Jessica Lemmons calls the ad a bad move but tells Texas voters to stay on target
Jessica LemmonsTexas writer, in her independently published Substack newsletter
In a newsletter post titled "Stay on target, Texas voters," Texas writer Jessica Lemmons wrote that she had seen the "my pronouns are" ad and agreed it was a bad move that did not account for the reality transgender Texans face, while arguing that Abbott wants to erase transgender people altogether and that voters should keep their attention on his record.
“Yes, I saw the 'my pronouns are' ad, and yes. I also think that was a bad move that didn't consider the reality trans people living here face; but Governor Abbott wants to erase trans people altogether.”
Analysis
Where this statement fits
Did Gina Hinojosa’s “Pronouns” ad mock transgender Texans?
On September 8, 2026, Greg Abbott’s campaign opened a transgender-focused line of attack on Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for governor of Texas, nicknaming her “Gender Bender Gina,” cataloguing her votes against Texas restrictions on gender-affirming care and school policy, and posting an altered screenshot of one of her own public-schools ads in which an American flag had been replaced with a transgender pride flag. The next day Hinojosa released a campaign ad titled “Pronouns,” which her campaign said would run statewide and in which she is the only speaker. In it she said Abbott wanted to run a campaign calling her “too woke” while she would run one about working people being “too broke,” closing with the line “My pronouns are Mom, Texan, and soon to be: Governor.” Whether that closing line mocked transgender people is the matter in dispute. Transgender writers and advocates said it borrowed a mocking right-wing joke about pronouns at their expense, while the campaign defended the pivot away from culture-war argument. Hinojosa has voted against the Texas restrictions Abbott cites, and the criticism of her is about the ad’s rhetoric rather than her legislative record.
Source and context
Analysis
About this source
Self-published newsletter post by Jessica Lemmons, a Texas writer who publishes a politics newsletter on Substack, dated September 11, 2026. The post argues that Texas voters should keep their attention on Abbott's record rather than on Hinojosa's campaign missteps; its title is "Stay on target, Texas voters." Lemmons writes independently and holds no institutional affiliation.
Before the quotation
The post was published two days after the ad, as criticism of it circulated alongside criticism of James Talarico's Fox News remarks.
After the quotation
Lemmons writes independently and holds no institutional affiliation; her post argues that Abbott's record on transgender Texans is the more consequential question in the race.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case asks whether the closing line of Hinojosa's September 9 "Pronouns" ad — "My pronouns are Mom, Texan, and soon to be: Governor" — mocked transgender Texans, not Abbott's attacks on her record. Lemmons grants the criticism and then subordinates it, setting the ad against what she says Abbott intends and urging voters not to be diverted by it. That is acknowledging a concern while substantively downplaying its weight. The closest competing label is condemns, since she does call the ad a bad move that ignored transgender Texans' reality. That loses because the operative argument of the passage, and of the post's title, is that the criticism should not carry weight against Abbott's record. “Mixed or conditional” loses because she offers no positive assessment of the ad and states no unresolved condition.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Gina Hinojosa
More from this case
Read the full caseHinojosa says the "Pronouns" ad was meant to rebuke culture-war politics
“What I was trying to communicate is to both Greg Abbott and to the culture wars. You can shove it with your culture wars. He had just accused me of working with teachers to try to trans kids. It's just ridiculous, right? … And so that was to say, look, we're not doing your culture wars.”Read statement
Greg Pak dislikes the "Pronouns" ad but credits Hinojosa for not waffling on trans rights
“Didn't like Hinojosa's recent "Pronouns" ad. I *DO* like her actual voting record in Texas for trans rights, and I'm glad that unlike some other politicians, she's not waffling on those stances.”Read statement
Katelyn Burns says it was wrong to mock trans people’s pronouns with this style of joke
“Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, spawned an online backlash from some lefty trans posters by appearing to mock pronouns. "My pronouns are mom, Texan and soon-to-be governor," she says in a recent campaign video posted to YouTube. When I made a post on Bluesky pointing out that none of those words are pronouns, and implied that it was wrong to mock trans people's pronouns with this style of joke, a bunch of Bluesky liberals took umbrage.”Read statement
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- Jessica Lemmons calls the ad a bad move but tells Texas voters to stay on target
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The Dispute Index. "Jessica Lemmons calls the ad a bad move but tells Texas voters to stay on target". First published: 2026-09-18. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1003-in-a-newsletter-post-titled-stay-on-target