A liberal protester targeting Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears with a racist sign has gone viral and caused confusion over her intentions.
Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee in the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election, attended an Arlington County School Board meeting where she spoke out against a policy that allows transgender students to use girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms.
The meeting occurred as a result of a threat by the Department of Education to cut off federal funding from the school district over its bathroom policy.
A transgender rights rally was held outside the meeting in support of the school district’s policy.
One of the protesters, an unidentified elderly liberal white woman, could be seen holding a sign targeting Earle-Sears by comparing black Americans being forced to use water fountains to the transgender bathroom debate.
‘Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then Blacks can’t share my water fountain,’ the sign reads.
As the picture – captured by Virginia journalist Brandon Jarvis – went viral. And statements from Virginia leaders in both parties rushed to condemn the protester.
‘I’m disgusted, but not surprised. This is the “tolerant” left Abigail Spanberger defends. I’m the sitting Lieutenant Governor, second in command in the former capital of the confederate states,’ Earle-Sears told the Daily Mail in a statement, referencing her Democratic opponent in this November’s general election.
A liberal white woman was disavowed on social media for holding a racist sign targeting Earle-Sears
Earle-Sears is the Republican nominee for the governor’s race in Virginia
The sign was held outside an Arlington school board meeting at a transgender rights rally
‘I’m an immigrant, a Marine, and above all, a human being. There is no place for this disgusting hatred in our Commonwealth.’
She added, ‘Anyone who doesn’t condemn this sign is complicit in approving it.’
Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for Virginia governor, did disavow the protester by referring to the sign as ‘racist, abhorrent and unacceptable.’
However, Republican leaders all over Virginia came to Earle-Sears’ defense while bashing the left.
‘The hypocrisy of the liberal left on display again. Winsome is so much bigger than this idiocy,’ wrote Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on X.
The state’s Attorney General Jason Miyares agreed adding, ‘This is wrong. @winwithwinsome — and Virginia — deserve better.’
The liberal protester, who was not identified, defended her the sign as ‘satire’ in a statement to Fox5, a local news affiliate.
‘It was satire meant to provoke conversation around the absurdity of prejudice,’ she said.
‘If anyone thinks we are actually supporting separate drinking fountains based on race, they are mistaken. In the same way, that drinking fountains should be usable by all races, bathrooms should be non-discriminatory.’
The woman defended the sign as ‘satire’ in a statement to a local news outlet
At one point during the school board meeting, a fellow Democrat informs the unidentified woman her sign is getting a lot of ‘negative’ attention.
She appears shocked by the news but continues to hold the sign.
Spanberger is currently the favorite over Earle-Sears in the Virginia governor’s race with most public and private polling showing her tracking ahead.
The Earle-Sears-Spanberger contest guarantees that Virginia will elect its first female governor after more than 400 years as a state.