Virginia
Conservative group’s anti-transgender ad targets Spanberger
Restoration of America PAC attacks Va. gubernatorial candidate
A new ad paints Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger “as extreme as it gets” because of her stance on transgender rights.
Restoration of America PAC, a collection of conservative groups, funded the 30-second spot. It claims that Spanberger supports allowing “boys to play girls sports and shower in girls locker rooms … naked,” “horrifying gender mutilation reversal,” and “irreversible sterilization of children.”
The ad then argues Spanberger “refuses to answer questions about this because she knows how evil it is.”
When asked if she would support a bill that would allow trans women to use bathrooms and to play on sports teams consistent with their gender identity, Spanberger told WSET in Roanoke last month that she would “support a bill that would put clear provisions in place that provide a lot of local ability for input.”
Spanberger is running against Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican “morally opposed” to marriage equality, to succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Equality Virginia Advocates, an organization that works alongside Equality Virginia, aims to advance equality for LGBTQ Virginians through advocacy and public policy. Executive Director Narissa Rahaman described the ad as “poorly recycled scapegoating” pulled from the “Trump 2024 playbook.”
“We need leaders focused on combating the everyday challenges facing Virginians across the commonwealth, not manufacturing culture war issues to encourage discrimination against our friends, families, and neighbors who happen to be transgender,” Rahaman said.
Rahaman added Equality Virginia PAC’s recent data shows 71 percent of the Earle-Sears campaign’s digital ad spending has been dedicated to ads against trans youth.
Earle-Sears has previously aired ads that claim Spanberger is for “they/them, not us,” echoing messaging the Trump-Vance campaign used to target former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race.
“The Virginia GOP is wasting millions villainizing a small part of the population while ignoring the real issues facing Virginians: unaffordable housing, rampant inflation, and federal job cuts,” Rahaman said.
Laurel Powell, communications director at the Human Rights Campaign, noted conservative groups have spent more than $230,000 on anti-trans ads in Virginia. She described the anti-trans advertisements as “dangerous, blatant lies created to exploit misinformation about the trans community.”
“Republicans are desperately trying to distract from their ongoing failure on issues facing Virginians — like the Republican-led government shutdown, the fallout from the disastrous tariff wars, and thousands of people being booted from their jobs to feed Donald Trump’s lust for political vengeance,” Powell said. “While they make life harder and more dangerous for transgender people, all Virginians are being robbed of the leadership they need and deserve.”
A Christian Newport University poll notes Virginia’s likely voters are focused on threats to democracy, inflation or cost of living, healthcare, and immigration as key issues for the upcoming election. The poll found likely voters said Spanberger would do a better job than Earle-Sears in handling trans-specific policy by 13 points.
Spanberger cosponsored and voted for the Equality Act three times, which would ban discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation in federal law. Earle-Sears, for her part, has previously misgendered state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) — the first openly trans statewide lawmaker in Virginia — during a floor debate and has made inaccurate claims about trans people at school board meetings.
Spanberger currently leads Earle-Sears by a 47.5-45.1 percent margin, according to a poll from Trafalgar Group, although the lead is within the poll’s 2.9 percent margin of error. Election Day is on Nov. 4.
Virginia
Virginia Anti-Violence Project struggles to fill federal funding gaps
Group has lost 54 percent of funding since 2020
A loss of federal funding has threatened to adversely impact the Virginia Anti-Violence Project’s work in the state.
The group’s mission is to assist LGBTQ and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) victims of domestic, sexual, interpersonal, and state violence with direct support, education, and advocacy. The VAVP seeks to build a future where LGBTQ and BIPOC individuals can live freely without a sense for worry about violence.
“Virginia Anti-Violence Project helps to close the distance between services existing and LGBTQIA+ survivors actually being able to reach safety, stable housing, and support that they can trust,” VAVP Executive Director Ebony Clark told the Washington Blade on Tuesday. “Our mission is to provide direct services and advocacy to LGBTQ+ survivors across Virginia.”
Clark said obtaining state and federal funds has become increasingly difficult.
“One of the reasons that we can talk about is politics and how you know queer diverse, queer communities are targets when it comes to politics, and so that may be a reason why the funding is decreasing in in very niche areas, but overall, state funding, federal funding has been lost or significantly reduced when it comes to culturally specific marginalized populations,” Clark said. “The bigger picture is that funding that was purposed for diversity, equity, inclusion, marginalized populations, or you know culturally competent programming, those funds have been strategically reduced or eliminated on state and federal levels overall.”
Even more so with the current Trump-Vance administration.
Data shows federal funding for one “major federal victim-services funding stream in” Virginia has dropped 54 percent over the last six years: from $25.1 million in fiscal year 2020 to $11.6 million in fiscal year 2026.
Clark noted some federal funding has been denied due to VAVP’s DEI policies — it has had to “water down” their language. These cuts have forced VAVP to limit housing and economic support, which has resulted in fewer resources for its clients.
The organization has set up a goal for receiving between $250,000-$300,000 a year that would allow it to operate — and focus on client housing.
“Housing is fundamental to safety,” Clark told the Blade. “If you know leaving violence puts someone on the street or forces them back to the person harming them, that means the crisis isn’t over. So there needs to be other prevention strategies and reactive strategies in place to be able to prevent further violence from folks.”
VAVP has set up a link for anyone who is interested in making a donation. It is here.
The VAVP website is also accepting donations.
Virginia
Winsome Earle-Sears ‘Life and Marriage Tour’ to include Northern Va. stops
Voters to consider marriage equality, reproductive rights referenda in November
Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has announced her campaign against efforts to enshrine marriage equality and reproductive rights in the state constitution will make several stops in Northern Virginia.
Her “Life and Marriage Tour” will include stops in Manassas, Winchester, and Harrisonburg. Earle-Sears said the “Life and Marriage Tour” will also travel to Virginia Beach, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Charlottesville, and other cities across Virginia “throughout September and October.”
The announcement did not include specific dates.
“Virginia, you’ve been asking where the Life and Marriage Tour is headed — here’s a look at our current tour locations,” she said on X on Tuesday. “We’ll be traveling across the commonwealth throughout September and October, and we’re still building the journey.”
Current Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, last November defeated Earle-Sears, a Republican, in the race to succeed Republican Glenn Youngkin.
Voters in 2006 approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment, which defined marriage in Virginia as between a man and a woman.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Youngkin a decade later signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.
Two successive legislatures must approve a proposed constitutional amendment before it can go to the ballot.
Spanberger signed bills that finalized the marriage equality and reproductive rights referenda’s language.
The referenda will take place on Nov. 3.
Virginia
Doug Ollivant to face Eugene Vindman in Va. 7th Congressional District
Republican defeated challengers in Tuesday’s primary
Republican Doug Ollivant will face off against incumbent U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
Ollivant defeated his Republican opponents in Tuesday’s primary. Vindman ran unopposed.
Vindman in 2024 ran to succeed then-Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger in the U.S. House of Representatives after she ran for governor. Spanberger succeeded Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2025.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Tuesday easily won his primary. All other Democratic incumbent members of Congress from Northern Virginia also won their respective primaries.
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