Anti Earle-Sears protester’s sign sparks backlash over Jim Crow-era language
The article reports on a controversial protest sign displayed at a transgender rights exhibition outside an Arlington County school board meeting in Virginia. The sign targeted Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican candidate for governor in the 2025 election. It used Jim Crow-era language comparing transgender bathroom access to racial segregation of water fountains, sparking widespread backlash. Both Republican and Democratic Virginia leaders condemned the sign as racist and unacceptable, including Earle-Sears herself, who described it as hateful. The woman holding the sign later stated it was meant as satire to provoke conversation about prejudice, not to promote segregation. The incident has been leveraged by Republican groups to criticize Democrats on social issues ahead of upcoming elections. Other officials called for civility and rejecting hateful rhetoric. Simultaneously occurring, Earle-Sears trails Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger in polls.
Anti Earle-Sears protester’s sign sparks backlash over Jim Crow-era language
Both Republican and Democratic leaders in Virginia are condemning a protest sign targeting Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R-VA) that was shown at a protest in Arlington County.
The Arlington school board was meeting on Wednesday to discuss its transgender bathroom policy in the face of threats of federal funding cuts, and transgender rights protesters were outside. One person at the protest was holding a sign that is being condemned as racist.
“Hey Winsome, you have a gender neutral bathroom in your house,” one side of the sign read, with the other sign reading, “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then Blacks can’t share my water fountain.”
Earle-Sears, the Republican candidate for governor in the 2025 election, said on social media that she was “disgusted, but not surprised.”
“I’m an immigrant, a Marine and above all, a human being. There is no place for this disgusting hatred in our Commonwealth. Anyone who doesn’t condemn this sign is complicit in approving it,” she continued.
Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for governor, condemned the sign in a statement calling it “racist, abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) said in a social media post, “The hypocrisy of the liberal left on display again. Winsome is so much bigger than this idiocy.”
Republican groups are using the sign to target Democrats on social issues, where they poll poorly.
“The sign was the least of the obscenities from the trans activists’ display,” Virginia Project, a conservative PAC, wrote on social media.
The Arlington GOP posted a letter from Chair Matthew Hurtt supposedly sent to the protester, thanking her.
“I couldn’t have ever dreamed that someone would boost our efforts quite like you have,” the note read.
The woman behind the sign, who was not identified, told FOX5 her message was meant to be satirical.
“It was satire meant to provoke conversation around the absurdity of prejudice. If anyone thinks we are actually supporting separate drinking fountains based on race, they are mistaken,” she said. “In the same way that drinking fountains should be usable by all races, bathrooms should be non-discriminatory.”
Other elected officials in Virginia have condemned the language.
“This is wrong. @winwithwinsome — and Virginia — deserve better,” Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares said on social media.
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“Two wrongs don’t make a right. Been teaching my kids – and students – that for years. In the age of Trump it’s easy to get in the gutter. We should insist on betting the better angels of our nature,” Democratic Sen. Schuyler Van Valkenburg said in a social media statement.
In the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election, Spanberger is polling well ahead of Earle-Sears.
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