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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
(25,939 posts)Why a change like that?
BeyondGeography
(40,814 posts)choie
(6,630 posts)who they really are.
BeyondGeography
(40,814 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
(8,724 posts)Fiendish Thingy
(22,055 posts)senseandsensibility
(24,254 posts)but women need to be hot? Sexist BS in addition to everything else. Also, just plain stupid.
ProfessorGAC
(75,855 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
(6,630 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
(75,855 posts)Don't accuse me of things I don't believe.
choie
(6,630 posts)I was trying to get clarification.
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
(24,867 posts)Fetterman...
mr715
(2,733 posts)Jared Golden.
Gillebrand..............who was the leading voice calling for Al Franken's ouster from the senate..........a low thinker
mr715
(2,733 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
(21,514 posts)Now I can't unsee it!
Ritabert
(1,997 posts)2naSalit
(100,058 posts)Or is it AI text?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/videos/senator-ruben-gallego-addresses-recent-011447851.html
Deep State Witch
(12,572 posts)That he got caught.
JI7
(93,223 posts)and women taking up certain roles. I could be wrong .
La Coliniere
(1,758 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
(30,003 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
(7,556 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
(96,365 posts)LymphocyteLover
(9,371 posts)he doesn't seem to be apologizing is more disturbing
Solly Mack
(96,365 posts)orleans
(36,673 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
(96,365 posts)Skittles
(169,606 posts)he really should not be critiquing ANYONE'S appearance
Solly Mack
(96,365 posts)Because that sounds like he is projecting his own insecurities onto the rest of us.
H2O Man
(78,643 posts)but I'm convinced that the spider webs in his head read "some pig."
Tikki
(15,033 posts)Tikki
milestogo
(22,591 posts)Response to choie (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
LymphocyteLover
(9,371 posts)for Dems to have it as a talking point
ALBliberal
(3,230 posts)voted for him. jackass.
iluvtennis
(21,470 posts)ALBliberal
(3,230 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
(56,636 posts)Polybius
(21,514 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
(38,206 posts)and it just wasn't strong enough to fight for space?
Polybius
(21,514 posts)maxsolomon
(38,206 posts)and against Fetterman.
spudspud
(639 posts)Party flip coming when needed by repubs?
wolfie001
(7,092 posts)First Sinema and now this guy.
regnaD kciN
(27,469 posts)lostnfound
(17,409 posts)Disgusting to belittle people over their looks. Is he over the age of 15? I think he found the wrong party.
TommyT139
(2,150 posts)Not consistent with Dem party values.
Coventina
(29,172 posts)fujiyamasan
(1,227 posts)But meh, hes not Synema, or worse yet Kari Lake.
Luciferous
(6,554 posts)he really shouldn't be commenting on anyone's looks.
in2herbs
(4,239 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(22,532 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
(2,613 posts)I'm surprised there wasn't a lot of crying about Dem bashing or manufactured anger over purity.