During his 2024 reelection bid, former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio faced television advertisements from the Republican-aligned Senate Leadership Fund accusing him of backing sex change surgeries for minors.
Following his defeat in 2024, Brown launched another Senate campaign, prompting the political action committee to revive the attack. Brown is running against Republican Senator Jon Husted, who took over the seat in 2025 after Vice President JD Vance vacated it.
A mid-September campaign spot relied on visuals of children, surgical tools, a bearded man wearing a dress, and several progressive figures, accompanied by a voiceover claiming:
“Abused and exploited by an extremist agenda. Forcing childhood sex change surgery. But Sherrod Brown stands with these extremists. Brown supports sex change surgery for kids — permanent surgical decisions with devastating consequences. The extremists demand it. Sherrod Brown complies, and Ohio’s children pay the price.”
The same political committee has rolled out additional commercials echoing these allegations, with one asserting, “Sherrod Brown supports sex change surgery for minors and admitted he would never oppose it.”
Medical procedures involving gender transition for minors are extremely rare, and professional medical standards do not endorse them for young children. Any clinical care for transgender youth—such as puberty blockers or hormone treatments—mandates parental consent.
Investigation shows no record of Brown ever stating that he supports mandating or forcing gender-transition surgery for minors.
These Ohio television spots are part of a broader wave of ads zeroing in on transgender policy across competitive Senate contests nationwide.
The Basis for the Ad’s Claims
Brown has a long history of backing platforms championed by LGBTQ+ advocates. He introduced the inaugural Senate Pride Month Resolution in 2017, and the Human Rights Campaign backed his recent bids for office. Furthermore, a 2020 statement released by Brown emphasized the dignity of transgender individuals when addressing housing regulations.
However, no public record indicates that Brown favors mandating surgical procedures for children.
When questioned regarding the 2026 commercial, Senate Leadership Fund representative Chris Gustafson pointed to a July 2023 broadcast interview with WSYX-TV based in Columbus, Ohio. This exact interview served as the singular reference point for the 2024 campaign ads as well.
That media appearance centered on the Protect Children’s Innocence Act—legislation proposed by then-Senator JD Vance that Brown opposed—which sought to classify the provision of transition-related surgeries or puberty blockers to minors as a felony.
During that interview, Brown remarked, “A child’s health care decisions are between them, their parents, their families, their doctors — not politicians. I will never agree with anybody that wants to bring politics into the family situation with health care, period.”
According to Gustafson, these comments demonstrate that Brown rejects any restrictions on gender-affirming treatments for minors.
While the latest advertising language escalates past the 2024 messaging—which also referenced puberty blockers—Brown’s actual statements do not express support for forcing surgical procedures on anyone.
In response, Brown launched his own digital ad featuring constituents who question the Republican emphasis on transgender issues instead of economic concerns. The spot points out that the debate is largely moot in Ohio due to a 2024 state statute prohibiting doctors from performing gender-reassignment operations on minors.
Evaluation
An ad produced by the Senate Leadership Fund alleged that Brown endorses “forcing childhood sex change surgery.”
To justify this claim, the commercial points to a 2023 television appearance where Brown stated that healthcare choices for minors belong strictly between patients, families, and physicians rather than government officials.
Brown never stated in that interview—nor anywhere else, based on available evidence—that he favors forcing medical procedures on children.
The claim is rated False.