Marcy Kaptur faces backlash over transgender ideology, girls sports ads

One of the most vulnerable House Democrats of the 2026 election cycle is being hammered from the left and right for her stance on transgender youth.

Longtime Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, is facing one of her toughest re-election battles yet, partially thanks to Buckeye State Republicans redrawing the boundaries of her district to include more GOP voters.

In what appears to be an appeal to those voters, Kaptur recently sent out mailers touting her opposition to biological males playing on girls’ school sports teams. “Unlike the far left, I believe boys shouldn’t play girls’ sports,” the mailed campaign ad, obtained by Fox News Digital, said.

The other side touted that Kaptur “voted to ban schools from touting gender ideology in classrooms.”

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The moderate Ohio Democrat was referring to her vote in May of this year in favor of the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act, which would condition federal funding to public elementary and middle schools on those schools obtaining parents’ permission before any sex or gender accommodations for students are made.

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She also referenced that vote in a campaign ad, in which she said, “I voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of our schools, because parents know best for their kids. And boys should not play in girls’ sports.”

House Republicans’ campaign arm pointed out, however, that Kaptur is also a supporter of the Equality Act. That bill, introduced in April 2025, includes language to prohibit public schools from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Kaptur is a co-sponsor of the bill.

Demonstrators listen to speakers during an “Our Bodies, Our Sports” rally for the 50th anniversary of Title IX at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., on June 23, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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She also previously voted against the GOP-led Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in April 2023 and January 2025. The former instance received no Democratic support, while two Democrats voted with Republicans on the bill last year.

“Lies from desperate Democrat Marcy Kaptur can’t erase her radical record. Kaptur is in damage control, and she must remove herself as a co-sponsor of the Equality Act and disavow her previous votes or remove her lies from the airwaves,” National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Zach Bannon told Fox News Digital.

That stance is creating political headaches for Kaptur on the other side of the aisle, as well.

Ohio progressives are accusing Kaptur of throwing transgender kids under the bus to score electoral points. LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Ohio graded Kaptur a “D” for having “recently released anti-trans ads.”

Lucas County Stonewall Democrats wrote in an open letter to Kaptur, “Shame on you and your campaign staff for pushing this incredibly harmful anti-Trans rhetoric.”

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, is the longest-serving woman in House history and is running for her 23rd term in a key battleground race this November. (Getty Images)

And an opinion piece in the Buckeye Flame, an LGBTQ news site, stated, “[A]s a 27-year-old working journalist who challenges oppression and interrogates transphobia daily, I am embarrassed at Rep. Kaptur’s name on my resume. So much so that I removed it.”

Kaptur has survived prior redistricting bids by Republicans to serve her Toledo-area district for over four decades.

But in an election cycle where turning out the base matters to both sides, it’s not clear what kind of effect her position on the issue will have. Fox News Digital reached out to Kaptur’s campaign but did not receive a response.