Girls’ bathrooms must stay for girls—Democrats’ own ad shows why

Two weeks before Election Day, a Democratic super PAC is spending more than $1 million to make girls’ bathroom privacy a campaign punchline in Texas and Ohio.

Girls’ bathrooms must stay for girls. The ad portrays a generic Republican congressman checking a girls’ bathroom; it is a fictional spot, not an account of a real official entering one On Oct. 20, Caroline Vakil reported on X that Progress Action Fund had released an ad called “Republicans In Your Bathroom”; The Hill reported that the ad was 30 seconds long¹.

In the spot, a girl walks into a bathroom stall and screams when she finds a generic Republican congressman waiting there. He says, “I'm your Republican congressman. Now that we're in charge, I'm checking to make sure there's no trans people in the wrong bathroom.”. He says, “I won the last election, and this is my priority. Now, let’s The girl’s answer cuts through the joke: bathrooms are private.,” and the girl replies, “Bathrooms are private. Don't you have anything better to do?”?” He says the bathroom check is his priority. Progress Action Fund executive director Joe Jacobson said in a statement, “Americans want their elected officials to lower gas prices and end the war in Iran, not follow them into the f–king restroom.”¹

“Americans want their elected officials to lower gas prices and end the war in Iran, not follow them into the f–king restroom.”

Joe Jacobson

The ad relies on a real privacy instinct

Ask why the scene works. The viewer recoils because an adult man in a girl's stall is a violation anyone recognizes on sight. That instinct is the reason schools, gyms and public buildings separate private spaces by sex in the first place. Voters share it: a May 2019 Rasmussen poll found half of Americans opposed “allowing transgender students to use the bathrooms of the opposite biological sex,” against 31 percent in support, according to the American Principles Project's 2019 report².

If a man in her stall is the nightmare the PAC chose to film, why does a male in her locker room become acceptable the moment he claims another identity? The ad borrows a parent's protective instinct and aims it at the people defending girls.

The PAC paid to air its bathroom joke

The PAC did not stumble into this. It bought airtime. Reporter Caroline Vakil said the ad is part of a more than $1 million buy airing on connected TVs and streaming in Ohio and Texas³. The Hill reported it is scheduled to run two weeks out from Election Day¹.

The target is Republican attacks on transgender issues³. In Texas, Republican Ken Paxton has attacked Democrat James Talarico in ads over his past comments on transgender issues¹. Ohio has seen this fight before: pro-GOP super PACs ran locker-room and sports ads there in 2024, according to The Assembly's profile of Terry Schilling⁴.

Parents can care about costs and privacy

Progress Action Fund's answer is that bathrooms are a distraction.

Parents do not have to choose. Sherrod Brown's campaign ran the same pivot, airing an ad in which supporters ask why Republicans are focused on the transgender issue before turning to living costs¹. That choice makes bathroom privacy a campaign priority, whatever Jacobson says voters want.

Candidates should answer for girls’ privacy

Both Senate races are close. A Decision Desk HQ average of Texas polls has Talarico ahead of Paxton, 49 percent to 46.8 percent. In Ohio, Brown sits close to 48 percent and Sen. Jon Husted at 46 percent¹.

Talarico told CBS News in May, “I know there are two sexes, men and women.”¹ A girl in the PAC's own ad says bathrooms are private, so every candidate in these races can answer in one word. Talarico, Paxton, Brown and Husted: does a boy belong in a girl's bathroom or locker room, yes or no?

Girls’ bathrooms must stay for girls—Democrats’ own ad shows why

The ad relies on a real privacy instinct

The PAC paid to air its bathroom joke

Parents can care about costs and privacy

Candidates should answer for girls’ privacy

Sources