Alisabeth Janai Lancaster, a Florida woman who is running in an August primary for Santa Rosa County School Board, received harsh criticism after weighing in on gender reassignment procedures during a Gulf Coast Patriots’ event by declaring that doctors who treat transgender children “should be hanging from the nearest tree.”
Her remarks gained further notoriety after footage from her appearance was posted to the NWFlorida Conservatives Facebook group and reported on by The Pensacola News-Journal.
You can hear what she said in the video below.
Shortly after taking the stage, Lancaster, who identified herself as a conservative with Christian values, said:
“These doctors that are going along with mutilating these children and prescribing hormone blockers to these kids, in my opinion, they should be hanging from the nearest tree."
Lancaster's claim that doctors are "mutilating" children is incorrect and not at all supported by medical research.
Studies show transgender teens are more likely to be subjected to violence in high school and have higher rates of suicide. A recent study showed that transgender adults with access to puberty blockers as teens were less likely to have suicidal thoughts.
The study, published in Pediatrics, concluded that "those who received treatment with pubertal suppression, when compared with those who wanted pubertal suppression but did not receive it, had lower odds of lifetime suicidal ideation.
Lancaster's remarks also echoed conservative talking points about transgender people that bring to mind the recent controversy that erupted in Texas after Greg Abbott, the state's Republican governor, signed off on legislation that, though ultimately struck down by a federal judge, would have empowered the state to open child abuse investigations into families whose children receive gender affirming procedures.
His words offer further examples of the ongoing "groomer" hysteria accusing LGBTQ+ people of building relationships, trust, and emotional connections with children so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.
Lancaster's remarks angered and alarmed members of the online community who warned that her rhetoric could have deadly consequences for transgender people.
Bigotry—particularly toward the LGBTQ+ community—has been on full display among Republicans in recent months and Lancaster is unfortunately not the only political candidate to advocate for violence.
Last month, Mark Burns, a loyal supporter of former President Donald Trump who is currently running for Congress in South Carolina's 4th District, was condemned after he called for parents and teachers who support LGBTQ+ children to be "executed" for treason.
Speaking during an appearance on The Stew Peters Show last week, Burns pledged to "fight" to rid the country of the "LGBTQ indoctrination" of children, adding that he wants "to make sure that those parents be held for child abuse."
Burns concluded that “the LGBT, transgender grooming our children’s minds is a national security threat because it is ultimately designed to destabilize the republic we call the United States of America.”
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