The suburb of Chandler, Arizona, resoundingly rejected a proposal to build a 422,000-square-foot AI data center within its borders, despite pleas from bisexual former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), who has been working with the Trump administration to make America an AI powerhouse.Sinema gave public comment at two separate city council meetings on behalf of the New York developer, Active Infrastructure, the company behind the data center proposal. She also explained that she is the founder of the AI Infrastructure Coalition, which is supported by major corporations like Microsoft, Meta, and ExxonMobil, Politico reported. Related Massively influential GOP group hires leader who wants to criminalize homosexuality On the day of the vote, she also went on Fox News to lavish praise on the Trump administrations approach to AI development and claimed that the left is spreading misinformation about data centers that is putting the country in jeopardy.Foreign countries, Sinema said, want to control the AI. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today This really is a national security race. Weve got to win it. China is doing everything it can to dominate AI globally, and they will program the AI with Chinese values. We have got to win that race, and President Trump is 100% right. Weve gotta double down and make sure that American values are the values of the world and that we control this global AI agenda, and thats why these data centers are so important all across the country.She decried a supposed massive effort on the left to come into communities and give misinformation around water and energy and AI data centers. Indeed, Chandler residents expressed concerns that the data center would drain resources by using too much water and raising power prices. Sinema claimed thats all wrong. This administration is doing a good job of telling the truth, creating more energy domestically Were actually using less water with AI data centers than in the past, she said on Fox News.On the other hand, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a nonpartisan environmental nonprofit, called AI data centers resource-ravenous, with one mid-size data center needing as much water as a small town and larger ones requiring as much as a city of 50,000 people. The group referred to AI data centers as mechanical monsters whose rapid proliferation can put an enormous strain on local and regional resources. It brought up one planned Meta data center in Wyoming that will use more electricity than every home in the state combined. Chandler city councilmembers and residents didnt buy Sinemas claims. Chandler Vice Mayor Christine Ellisreportedly voted no after Sinema couldnt answer her question, Whats in it for Chandler? If you cant show me whats in it for Chandler, then we are not having a conversation,Ellis said.The Chandler planning office reported that more than 200 comments were filed against the data center, and only eight were in favor. The Trump administration is working with AI companies to establish data centers across the country, Politico explained, but Chandler is not the only local government resisting the effort. Officials in at least five other states have also voted down proposals. In November, Sinema said shes excited to be working hand in glove with the Trump administration as a lobbyist leading a Big Tech effort to expand the U.S. artificial intelligence industry.She alsoreportedly warned local politiciansin Arizona that Trump may force them to build an AI data center whether they want one or not, a sentiment she echoed during public comment at the Chandler meetings. Chandler right now has the opportunity to determine how and when these new, innovative AI data centers will be built, she said.When federal preemption comes, well no longer have that privilege.At the time, OD Harris, a member of Chandlers city council, toldPolitico, As a local official, we never appreciate when a county, a state, or a federal official attempts to insert their authority into our local process. We represent what the voters want because were closest to the people.Sinemas alignment with Trump and Big AI isnt really surprisingWhile serving in the U.S. Senate, she positioned herself as a political moderate and a reliable ally to the business community: voting against several of former President Joe Bidens labor nominees, opposing an increase in the $7.25 federal minimum hourly wage, preventing tax increases on private equity and venture capital earnings, and providing taxpayer subsidies to exporters.While she highlighted her bisexuality before her election to Congress, she largely avoided mentioning it afterward.During her last senatorial term, she joined another fellow former Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), to block the elimination of the filibuster, and with it, Democrats hopes for enacting legislation on expanded voting, LGBTQ+ rights, the economy, and climate change. It was a stand that brought scorn from Democratic colleagues and voters, alienating Sinema from her non-wealthy constituents and party members.The Arizona Democratic Party voted to censure Sinemain January 2022, citing her failure to help pass federal voting rights legislation. Arizona Democrats also blasted her for being noticeably absent on the campaign trail during the 2022 midterm elections. Her unpopularity and ineffectiveness compelled then-Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego to successfully run for her Senate seat in 2024. Polling showed that majorities of Arizona voters from every political affiliationall disapproved of her. Her low approval ratings made her one of the five most unpopular senators in the entire nation.She would have faced Gallego in a re-election race, but instead, shedisaffiliated from the Democratic party, becoming an Independent, and then announced her retirement, since her re-election defeat seemed all but certain. She then usedher farewell Senate speechto defend the filibuster.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.