“In the weeks before Election Day, aides to Kamala Harris could see in campaign polling that Donald Trump’s attacks on Ms. Harris’s support for transgender rights were driving away swing voters,” the New York Times reports.

“Struggling to put together a rebuttal, they produced a series of ads arguing that Mr. Trump was trying to distract from more important issues. Some of the spots noted that the policy Mr. Trump was seizing on, taxpayer-funded gender-transition surgery for inmates, was in place when he was president.”

“But none of the messages significantly swayed voters when the ads were tested with focus groups… After a sharp, internal debate, the campaign shelved the ads.”

CNN: Republican’s effort to block first transgender House member from using women’s bathrooms brings campaign issue to the Capitol.

“President Biden took a stab at former President Barack Obama on the issue of gay marriage during a gaggle with reporters on Tuesday, as the rift between the two continues to widen,” the Daily Beast reports.

Said Biden: “Well, I’m really proud of my position. I was the first guy to come out for gay marriage. Remember that little problem with the Obama administration?”

“Following the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, unity was expected to be the hallmark of the Republican National Convention for the presidential candidate,” ABC News reports.

“But the message of unity rings hollow for some in the LGBTQ community, who say they have repeatedly been the target of Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee, and others on the national stage.”

Washington Post: GOP called for unity as it continued to feature far-right figures, ideas.

President Biden is expected to pardon US veterans who were convicted by the military over a 60-year period under a military law that banned gay sex, CNN reports.

The pardon proclamation is expected to be announced on Wednesday and one official said it is set to affect roughly 2,000 people.

Gallup: “More than two in three Americans continue to believe that marriage between same-sex couples should be legal (69%), and nearly as many say gay or lesbian relations are morally acceptable (64%).”

“Both readings have been consistently above the 50% mark since the early 2010s and above 60% since 2017.”

The Colorado Republican party is urging members to burn the Pride flag this month.

“The Colorado Republican Party marked the start of Pride Month with a mass email attacking ‘godless groomers’ and a social media post calling for the burning of all Pride flags,” KUSA reports.

“The state GOP’s move to the far right after a series of electoral blowout losses continued with some of its harshest anti-gay rhetoric in recent years.”

Gallup: “LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or some other sexual orientation besides heterosexual.”

“The current figure is up from 5.6% four years ago and 3.5% in 2012, Gallup’s first year of measuring sexual orientation and transgender identity.”

Wall Street Journal: “Two decades later, what was once the white-hot center of political debate has receded to the background. Polls show nearly three-quarters of Americans, including 49% of Republicans and a majority of regular churchgoers, support it. The Supreme Court made same-sex marriage a nationwide right in 2015, and Congress gave federal recognition to the practice on a broad bipartisan vote in 2022…”

“The widespread public approval suggests most people don’t believe the horrors once forecast have resulted from same-sex marriage’s legalization, and now there is evidence to prove it. A comprehensive new research report by the Rand organization finds that the consequences of two decades of legal same-sex marriage have been broadly positive for gay and straight Americans alike.”

“The White House on Sunday slammed Congressional Republicans for including a provision in the government funding bill that essentially stops LGBTQ+ Pride flags from being flown over U.S. embassies and vowed to repeal it,” ABC News reports.

“A new bill introduced in the Missouri House would force teachers to register as sex offenders if they use the names and pronouns of transgender children or otherwise support them and their identity,” the Riverfront Times reports.