A political action committee focused on electing out women and gender-nonconforming candidates has rescinded its endorsement of a queer East Bay House candidate due to her stance against gender-affirming care for youth and spreading rumors about a gay Oakland mayoral staffer. She is also being called on to resign from the board of a local LGBTQ Democratic club.
LPAC announced its decision Friday, a day after Jennifer Kim-Anh Tran, Ph.D., had posted the comments online via her X account. In it, she wrote that she believes only transgender adults should have access to surgeries or hormones as part of their gender-affirming health care.
"There are too many cases of trans youth medically transitioning as children and regretting it in adulthood," wrote Tran.
The October 17 post prompted LPAC's political committee to meet Friday morning and vote to rescind its backing of Tran. She is running for the open 12th Congressional District seat being vacated by Congressmember Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who fell short in the March primary for one of the state's U.S. Senate seats.
"As an organization committed to advancing the rights of LGBTQ+ and nonbinary people, LPAC rescinds our endorsement of Dr. Jennifer Tran, effectively immediately," stated LPAC Executive Director Janelle Perez. "The LGBTQ+ community and our allies deserve leaders who fight for us, defend us from bigotry, and help ensure our youth can thrive. Instead, Dr. Tran has promoted harmful myths and misinformation, which have devastating consequences for our youth. LGBTQ+ youth in Oakland deserve better."
Tran did not immediately respond to the Bay Area Reporter's request for comment.
LPAC had endorsed Tran, an associate professor of ethnic studies at Cal State East Bay, last November ahead of her March primary race for the House seat in Alameda County centered around Oakland. Tran has always been seen as the underdog in the contest against fellow Democrat and BART board member Lateefah Simon.
Lee endorsed Simon to succeed her, and as the B.A.R.'s Political Notebook reported last week, a USC/CSU Long Beach/Cal Poly Pomona poll had Simon leading 27.9% to 14.8% for Tran with a margin of error of ±4.3%.
Queer Berkeley City Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra had flagged Tran's social media comments in an October 17 email to Michelle Atwood, LPAC's national political/PAC director. An associate of the East Bay leader shared it with the B.A.R., adding Lunaparra had been told her doing so led to LPAC's convening its emergency meeting of its advisory body on Friday.
Having been endorsed by LPAC when she sought her seat in a special election earlier this year, Lunaparra requested that it rescind its support of Tran's House bid.
Noting Simon "is a progressive local elected official with a long history of fighting for queer people in our community," Lunaparra urged LPAC to "to reverse the harm that your association with Dr. Tran's bigotry has caused your organization and our community by unendorsing her in CA-12."
Stonewall seeks Tran's resignation
Members of Alameda County's main LGBTQ political group, the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, are calling on Tran to resign from its board on which she serves due to her social media post. The club retweeted Friday its endorsement of Simon in the race.
"Let us be super clear to everyone! We PROUDLY endorse Lateefah Simon for US Congress! Lateefah will uphold protection for trans youth and support their rights in receiving gender-affirming care – which is part of DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM," it stated.
Stonewall PAC chair Ryan LaLonde, a gay dad who lives in Alameda, told the B.A.R. he is among those who want to see Tran step down from her board position. He noted a main reason is because Tran is not holding up the party's national platform, which states, "Democrats will vigorously oppose state and federal bans on gender-affirming health care and respect the role of parents, families, and doctors – not politicians – in making health care decisions."
Reached during his 50th birthday party, LaLonde said the club may hold a special meeting about Tran's remaining a Stonewall board member in the coming days or would take up the matter when it holds its monthly meeting in November.
Fellow Stonewall board member Austin Bruckner Carrillo, a gay man running for a Hayward school board seat on the November 5 ballot, also called on Tran to step down.
"Jennifer, this post is deeply troubling. You're fueling false claims that Brandon [Harami] was assaulted by his gay parents and pushing a baseless narrative that he's a pedophile. I expected better from you as a fellow board member," he wrote in an October 18 post on X, referring to the Oakland mayoral staffer.
Asked about LPAC's decision to end its support of Tran's candidacy, Simon campaign spokesperson Elizabeth Power told the B.A.R., "Jennifer Tran revealed her true colors in that tweet. It's concerning that she lied to LPAC in order to secure their endorsement, and even more alarming that she openly promotes bigoted, transphobic misinformation. Lateefah Simon is proud to be a lifelong ally to the LGBTQ+ community and she will always stand up to this type of harmful rhetoric locally and in Congress."
Queer BART board member Janice Li, who represents parts of San Francisco and is backing Simon in the race, told the B.A.R. she "absolutely" supports LPAC's decision.
"When I was elected to the BART board in 2018, I became California's only openly queer Asian woman in office at that time. Asian American leaders like myself who identify as LGBTQ have a unique responsibility to support trans and queer youth, denounce homophobia and transphobia, and push back on divisive rhetoric and lies," stated Li, who herself has been endorsed by LPAC as a candidate for elected office. "I'm well aware of the homophobia and transphobia that exists particularly in Asian American communities, so we have an even higher burden to reject bigotry and disinformation."
Tran's X post was prompted by a question from journalist Mark Misoshnik, who asked her about paying $3,000 "to virulent transphobe Seneca Scott?" They also mentioned Tran's "touting" LPAC's support of her candidacy.
Scott had run unsuccessfully in 2022 against Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and has posted homophobic social media posts about her aide, Harami, using "an old trope that equates gay men with pedophiles," as the B.A.R. noted in an editorial last September. The postings had led the Alameda County Democratic Party and the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club to condemn Scott.
In her October 17 post on X, Tran repeated those claims against Harami. She also defended her working with Scott.
"Seneca and I agree on the importance of trans youth having full mental health support and being respected for their identity. However, we believe that decisions about surgeries or hormones should be made when they are adults, fully able to understand themselves," she wrote.
In its announcement about withdrawing its support of Tran, LPAC called her out for making statements "furthering dangerous and harmful myths about LGBTQ+ people." Retweeting the political organization's post announcing its decision, Harami wrote, "A great example as to why you should simply not be an awful person."
LPAC also took Tran to task for saying as part of its endorsement process last year that she supported gender-affirming care for youth.
In its statement, LPAC noted, "Tran's comments go against recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has affirmed the need to 'ensure young people get the reproductive and gender-affirming care they need and are seen, heard and valued as they are.' Dr. Tran's statements further tropes which prevent transgender and gender-diverse youth from accessing services shown by the National Institute of Health to be lifesaving, preventing depression and suicidality."
It is unclear if this marks the first time LPAC has rescinded support from one of its endorsed candidates. A spokesperson newly hired last month told the B.A.R. she wasn't certain if it was and several of her colleagues who may know were traveling and couldn't immediately be reached Friday.
UPDATED 10/18/24 With Berkeley City Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra's letter.
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