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Five days after being asked and being aired nationally during sports events, the Cruz campaign finally pulled two anti-trans ads that used the images of two Oregon cisgender minors without parental consent.
In both ads, two Oregon students are pictured at a track meet. One ad includes messaging that claims Cruz’s challenger, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, "voted to allow boys in girls’ sports." The second ad reads, "Boys in girls' sport." The ads that ran during NFL games didn't identify the students as either transgender or cisgender.
The Oregon-based school district where they attend class responded in a letter to the Cruz campaign, writing, "It is alarming that your campaign would have produced/distributed/promoted this ad with false information, especially with minor children involved."
As most know Texas long ago banned transgender students from playing in sports and enacted other anti-trans laws raising the suicide rate amongst trans youth to as much as 72% when compared to states that haven't passed such laws. The Cruz campaign most likely used the Oregon children's images because there aren't any transgender youth left to play sports in Texas.
Cruz is not unique in using transgender people as political pawns. Erin Reed reports that over 100 Republicans Are Running On Anti-Trans Platforms In 2024.
However, Ted Cruz is unique in that he doesn't seem to care if it is a cisgender or transgender child who dies as a result of his campaign messaging.
Cruz’s campaign had not responded to the school district as of Monday, the district said. However, a spokesperson with the senator’s camp confirmed to Chron that the ads were no longer on the air.
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