A mother of a transgender boy is speaking out after her son’s story was used to foment transphobia.

Two years ago, Vanessa Nichols’s son appeared in an episode of My Trans Life, a show that airs on Barcroft TV’s YouTube channel. In the video, Vanessa and her son talk about growing up transgender.

“I think I’m gonna take some medicine so that I can kinda like transform into a boy, get surgery,” the then 7-year-old said in the video. He’s now living as a boy.

The video got noticed by California political gadfly Austin Bennett. Earlier this year, Bennett ran a write-in campaign in the primary for a state senate seat, getting just 0.3% of the vote.

The Republican’s campaign website shows the usual far-right campaign issues – he calls for a ban on abortion and vaguely mentions “the federal government’s unconstitutional overreach” – but he also shows a special concern for more bizarre positions, like “unconstitutional” vaccines and the black market for “baby body parts.”

He posted the video of Nichols and her son, decrying a parent who would “allow an underage and immature child to consider a sex change.”

“Only the debase, defiled and sick man or woman would,” he wrote. “We have those in our government. Just look at who voted for any kind of law allowing children to make life changing decisions and you will know the devils.”

In the comments, he calls out pro-LGBTQ commenters for defending “a child’s so-called right to mutilate themselves.”