U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has officially pulled an attack ad in which he was accused of using a photo of two students — both minors — without permission, according to Chron.com. The transphobic ad features images of the two girls from Oregon at a track meet next to a photo of U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and a caption that claims he “voted to allow boys in girls’ sports.” (For his part, Allred has run ads denying Cruz’s assertions: “I don’t want boys playing girl sports or any of this ridiculous stuff Ted Cruz is saying.”)
A spokesman for Cruz’s campaign told the Houston Chronicle that the ads are no longer on the air — but, as of Thursday morning, they were still on YouTube. In a letter, the Beaverton School District had demanded that Cruz pull the ad, according to the Dallas Morning News: “The two athletes pictured are minors; the one on the left in the Westview hoodie is our student. The family nor the school or school district ever gave permission for this photo to be used.” The letter continued: “In addition, the ad implies that at least one of the athletes in this photo is transgender. Please know that both of these athletes were born female and identify as female; they are not transgendered.”
The ads, according to the Houston Chronicle, ran during NFL games in Dallas and Houston this month.
