Anti-LGBT grandma enters race for Utah State Senate with viral rap video

Linda Paulson is a Salt Lake City grandmother who rapped her way to fame in a viral video announcing she is running for the Utah State Senate.

The video was actually posted to Paulson’s YouTube channel earlier this month but didn’t get much attention until local media noticed it. Even the United Kingdom’s Daily Telegraph briefly paused coverage of the impending Royal funeral and upcoming coronation of King Charles III to show the video.

In it, Paulson rhymes her way through her ultra-conservative political values, which include things like loving God, opposing abortion, being “pro-religious freedom” and “pro-police,” nd “the right to bear arms.”

“Support traditional family as the fundamental unit of society,” she raps. “But is schools they are pushing for new beliefs.” “And just to clarify, as a female adult, I know what a woman is,” she raps with a smile.

According to her campaign website, Paulson, who graduated with a degree in Family Life from Brigham Young University in 2007, opposes student athletes competing on teams that match their gender identity (or, as she puts it, “biological boys allowed in girls sports/locker rooms”) and wants to ban teachers from talking about LGBTQ issues in the classroom because she considers it “pornography.”

She says the reason she is running is, “I care about our children and will challenge philosophies such as biological boys competing in Girls’ sports and CRT.”

Paulson is running is Utah Senate District 12, which includes parts of West Valley City, Taylorsville, and Kearns.

So far, she doesn’t appear to have racked up many meaningful endorsements and, according to her campaign’s most recent Received Contributions Report filed with the state, she has accepted a total of $4,190.33 in donations. This is in addition to $5,000 she donated herself earlier this year.

Utah’s general election will take place on November 8. Paulson is running against incumbent State Senator Karen Mayne, whose campaign has received nearly $50,000 in donations. Mayne was first elected in 2009 and has been Senate minority leader since 2019.

Equality Utah made no endorsement in the race.