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.
\u201cThere's so much to dissect in this video from Pensacola, Florida where school board candidate, Alisabeth Janai Lancaster, said doctors who treat trans kids should be "hanging from the nearest tree." The crowd applauded her.\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo (@Alejandra Caraballo) 1658327011
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.
\u201cI thought this was the 21st Century, not the Jim Crow Era.\u201d— Patriotic Korean American (@Patriotic Korean American) 1658416157
\u201cIm concerned about the overwhelming amount of stupid people running for anything.\u201d— StevieSaidFuckTheCold (@StevieSaidFuckTheCold) 1658358715
\u201cA reminder that hate propaganda has real consequences. This won't end well.\u201d— Larry Buhl (@Larry Buhl) 1658365553
\u201cCW/TW:\n\nThis video contains speech from a candidate running for school board calling for the murder of physicians who treat transgender kids. \n\nI don\u2019t know why that sentence shouldn\u2019t yield IMMEDIATE criminal action against Alisabeth Janai Lancaster, but it should.\u201d— Alyssa MacKenzie \ud83d\udc9c (@Alyssa MacKenzie \ud83d\udc9c) 1658367383
\u201cDon\u2019t be placated. They are being vocal about their wishes to enact violence. Do not be moderate. Believe them when they tell you who they are. They are violent and they want to cause us harm. Get enraged. Defend your people. Get big. Fight back. Stand for something.\u201d— E.R. Fightmaster (@E.R. Fightmaster) 1658377464
\u201cThis is so troubling. She\u2019s a monster, the people cheering are monsters.\u201d— Mikel (@Mikel) 1658384411
\u201cTo the liberal moderates who just want to go back to not talking about trans people and to the centrist conservatives with sex-essentialist beliefs: \n\nI can't stress enough that we're past the point of theoretical questions and on to clear and present danger to trans people.\u201d— Paul Crider is pro-abortion (@Paul Crider is pro-abortion) 1658351645
\u201cIt's all jokes and empty threats until it isn't\u201d— Communist Anarchist Society Saboteur (C.A.S.S) (@Communist Anarchist Society Saboteur (C.A.S.S)) 1658352653
\u201cDon\u2019t worry, they aren\u2019t *actually* advocating for mass murder. \n\nEvery LGBT+ conservative needs to be aware, people like this would clap with glee as you and your family are eliminated. \n\nBut sure, keep crying about \u201cpronouns in bio\u201d while you sleepwalk alongside them.\u201d— \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f Zoe_Vexed \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f Zoe_Vexed \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1658356725
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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