Clueless star Stacey Dash is reportedly running for Congress, but her anti-LGBTQ views may prove an obstacle in one of America’s most progressive states.
The 51-year-old filed her paperwork this week to contend for the House of Representatives in California’s 44th District. The primarily Latino district covers most of South Los Angelesincluding neighborhoods like Compton, Lynnwood, Walnut Park, and Wattsand is staunchly liberal.
Both candidates in the 2016 election, the sitting incumbent Nanette Berrigan and also-ran Isadore Hall, were Democrats. No Republican candidate earned more than five percent of the vote in the district’s primaries.
California’s 44th, which Hillary Clinton won in a landslide, has never even had a Republican contend for the seat since the district maps were redrawn in 2012.
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Dash, a born-again conservative, may find that her prospective constituents are less than receptive to her far-right, homophobic politics, which have made her a frequent guest on Fox News shows like Fox and Friends and The O’Reilly Factor.
After the release of her 2016 book There Goes My Social Life: From Clueless to Conservative, the talking head took aim at reality star Caitlyn Jenner, who had recently come out as transgender in a much-publicized interview with Diane Sawyer. She claimed that women like Jenner represented a threat to the general public if allowed to use the ladies’ bathroom.
“It’s tyranny by the minority,” Dash told Entertainment Tonight. “Why do I have to suffer because you can’t decide what you wanna be that day? It’s your body! So, it’s your decision, right? We all make choices.”
She added that trans women should “go in the bushes.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, but I’m not gonna put my child’s life at risk because you want to change a law,” Dash said. “So that you can be comfortable with your beliefswhich means I have to change my beliefs and my rights? No.”
The former actress, who alleges she was blacklisted from Hollywood over her support for Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Donald Trump, has claimed the GOP supports LGBTQ rightseven in spite of her own comments. Dash told TMZ that any assertion Republicans don’t back same-sex marriage is “propaganda.”
“We’re not against that,” she claimed during a 2014 interview. “We’re not against that at all. We believe everyone should have the same rights.
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump vowed to strike down the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Calling it a “states’ rights issue,” he said he would appoint justices “that maybe could change things.”
The future POTUS would walk back that pledge, but since his 2017 inauguration, Trump has consistently chipped away at LGBTQ rights. His administration has rolled back protections for trans students allowing them to use the correct name and pronoun in school, data collection on LGBTQ seniors, and nondiscrimination policies for federal workers.
Most recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it would be restructuring to allow health care workers and agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ people if they cite religious objections.
Dash has continued to support Trump.
The Congressional hopeful, however, dismissed any suggestion that her background could be an impediment to her political ambitions.
I live in the 44th unlike some who don’t live in their districts. Thank you to those who offered their support.
— Stacey Dash (@REALStaceyDash) February 26, 2018
“For those mocking for the district I live in, open your minds,” Dash said in a series of tweets. “It’s time to for me to put up or shut up and I want to serve great people. I live in the 44th unlike some who don’t live in their districts. Thank you to those who offered their support.”
Photo via John Lamparski/Getty Images