Republican governor candidate is making his entire campaign about hating trans kids

Businessperson Chris Miller is running in the GOP primary for governor of West Virginia next month, and his campaign has one clear message: he simply hates transgender children.

His recent ads have focused on promising to roll back the rights of transgender students, lying about gender-affirming care to make it sound scarier, and accusing his opponents of supporting gender-affirming surgery on minors, something that is almost never performed on minors.

Related: West Virginia GOP wants to jail librarians who provide “obscene” books to minors

“This is a very dangerous bill,” one legislator said of the proposed law, which now heads to the state senate.

One ad released by Miller’s campaign earlier this month accused one of his primary opponents, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R), of lobbying for a “woke hospital” that wanted federal funds for “sex changes for minors.”

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“His pronoun? Money-grubbing liberal,” the voiceover said, accusing Morrisey of “mutilating kids for cash.” Gender-affirming care for minors generally involves supporting their gender expression and possibly taking puberty blockers and other reversible hormonal treatments. Presenting this kind of health care – which is supported by major medical associations in the U.S. as the standard of care for trans youth – as “mutilation” is a common transphobic tactic.

“The Pat transitioned from lobbyist to politician, masquerading as one of us,” the voiceover says. “But the real Pat Morrisey is a pro-trans liberal.” The ad then shows a picture of Julia Sweeney’s early-90s SNL character “It’s Pat.”

A video Miller posted to social media shows him in a locker room saying that because he is the father of a girl, he opposes letting transgender girls use the locker room associated with their gender.

“If we expect our kids to tell the truth, we can’t let the woke left redefine it,” he said, implying that trans people are lying about their identities, another common negative stereotype. In reality, trans people will sometimes pretend to be cisgender to avoid discrimination, and it’s when they live their lives authentically and express their gender identities that they are being truthful with others.