In the final days of the campaign, at a David Crowley event during his “Let’s Get to Work, Wisconsin!” bus tour, a supporter held a handmade sign that read “Moms Dads – Don’t Assume Your Kids are Straight”—not a call for better schools or safer streets, but a call to attention toward…children’s sexuality.
The photo was posted on X by @libsoftiktok on Nov. 1 and has been widely shared.
This appeared in Crowley’s crowd, next to his campaign signs, and it aligns with what he has said on the record. When asked whether he would limit any existing rights related to gender-affirming care or LGBTQ policies for youth and adults, Crowley answered that he would not. “No, I am not going to limit our LGBTQ community from what they currently have,” he said. He added that he would always be “an accomplice” in protecting those rights.
Schools are expected to treat the possibility of non-heterosexual identity as something to be anticipated and celebrated rather than just left alone.
Crowley has a consistent record on these issues. As a legislator, he co-sponsored a resolution recognizing Transgender Day of Remembrance and a bill creating a taxpayer-funded Transgender Equality Task Force that would have reviewed policy across health care, K-12 education, and other areas. As Milwaukee County Executive, he has attended Pride events and participated in ceremonies involving the Intersex Progress Pride Flag. He has received endorsements from the Human Rights Campaign and Fair Wisconsin, organizations that have opposed restrictions on medical transition for minors and on biological males in girls’ sports.
The sign and Crowley’s statements reflect the same premise: children’s sexual orientation and gender identity are appropriate subjects for public messaging, political commitment, and government protection. Schools are expected to treat the possibility of non-heterosexual identity as something to be anticipated and celebrated rather than just left alone.
Wisconsin Democrats don’t generally draw a clear line between adult sexual politics and children, and Crowley has not used the campaign to distance himself from the sign or the underlying claim. Electing him would give it the authority of the governor’s office, the ability to shape education policy, and the power to resist any legislative attempt to restore a simpler standard: that adults should not project sexual identities onto children.
