By admin 
In recent weeks, Dr. Annie Andrews, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate has been running a TV ad saying she is against transgender surgery for minors and against transgender women playing in women’s sports.
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However, the ad has received criticism from both those in the LGBTQ community and members of U.S. Sen. Darline Graham’s campaign.
It’s stances that have been repeated in Republican circles, but some of those voters may need to get to cross over and vote for Andrews if she were to have a chance of winning a six-year term in the U.S. Senate in a state that is reliably Republican in statewide elections.
“My career as a pediatrician has always been about taking care of kids, and I’ve got three of my own,” Andrews said in the ad. “So, I want you to hear me loud and clear. I don’t support [transgender women] playing women’s sports. And I don’t support and haven’t ever performed gender surgery for minors.”
The ad led to anger from Graham’s campaign accusing Andrews of flip-flopping on the issue.
But LGBTQ advocates also were upset with Andrews.
Andrews is a pediatrician and previously worked at the Medical University of South Carolina. In September 2022, when she was running in the 1st Congressional District trying to oust U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, Andrews took a leave of absence from MUSC. She eventually left the school in June the next year.
In a statement when announcing her leave of absence, she said she was against gender-affirming surgery for anyone under 18 years old. The American Medical Association does not believe there’s enough evidence to support gender-affirming surgical care for minors.
“I do not support gender-affirming surgery for anyone under 18 — nor does my hospital perform those procedures,” Andrews said in her statement in 2022. “What I support is evidence-based medical care, with parental consent, for teens struggling with gender identity issues.”
MUSC did not perform gender-affirming surgeries for minors at the time.
Two days after the 2026 Andrews ad began airing, 20 pro-LGBTQ organizations signed on to a letter condemning transphobic attacks and “fear-based political messages that have been used by local, state and national politicians.”
“Language matters. Referring to transgender women and girls as ‘biological men’ in discussions of women’s sports denies their identities and portrays their participation as an inherent threat,” letter said.
The letter also said invoking the term “gender surgery for minors” is a political scare tactic that distorts complex questions about medical care.
“These are not neutral descriptions when deployed to stigmatize transgender people,” the letter said. “They are rhetorical devices that reinforce harmful stereotypes and encourage suspicion and hostility toward an already vulnerable community.”
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Andrews’ ad was released at the same time as a Senate Leadership Fund attack ad. The political action committee works to election Republicans to the U.S. Senate.
The ad hit Andrews saying she supports “letting biological men use the women’s locker room” and spending tax money on sex change drugs and surgeries for minors.
“A doctor should know better. But Dr. Annie Andrews is shockingly liberal and wrong for the US Senate,” the SLF ad said.
Graham during her campaign has repeatedly said she is against athletes assigned male at birth playing in girls’ sports often citing her how her daughter plays high school volleyball. President Donald Trump also recently used an anti-transgender slur to refer to Andrews.
Graham’s campaign accused Andrews of changing her position on transgender issues for the campaign.
The Graham campaign pointed to social media posts made by Andrews while South Carolina lawmakers debated the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” which requires people to play on sports teams that correspond to their assigned gender at birth.
Andrews in August 2021 called the “Save Women’s Sports” Act dangerous. When Gov. Henry McMaster signed the bill, Andrews in May 2022, took to social media again to criticize the legislation.
“This is shameful legislation that does nothing to protect or support women or children in SC,” Andrews posted on Twitter. “In fact it is actively harmful. I will always support trans youth.”
During a press event Friday with Sharlene Rochard, a woman who met Jeffrey Epstein when she was a 17-year-old model, Andrews shot back at criticism.
“My opponent and so many people choose to use their positions of power to talk about issues that affect a tiny fraction of the population,” Andrews told reporters. “So first of all, trans people are people, period. I’ll never understand until the day I die why my opponent chose to use so much time and energy during her very short tenure as an interim senator to demonize some of her constituents.”
Andrews said other issues are far more important.
“I’ve been on the trail talking about costs, talking about our health care system, talking about the issues I’m hearing from South Carolinians about, and I think voters deserve a serious conversation about the issues that we’re facing as a country,” Andrews said.
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