In a moment that should have ended a political career on the spot—but somehow didn’t—Tennessee Republican and gubernatorial candidate Monty Fritts openly called for the execution of parents of transgender children.
Not figuratively. Not rhetorically. Literally.
During an appearance on a Christian nationalist podcast, the 62-year-old candidate argued that the state should put to death not only the parents and guardians of trans and nonbinary youth, but anyone who helps them access care—including doctors providing gender-affirming treatment.
Let that sink in.
This isn’t policy disagreement. This isn’t “states’ rights.” This is a gubernatorial candidate advocating for the state-sanctioned killing of families and medical professionals because they support transgender kids.
The clip, circulated by watchdog group Right Wing Watch, shows Fritts leaning fully into a worldview where simply supporting a trans child becomes a capital offense.
And it would be easy—comforting, even—to dismiss this as fringe extremism. But that would ignore the broader political context that made it possible.
Because this didn’t happen in a vacuum.
Manufactured Panic, Real Consequences
For years, Republican lawmakers across the country have pushed the narrative that transgender youth are undergoing widespread, invasive medical procedures.
They’re not.
The reality is far less sensational—and far more inconvenient for those pushing panic as policy. A 2024 study out of Harvard found that cisgender minors are significantly more likely to receive gender-affirming surgical care than transgender minors. In fact, such procedures for trans youth are exceedingly rare.
But the facts have never been the point.
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The point is to create a crisis where none exists—one that justifies increasingly aggressive laws, surveillance, and now, apparently, calls for execution.
Because once you frame parents as abusers and doctors as criminals, it becomes easier—politically—to escalate what “punishment” looks like.
Fritts just said the quiet part out loud.
From Budget Debates to Death Penalties
And here’s the part that should make voters pause even harder: this is the same candidate who, less than a month after launching his gubernatorial campaign, also argued for cutting back programs meant to help lower-income families access private education.
Calling the expansion “fiscally irresponsible,” Fritts suggested he would suspend or end it if elected.
So to recap:
- Helping low-income families? Too expensive.
- Supporting transgender kids? Punishable by death.
That’s not governance. That’s ideology weaponized against the vulnerable.
This Is the Line
There’s a tendency in American politics to normalize the next outrageous statement—to treat it as just another headline in an endless scroll.
Don’t.
Because when a candidate for governor openly advocates executing parents for supporting their children, we are no longer debating policy.
We are confronting a movement that is increasingly comfortable with state violence as a solution to identity itself.
And if that doesn’t set off alarms, it should.
Because today it’s trans families.
Tomorrow, it’s whoever they decide doesn’t belong.
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