What’s more alarming for transgender people, however, is that the DCCC is behind the ad. Whereas a candidate’s political ad is the candidate’s choice, an ad paid for by the DCCC is the Democratic Party’s choice. That makes this ad the first known instance of the party itself choosing anti-transgender messaging to win an election, a notable development for those watching for signs that explicitly anti-transgender positions, once rare in the Democratic Party, might be gaining steam across the party as a whole.

This escalation comes as more and more evidence emerges that anti-transgender ads are ineffective, suggesting that embracing anti-transgender messaging is a policy choice rather than a political calculation designed to win an election.