Tennessee Democratic congressional candidate Aftyn Behn is facing renewed scrutiny over comments she made in a 2020 podcast in which she said that “men and women who can give birth” should use childbirth as a form of political leverage, as reported by Breitbart.

Behn made the remarks on her podcast Grits while discussing Birth Strike, a book by feminist author Jenny Brown that promotes the idea of women refusing to have children in order to pressure the government.

Behn is currently a Tennessee state representative for District 51 and is running for the U.S. House seat vacated by former Rep. Mark Green.

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In the episode titled “The Plurality of ‘Pro-Life,’” Behn used the term “birthers” before clarifying her definition.

“I think as an organizer and as an activist, we really have an opportunity here in this country to talk about what type of progressive policies we want to see as young women, and I think we have as birthers, as women who can give birth — men and women who can give birth — we can maybe leverage that as collective bargaining.”

Behn has also taken positions in support of transgender ideology, including opposition to laws restricting medical interventions for minors.

She criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Skrmetti, which upheld Tennessee’s law banning minors from receiving sex-change drugs for gender dysphoria.

 

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“The Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for minors is a gut punch to transgender youth and their families,” Behn said.

“This 6-3 ruling only emboldens the far-right’s relentless attack on transgender rights, pushing us further into a dangerous future where politics — rather than science — dictates the lives of our most vulnerable.”

In a 2023 interview with Today’s Holler, Behn said, “I ran on an unabashed progressive campaign platform of standing up for trans kids and standing up for reproductive access.”

She added that she will “never compromise on values of abortion access or trans kids.”

Behn has also appeared alongside a drag queen “who urged parents to bring their kids to one of his shows,” according to the Daily Wire.

She commented publicly after the 2023 Covenant School shooting in Nashville, where a transgender-identifying shooter killed six people.

“So, for those of you who don’t know, my partner has a trans son, and the month of April and the final week of March was incredibly upsetting for us,” Behn said during a July 31, 2023, candidate forum.

She told the audience that she joined conversations with “trans organizers and activists across the state” who feared for their safety.

Behn said the shooting motivated her to seek office so she could fight “every day” for “protections for trans kids and our trans communities.”

WATCH: This is how Democrat Aftyn Behn responded to the Covenant shooting, when a trans-identifying woman killed six at the Christian school.

It inspired Behn’s first run for office…so she could fight to protect “trans communities” and against Daily Wire and @MattWalshBlog. pic.twitter.com/th13e1v6dW

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) November 24, 2025

“Every legislative session, I promise to carry a ‘trans bill of rights’ so that we can push back against the far-right narrative that is being emanated by Matt Walsh and The Daily Wire,” Behn said.

On June 1, she posted on Facebook for Pride Month, writing, “THESE COLORS DON’T BLEED. Remember, you come for my trans community, I come for you.”

Behn is running against Republican Matt Van Epps for the 7th Congressional District. Van Epps, a former Tennessee Department of General Services commissioner, is endorsed by President Donald Trump.

Early voting is underway, and the special election will be held December 2. The district was won by Trump by 22 points in 2024, and Green won it by 21 points over former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry.

Democrats have invested heavily in the race. Republicans currently hold a 219–213 majority in the U.S. House with three vacancies.

Breitbart News reported that it reached out to Behn’s campaign for comment and did not receive a response.

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