Ken Calvert has been in office since 1993 and has spent three decades pushing a corrupt and extremist agenda.

In addition to being named one of the most corrupt members of Congress, he has weaponized his office to go after LGBTQ rights and built one of the most homophobic legislative records in Congress: supporting the federal Defense of Marriage Act, voting against providing LGBTQ people with comprehensive protections against discrimination, and seeking to ban same-sex marriage in California. Just last year, Calvert voted to remove funding for LGBTQ community centers from a government funding bill. With Palm Springs – home to one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ communities – now drawn into Calvert’s district, the Congressman will struggle to defend his bigoted record.

Clavert is facing a rematch with his 2022 challenger, Will Rollins, an openly gay man who came closer than anyone in a decade to unseating Calvert in a district that now includes Palm Springs - the first municipality in the country to elect an all-LGBTQ council, a large LGBTQ community, and the home of Dinah Shore weekend.

Susan Plasencia won her seat by beating the first openly LGBTQ+ Latin person elected to the Florida Legislature - costing Florida one of its most vocal opponents to Ron Disantis’s hateful and harmful agenda.

Since her election, she’s been a reliable vote for anti-LGBTQ bills in the Florida legislature and advocate for what right wing calls “parental rights in education.”

Where to start with Fabian Basabe…

A former socialite and reality TV star turned Republican legislator representing Miami’s South Beach, Basabe has made waves during his tenure in office. Accused of slapping and sexually harassing his staff, he has voted in lockstep with Ron DiSantis including on 6-week abortion bans, a bill aimed at ending Drag Shows, and the infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill, despite representing himself as a gay man - an identity in conflict with the conservative family values he advertises with his wife and young son.

None of this even gets to his multiple DUIs, multiple biting incidents, alleged affairs and assaults, and all-around problematic history.

Basabe is facing an openly gay opponent in Joe Sanders, a longtime advocate and activist for LGBTQ causes and Equality Florida staffer.

Rep. Jon Dunwell co-sponsored HF 180, which would forcibly out trans students in public schools, and HF 348, a "Don't Say Gay" bill that would ban the discussion of gender and sexuality in grades K-6. Dunwell also voted for SF 469, a sweeping anti-LGBTQ bill that included a book ban, a requirement for schools to notify parents when students ask to use a different name or pronouns, and banned discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary school.

Rep. Bill Allen whose district includes some of Kansas City and its suburbs has voted for both of the anti-trans bills that made it through the Missouri legislature in 2023. Bill Allen voted to ban trans people from playing sports from Kindergarten to College - punishing schools that even play against a team with a transgender athlete by stripping the institutions of all public funding. He also voted for a bill that severely restricts gender affirming care for minors - and while the bill stops short of forcible detransitioning minors - it does stop any trans minors not currently receiving care from starting to receive gender affirming healthcare.

Oklahoma has been a prime example of what happens when extremist rhetoric filters down into schools and harms LBGTQ students. In the wake of Nex Benedict’s death - the legislators who enacted the laws and spewed the rhetoric that led to their bullying should be held accountable for the consequences of their votes.

Eric Roberts voted for a trans bathroom ban in schools, a ban on trans girls in sports, and a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for minors - to name only a few. Roberts also serves in leadership for the Oklahoma House Republican caucus, literally whipping votes for some of the most egregious anti-LGBTQ bills to go through state legislatures.

To top it all off, he’s also sponsored bills to chill protests at the State Capitol, a policy largely assumed to be in response to the LGBTQ protests that happened as the legislature passed anti-trans bills last session.

Tricia Cotham made national news in 2023 by switching her party from Democrat to Republican - giving the North Carolina Republicans a veto-proof majority in the State House.

With the supermajority she helped create, Cotham voted to enact the most restrictive abortion ban North Carolina had seen in 50 years, as well as ban gender-affirming care, ban trans kids from playing sports, and forced outing of trans students. All despite having run on a pro-LGBTQ and pro-choice platform.

Buck Newton has a long history of inflammatory statements regarding the LGBTQ community, in addition to a horrible voting record on the issues. He’s made the Hate Squad because his rhetoric represents some of the most harmful and dehumanizing types of rhetoric against LGBTQ people.

In response to a 2016 anti-trans bill moving through the Legislature, Newton proclaimed at a rally that it was important to “keep our state straight” and told the crowd, “We all know that the folks that wave the rainbow flags and things like that are politically very upset about the way things are today. They’re upset about the way things have always been in this state." When held to account, Newton said the bill was intended to keep “men out of the bathroom with little girls” and he had nothing to appologize for.

More recently, during a 2023 debate on gender affirming care for minors, Newton can be heard audible laughing at statistics on transgender teen suicide, and after being called out by a colleague, defends his behavior.

Valerie Gaydos voted against a statewide LGBTQ nondiscrimination bill, calling it “Discriminatory Legislation” because “It also undermines the rights of women to play competitive sports free from biological men on their women’s sports teams.” Gaydos has led the charge on banning transgender school athletes during her time in the legislature as one of the main sponsors of a ban on trans girls playing sports. She also said that the Biden administration’s executive order requiring trans athletes be permitted to compete on school teams that align with their gender would “destroy women’s sports.”

Gaydos is also a proponent of reducing the size of the legislature - and we know just the seat to start with.

Joe Emrick voted to ban transgender girls and women from playing in school sports. One of the sponsors of the bill said, “allowing biological males to compete in girls and women sports destroys fair competition and women’s athletic opportunities.” He also voted to amend the Pennsylvania State Consitution to declare that abortion is not a constitutional right.