THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

As the nation reels from the overturning of Roe v. Wade, anti-gay rhetoric and calls to roll back LGBTQ rights have also grown bolder among extremist elected officials and candidates.

The National LGBTQ Task Force will raise awareness around the increasingly aggressive attacks on the LGBTQ community and communities of color, including legislation that bans hundreds of books and censors curriculum covering slavery or mentioning LGBTQ people. As politicians strip away freedoms by banning abortions—even in cases of rape and incest—they are also working to criminalize and charge parents with child abuse simply for supporting their transgender children.

Task Force Executive Director Kierra Johnson said, "Our community is paying attention to the extremism of politicians who would take away our freedoms and the freedoms of other marginalized and vulnerable communities. We will hold accountable any elected official willing to destroy the civil rights advancements that have put LGBTQ people closer to not just equality, but equity. We are proud to partner with our Texas and Florida colleagues in launching a national digital ad campaign to put extremist politicians on notice; we are watching and will hold them accountable."

Equality Florida will target Gov. Ron Desantis for his repeated attacks against the LGBTQ+ community—in particular, highlighting his signing of the so-called "Don't Say Gay" legislation and his repeated attempts to censor school curriculums and ban books.

Equality Texas will be focusing its efforts on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for his anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and promises to defend any law criminalizing sodomy enacted by the legislature. The ads will be in English markets and also target Latino audiences with Spanish subtitles.

The ads are adapted with permission from an ad campaign developed by Wide Angle Research that encompasses abortion, LGBTQ+ equality and democracy issues.