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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRuben Gallego's leaked texts mocking Democrats' looks & masculinity intensify temperament concerns
First-year U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona is facing intensified scrutiny after leaked text messages showed the Democrat deriding the appearance of women and men in his own party. The comments mirror far-right rhetoric about gender and deepen concerns about his recent repositioning on LGBTQ+ issues.
In the messages, first circulated by a conservative outlet and reported by People last week Gallego, who started his first term in the U.S. Senate in January after previously serving in the House, complained that Democrats are not allowing men to be men or women to be hot, and wrote, Dem women look like Dem men and Dem men look like women. He also lamented that Democrats had become the not fun party and no longer embodied sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
He made some of these remarks after receiving a meme that included an image of 82-year-old Connecticut U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a fellow Democrat.
The remarks came at a moment of escalating political and legislative hostility toward transgender Americans. Seeing a Democratic senator, who replaced Democrat-turned-independent bisexual Sen. Krysten Sinema, use the same gender-policing language deployed by anti-trans commentators has alarmed advocates, who say the rhetoric legitimizes narratives that treat gender nonconformity as a cultural defect rather than a civil rights issue, independent journalist Erin Reed notes on her Substack newsletter Erin in the Morning.
The revelations about his texts also come after months of movement by Gallego away from previously held support for transgender rights. In May, The Advocate reported that Gallego described concerns about transgender girls in sports as legitimate, a shift LGBTQ+ groups warned would empower discriminatory policymaking. He later voted for a defense bill containing a ban on gender-affirming surgeries for military personnel.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ruben-gallego-leaked-texts-mocking-212113278.html
electric_blue68
(27,183 posts)Why a change like that?
BeyondGeography
(41,192 posts)choie
(6,985 posts)who they really are.
BeyondGeography
(41,192 posts)Hes better than that, but the internal wiring is obviously faulty. Instead of digging in deeper, which he does in that article, he needs to to do better or kindly fuck off from public life.
yourout
(8,868 posts)Fiendish Thingy
(23,860 posts)senseandsensibility
(25,432 posts)but women need to be hot? Sexist BS in addition to everything else. Also, just plain stupid.
ProfessorGAC
(77,165 posts)...the judgment of people who are foolish enough to think email & texts are private.
He needs to explain his poor judgment.
The topic, while inflammatory, is less relevant to me than the stupidity. In fact, the stupidity might be the cause of the questionable opinions.
Ignore the banality of it. The stupidity is disqualifying.
choie
(6,985 posts)His stupidity in putting his thoughts in an email is second to the content of the email. His statement on "men being men and women being women" is almost neanderthallic. And put in the context of his horrible votes and views on transgender rights, paints a picture of intolerance and - in my opinion - a Democrat who under the guise of being a party who speaks to the needs of the working class, is actually moving us backwards.
ProfessorGAC
(77,165 posts)Don't accuse me of things I don't believe.
choie
(6,985 posts)I was trying to get clarification.
Ferrets are Cool
(23,039 posts)Midwestern Democrat
(1,029 posts)that I would not be comfortable having publicly exposed - but for a younger person where email and texts were always the primary form of communication instead of the telephone, it's easy to see how they could slip every so often and say things in email and texts that an older person would only say in person or on a phone call.
IcyPeas
(25,729 posts)Fetterman...
mr715
(4,009 posts)Jared Golden.
Gillebrand..............who was the leading voice calling for Al Franken's ouster from the senate..........a low thinker
mr715
(4,009 posts)I think he looks too much like J.D. Vance for comfort.
Dude needs to step in front of a mirror as he is tossing stones.
Polybius
(22,070 posts)Now I can't unsee it!
Ritabert
(2,567 posts)2naSalit
(103,792 posts)Or is it AI text?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/videos/senator-ruben-gallego-addresses-recent-011447851.html
Deep State Witch
(12,751 posts)That he got caught.
JI7
(93,843 posts)and women taking up certain roles. I could be wrong .
La Coliniere
(1,979 posts)WTF I hardly see him as some paragon of adult masculinity always seems kind of a schlub. He should know better than to continue to harm the trans community, let alone the Democratic Party, of which he owes his political allegiance to, with his unfortunate words. He needs a good talking to.
intheflow
(30,229 posts)Anxy
(91 posts)In 2030.

He added that the remarks were a reflection of... everything Ive said.
What remains unanswered is how mocking Democrats attractiveness, or implying the partys struggles stem from insufficient femininity or masculinity, aligns with a call for greater inclusivity.
Does he mean let more people in who think as he does?
Raven123
(7,875 posts)Now if I were going to mock him, I might say that he should buck up. This heartbreaking stuff isnt worthy of a real man.
Solly Mack
(97,199 posts)LymphocyteLover
(10,053 posts)he doesn't seem to be apologizing is more disturbing
Solly Mack
(97,199 posts)orleans
(37,147 posts)what a disappointment
why didn't he just come out and say: "i wish the democrat party would welcome more sexist assholes like myself"
ugh!
and if he thinks he's some hot shit stud he is horribly fucked in the head
(imo)
Solly Mack
(97,199 posts)Skittles
(172,598 posts)he really should not be critiquing ANYONE'S appearance
Solly Mack
(97,199 posts)Because that sounds like he is projecting his own insecurities onto the rest of us.
H2O Man
(79,202 posts)but I'm convinced that the spider webs in his head read "some pig."
Tikki
(15,199 posts)Tikki
milestogo
(23,173 posts)Response to choie (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
LymphocyteLover
(10,053 posts)for Dems to have it as a talking point
ALBliberal
(3,379 posts)voted for him. jackass.
iluvtennis
(21,518 posts)ALBliberal
(3,379 posts)HE is So fickle and short sighted
But you my friend? I was taken in just like you.
But we? Have good hearts and we will continue to believe in goodness
Kali
(56,877 posts)Polybius
(22,070 posts)The article is days old, and this is the first time I'm hearing of it. Why was it barely covered? I would have loved to have posted this in LBN for more exposure.
maxsolomon
(39,084 posts)and it just wasn't strong enough to fight for space?
Polybius
(22,070 posts)maxsolomon
(39,084 posts)and against Fetterman.
spudspud
(669 posts)Party flip coming when needed by repubs?
wolfie001
(7,913 posts)First Sinema and now this guy.
regnaD kciN
(27,687 posts)lostnfound
(17,598 posts)Disgusting to belittle people over their looks. Is he over the age of 15? I think he found the wrong party.
TommyT139
(2,431 posts)Not consistent with Dem party values.
Coventina
(29,915 posts)fujiyamasan
(1,983 posts)But meh, hes not Synema, or worse yet Kari Lake.
Luciferous
(6,597 posts)he really shouldn't be commenting on anyone's looks.
in2herbs
(4,498 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(23,039 posts)Oneironaut
(6,317 posts)If these statements were written, and, you didnt know who wrote them, who would be the more likely author: Ruben Gallego, or, a teenage boy?
This is super cringeworthy.
SunImp
(2,720 posts)I'm surprised there wasn't a lot of crying about Dem bashing or manufactured anger over purity.