A trans nonbinary congressional candidate has ramped up their campaign with a bold and empowering political ad. Showing bodily autonomy in action, Mel Manuel filmed themself taking an HRT injection while making the case for their candidacy as Louisiana’s representative in the House.
“The toxic forces of fear and hatred are threatening to consume our nation,” Manuel says in voiceover in their latest ad as they prepare the syringe. “If we don’t take a stand, the election in November could be the last gasp of democracy as we know it.
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“I believe that you, not the government, own your own body,” Manuel concludes. “LGBTQ+ rights are human rights.”
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In the caption accompanying the video, Manuel elaborates on how conservative politicians have made anti-trans sentiment the focus of the upcoming election. “Republican candidates have spent more than $65 million dollars on anti-Trans ads since August of this year alone,” Manuel wrote.
“To my LGBTQ+ family and our allies… No one is coming to save us. We have to show up at the polls for ourselves and for those we love. I’ve spent the last year and a half campaigning because we need to speak up and be represented before it’s too late. You can speak up now with your vote.”
Manuel’s $65 million figure comes from an analysis by the New York Times. In addition to pouring millions into anti-trans ads, the Trump team has made transphobia their entire closing argument, now pushing the slogan “Kamala is for they/them, not for you.”
Manuel, by contrast, is running on a platform for protecting LGBTQ+ rights and bodily autonomy, expanding voter rights, enacting gun control, preserving the environment, granting access to free healthcare and funding public schools.
Manuel is running against House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, one of the most consistent anti-LGBTQ+ voices in Congress. He has voted against the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” against legislation to outlaw anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes, and against equal marriage rights. In 2014, he admitted that he gave a speech at a 2002 white supremacist convention, claiming that he did not know the nature of the group founded by former Louisiana Rep and Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke.
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