NH State Senate candidate Victoria Sullivan has long history of anti-LGBTQ views, harassment

Republican candidate for New Hampshire State Senate Victoria Sullivan kicked off pride month by saying the LGBTQ+ community had no right to use the rainbow as a symbol, saying it was “given to God’s people as a sign of his covenant with us,” and that “no group or organization can claim it for themselves.”

“They just can’t.”

Sullivan, candidate for State Senate district 18, posted the anti-LGBTQ+ screed on social media in response to the twitter account “Libs of TikTok,” which frequently shares homophobic content that personally attacks LGBTQ+ people .

Sullivan’s anti-LGBTQ+ record is extensive. She voted against bills prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity twice in 2017 and 2018 and voted against a bill that would have prohibited convsersion therapy for individuals under 18 years old twice, a practice UN experts have called “torture”.

After her comments on the rainbow symbol were highlighted on social media, Sullivan attempted to clean up her attack by recognizing individual conservative lawmakers in the LGBTQ community.

People familiar with her record were not buying it.

“Sullivan is blatantly trying to rewrite her well-documented anti-LGBTQ+ voting record and history of harmful, discriminatory vitriol,” said one Manchester Democrat familiar with Sullivan, who asked for anonymity for fear of future harassment.

“Victoria has slung hateful slurs against me personally with no care for the repercussions of her actions or remorse, and I know I am not the only Manchester resident who she has targeted. From voting for conversion therapy and against trans rights, Sullivan is no ally, and her actions have directly contributed to the mental health crisis affecting our LGBTQ+ community.”

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State Rep. Alissandra Murray, a trans-nonbinary lawmaker here in New Hampshire said they had a long history of suffering pointed harassment from Sullivan as a result of being a queer lawmaker.

“For months, she was posting about me, like every single week, at least once a week… about my identity, mostly, and how my identity makes me an unfit legislator, and that I’m clearly mentally ill and I’m lying about being trans, and like, I’m a groomer. And when I put my account on private and turned off my comments for a little bit because the online harassment had gotten so bad, she took screenshots and was posting them everywhere directing more harassment towards me,” Murray said. 

“‘Sexual deviants.’ ‘Groomers.’ ‘Pedos.’ ‘Demons.’ These are just some of the descriptions of LGBT people Victoria Sullivan allows in the NH Republicans group that she moderates. Along with extremely homophobic gay jokes. She is no “supporter of the movement.’ said one social media user about Sullivan.

New Hampshire Democratic Party Ray Buckley said Sullivan’s attempts to rewrite her beliefs and long record attacking the LGBTQ community was a facade.

“This woman has no sense of decency. For over a decade, she has mocked, smeared, attacked and been outright cruel to the LGBTQ community and individuals specifically. The glee she displays by dehumanizing people is repulsive. Now, on the cusp of her fifth straight defeat for public office, she is grotesquely attempting to repackage herself by claiming ‘I know a few gay men so I cannot be the vicious homophobe I have acted like’. She has caused too much pain, too much personal hurt to too many over the years to be forgiven.” Buckley wrote on social media.

Linds Jakows, founder of 603 Equality, a leading LGBTQ rights organization in New Hampshire, said Sullivan’s comments are a side show to real issues happening in the state.

“Ms. Sulllivan’s silly comments about the rainbow are intended to bait LGBTQ community members and allies into unproductive Twitter debates. 603 Equality encourages every Granite Stater to channel their energy toward calling, emailing, and writing Governor Sununu to demand that he veto the 4 anti-trans bills heading to his desk: HB 396, HB 1205, HB 1312, and HB 619.”

Senate district 18, which is based in Manchester, covering the city’s 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th wards as well as the nearby town of Litchfield in Hillsborough County.