Katelyn Burns says it was wrong to mock trans people’s pronouns with this style of joke
Katelyn BurnsFreelance journalist and columnist, writing under her own byline for Xtra Magazine
In a signed opinion column for Xtra Magazine about Democratic candidates conceding ground on transgender policy, journalist Katelyn Burns wrote that Hinojosa drew an online backlash by appearing to mock pronouns, noted that none of the words in the ad's closing line are pronouns, and said she had argued on Bluesky that mocking transgender people's pronouns with that style of joke was wrong.
“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.”
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
Signed opinion column by Katelyn Burns, published September 16, 2026 at 1:42 p.m. Eastern. The passage on Hinojosa sits inside a wider argument about Democratic candidates conceding ground on transgender policy; the column's other examples are James Talarico in Texas and Josh Turek in Iowa.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Burns's column addresses several Democrats it says have conceded ground on transgender policy before the 2026 midterms, opening with James Talarico's Fox News remarks and later turning to Josh Turek in Iowa.
After the quotation
Burns notes that her Bluesky post about the ad drew objections from liberal users. The column argues that these concessions are not marginal and that transgender Americans have lost established rights over the past five years.
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. Burns states in her own voice that it was wrong to mock transgender people's pronouns with this style of joke, and places Hinojosa in a column arguing that such concessions harm transgender people. That is an express criticism of the conduct at issue. The closest competing label is “Challenged the characterization”, since a strand of the passage is the descriptive point that none of the named words are pronouns. That loses because she does not stop at the description: she goes on to the substantive evaluation that the joke was wrong. minimizes does not apply, and she offers no defence of the ad.
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- 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
Jeis Whittaker says they cannot tell what the pronouns line is meant to communicate
“Republicans are using people like me and my friends as a wedge issue to distract from their own failings - on that much, I agree with Hinojosa But it’s really easy for commentary about that problem to descend into complete apathy about trans issues. I’m unsure what 'my pronouns are mom, Texan, and soon-to-be Governor' is supposed to communicate And I don’t think actual swing voters will get it, either.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Katelyn Burns says it was wrong to mock trans people’s pronouns with this style of joke". First published: 2026-09-18. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/997-in-a-signed-opinion-column-for-xtra-magazine