Transgender Ideology Is on the Ballot in NJ, VA

Political parties routinely dispatch high profile surrogates to campaign on behalf of their top-of-the-ticket candidates, especially in off-year election states. But Democrats have an added incentive this year because a marquee cause held dear by the party and embraced by its two gubernatorial candidates in next week’s elections is at risk of dissolving into irrelevancy.  

The bedrock of transgender ideology got a seismic shock earlier this month when research from the University of Buckingham showed a precipitous decline in young people identifying as something other than their natural sex. Eric Kaufmann, a professor at the university’s Center for Heterodox Social Science, reported on Oct. 10 that, among other things, “The transgender share among university students peaked in 2023 and has almost halved since, from nearly 7 percent to under 4 percent.” Adding to the woes of Democrats, Kaufmann found that, “Today’s freshmen are less BTQ+ than seniors, suggesting that decline will continue.” Kaufmann further observed, “There is evidence that improved mental health has reduced BTQ+ identification.” 

The net takeaway from Kaufmann’s research is that transgender ideology is a passing fad, like Pet Rocks in the mid-1970s. As is the case with trans ideology, Pet Rocks identify as something they clearly are not, present themselves by mimicking the outward characteristics of something they’re not, and include a guidebook on caring for and training them. The comparison may seem preposterous, but the parallels are undeniable.  

Virginia, New Jersey Gubernatorial Candidates Clinging to a Failing Ideology 

In New Jersey and Virginia, Democrats have fielded candidates for governor who support the idea of males competing against females in sports. If either or both of these Democrats are elected next month—Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia—it will be hailed by LGBTQ+ activists as a victory for transgender ideology. If not, it will signal the continued repudiation of a destructive and evil ideology that’s already falling out of style. For transgender ideologues, the 2025 election cycle is critical to their agenda.  

Neither Sherrill nor Spanberger have made trans ideology a centerpiece of their campaigns, and for good reason. A June Gallup Poll found that 69% of respondents think boys and girls in sports should compete only against those of the same sex. Before that, a New York Times/Ipsos poll found that 79% of Americans believe boys should not be allowed to compete against girls. Small wonder that Sherrill and Spanberger are not proclaiming their support for transgender ideology; Americans think it’s a very bad idea so they’re hiding from it. 

But what these candidates cannot hide from is their voting records. Sherrill voted twice—in 2023 and again in 2025—against bills in Congress to ensure that boys’ and girls’ sports remain sex segregated. She also voted against legislation requiring schools to inform parents that their children have bought into transgender ideology. Spanberger also voted against protecting girls in sports before leaving Congress and opposed letting parents know about their child’s interest in transgender ideology.  

Conservatives are largely indifferent about men simply masquerading as women and vice versa. The problem arises when politicians seek to memorialize this dangerous and faddish ideology in public policy, particularly when it comes to children. Trans ideology exploits the tragedy of a minuscule percentage of people with clinical gender abnormalities. It then pursues the indoctrination of insecure youngsters into a political ideology that promotes surgical mutilation, corruption of the body’s endocrine system and delusions that match the American Psychological Association’s definition of a mental disorder. This is what Sherrill and Spanberger want for New Jersey and Virginia.  

Make no mistake about it, transgender ideology is on the ballot this year. Both candidates know it’s a 70-30 issue at best, so they try to ignore or avoid it at all costs. I have long theorized that in politics, the number of words needed to explain an idea is inversely proportional to the amount of truth it contains, and Spanberger exemplifies this theory. When asked by a TV reporter recently about her position on transgender ideology in sports, Spanberger responded not just with a word salad but an entire word salad bar. For her part, Sherrill is mostly keeping quiet about the matter. She, too, knows it’s a losing issue yet remains wedded to it because her base demands ideological purity. 

Sherrill and Spanberger embrace dangerous positions on an unpopular issue, and they’re doing everything they can to obfuscate their support for it. They know, and their party leaders know, that affirmation of transgender ideology is rapidly waning, so they’ll use any means necessary to breathe fresh life into a dying cause. Voters in New Jersey and Virginia must now decide whether they will resuscitate it or reject it.

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