IL: GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Obsessed With Pregnant Men

Sen. Dave Bailey, from his campaign website

via Dave McKinney for the WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times. WBEZ is Chicago’s NPR station, the Sun-Times is a mainstream newspaper out of Chicago, IL.

McKinney reports on state Senator Darren Bailey, a Republican who is running for Governor of the Illinois.

Bailey seems completely obsessed with pregnant men, apparently asking over and over and over again for Representative Kelly Cassidy (D), who is sponsoring a law to guarantee abortion access in the state, to explain to him who can become pregnant. The group of people who can become pregnant includes many trans men, as well as certain nonbinary people, some intersex folks, and cis women as well.

What does Bailey’s unwillingness to let go of the topic of pregnant men mean for his psyche? Only he knows. However it’s unlikely to be a good thing for transgender people that this conservative Republican politician is making trans issues so central to his public persona in Illinois.