According to a review by American Ledger, Republican Arizona State Senator Kate Brophy McGee (LD-28) ran a pair of Facebook advertisements touting an endorsement from a pastor at the North Mountain Christian Assembly church, a member of the Assemblies of God, an anti-LGBTQ+ organization.

Brophy McGee’s campaign published a video featuring Cleo Lewis, the assistant pastor of the church, endorsing her for reelection to the State Senate on October 9, 2020. The same video was used in two ads in the subsequent week.

Lewis, the pastor in the video, is a certified minister for the Assemblies of God, a status that requires him to subscribe to and be affiliated with all the positions of the group. The group’s  anti-LGBTQ+ positions include opposing homosexuality, considering LGBTQ+ individuals a threat to “the family, the government, and the church,” supporting conversion therapy, and denying the existence of trans people.

This does not represent the first time Kate Brophy McGee has adopted an anti-LGBTQ+ position or supported an anti-LGBTQ+ organization. She also said she “generally” supported the positions of the Arizona Catholic Conference, an organization that supported banning same-sex marriage via constitutional amendment and endorsed legalized discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.

Additionally, Brophy McGee voted for a bill allowing therapists to use their religious views to justify discriminating against LGBTQ+ clients. The bill later became law. She also voted for a bill that required people to undergo a background check before changing their name, which opponents noted would disproportionately affect members of the trans community.

During her time in elected office, Kate Brophy McGee has taken legislative positions and allied herself politically with individuals and organizations that have extreme anti-LGBTQ+ views.  Kate Brophy McGee is up for reelection to the Arizona State Senate in November 2020.