‘Wildly offensive’: Arkansas governor criticised over anti-trans sports advert
Republican Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders faces backlash over anti-trans sports advert. (Getty Images)
Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has sparked backlash after releasing an anti-trans sports advert that depicts a “new teammate” for a girls’ team as a “full-grown man”.
In the ad, a coach introduces a “new teammate” to a team of teenage girls, however, the “new teammate” is shown as an adult man approaching the group as the girls look on in disgust.
Sanders then appears on screen and claims the Biden administration threatened to take away “millions” in federal funding if Arkansas did not allow “men” to play in women’s sports, which is reported as a false claim.
The Biden Administration intended to “allow transgender student athletes to participate in sports based on their gender identity with consideration for students’ age, level of competition and the individual sport’s status as a contact sport.”
Yet, there were still restrictions limiting sport participation to sex assigned at birth in certain circumstances.
Sanders also claimed that she “won the fight to keep men out of women’s sports, locker rooms and restrooms”, adding: “I will always stand for what’s right against the out of control left.”
Backlash to the ad
One of the most widely shared reactions to the ad on X came from political commentator The Shumater, who wrote: “This wildly offensive ad from Gov. Sanders features anti-trans tropes equivalent to parodying African-Americans with blackface. Hate isn’t funny. Punching down isn’t Christian. And she’s “prevented” nothing; no trans girl has ever tried to play sports in Arkansas.”
Criticism continued across social media, with some users urging Sanders to focus on other issues facing Arkansas rather than trans participation in sport.
Joe Collura wrote in an X post calling Sanders a ‘transphobic disgrace’: “What a transphobic disgrace you are to our state. Why not fix real issues like hunger or the education and health care issues facing our state. It’s genuinely embarrassing the hatred you spew.”
Sanders’ record on trans issues
Sanders is the Republican governor of Arkansas and previously served as White House press secretary under Donald Trump. She is the daughter of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.
In 2023, she signed a law restricting toilet use for trans students.
She also drew attention that year for a “real women” drink coolers advert tied to the backlash against trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney’s Bud Light partnership.
