Tennessee Republican gubernatorial hopeful Monty Fritts has drawn widespread condemnation after openly calling for the state to execute the parents and guardians of transgender and non-binary children.
The 62-year-old made the remarks during a recent appearance on a Christian Nationalist podcast, with a clip shared on Thursday (29 January) by anti-fascist watchdog group Right-Wing Watch quickly spreading online.
In the footage, Fritts calls for state-sanctioned executions not only for parents of trans youth, but also for anyone involved in providing gender-affirming healthcare to people under the age of 18, including medical professionals.
“I think we need a law in Tennessee that would allow for capital punishment for those who commit an assault on the sanctity of life,” Fritts said in the 40-second clip. “I think that anyone who would try to disfigure a child through hormones or surgery, you might be eligible to capital punishment.
“I know that’s gonna make people’s ears ring, but that’s a gross, great sin,” he added.
In the United States, gender-affirming care for transgender youth most commonly refers to the use of puberty-suppressing medication, often known as puberty blockers. These treatments are widely regarded as safe and, in some cases, life-saving by major medical organisations.
Despite repeated claims from Republican lawmakers, invasive gender-affirming surgeries for trans people under 18 are virtually non-existent. A 2024 Harvard study found that cisgender minors are significantly more likely to undergo gender-affirming surgeries than their transgender peers.
Fritts’ latest comments come amid ongoing backlash over earlier remarks in which he advocated for the death penalty for individuals who have undergone or provided abortions. Those comments surfaced in a leaked audio recording from August, captured during a Washington County Republican Party meeting titled “God, Guns, and Guts,” according to journalist Rachel Wells.
Since announcing his bid for the 2026 Tennessee gubernatorial election last September, Fritts has been embroiled in multiple controversies. Less than a month after launching his campaign, he faced criticism for opposing an expansion of the state’s private-school scholarship program aimed at increasing access for lower-income families.
“If I get elected, I plan to suspend it or end it,” he said, according to Tennessee Lookout, describing the proposal as “fiscally irresponsible”.
Tennessee remains a stronghold for the Republican Party, which currently holds the vast majority of the state’s congressional seats.
In June 2025, the US Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth — a ruling that many advocates described as a “painful setback” for the trans community.
