense Department from using taxpayer money to subsidize so-called “gender transition surgeries” through the military’s TRICARE program and purchase materials containing “pornographic” and “radical gender ideology” for military schools.
The Democrats also voiced opposition in the letter to sections in the NDAA barring the Pentagon from funding “drag show[s], drag queen story hour, or similar event[s]” on military bases and stripping the “discretion of military chain of command and senior civilian leadership with respect to display of flags,” the latter of which they contend would authorize the prohibition of LGBT flags from being flown on agency grounds.
Many of these amendments were included in House Republicans’ 2024 NDAA proposal but were effectively tossed by Senate Democrats. The final version of the bill “negotiated” by Speaker Mike Johnson and Democrat leadership ultimately left out such provisions, allowing leftists’ neo-Marxist policies to fester in the military for another year.
Despite running in Republican-leaning states, both Gallego and Allred are big proponents of LGBT radicalism.
The Democrat congressmen are listed as cosponsors of the Equality Act. As The Federalist’s Elle Purnell previously explained, that proposal “would strip religious liberties, freedom of speech, parental rights, and the safety and privacy of women and girls.”
Meanwhile, Allred cosponsored a resolution calling on the federal government to implement a so-called “Transgender Bill of Rights to protect and codify the rights of transgender and nonbinary people under the law and ensure their access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security,” according to a bill summary.
“Day after day Colin Allred shows Texans who he really is,” a representative for Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz’s reelection campaign told The Federalist. “His record on transgender issues puts our children and families at risk. The women and children of Texas simply cannot afford to have him as the next United States senator representing Texas.”
The campaign of Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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