To absolutely no one’s surprise, Trump’s new VP pick J.D. Vance has almost as long of an anti-LGBTQ+ background as Trump himself.
Vance is a first-term Republican senator from Ohio who rose to fame with the publication of his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which was known to perpetuate stereotypes of lower-class Appalachian people and ignore the systemic issues behind poverty. Trump likely chose Vance to appeal to white, lower-class voters in the Midwest, as Trump is currently barely leading in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Despite Vance’s previous criticism of Trump, several of his policies mirror Trump’s, specifically his policies toward LGBTQ+ people. In 2022, he opposed the Respect for Marriage Act, which passed and codified federal same-sex and interracial marriage rights. He also authored the Protect Children’s Innocence Act in 2023, which would make it a class C felony to provide gender-affirming surgery, which he described as “genital mutilation, chemical castration, and sterilization,” to trans minors and could be punished with up to 15 years in prison, even though gender-affirming surgery for those under 18 is only possible under extreme circumstances.
Vance also supports the “parent’s rights” movement, which believes that LGBTQ+ students should be outed to their parents and that pro-LGBTQ+ resources in classrooms should be removed. He also refers to those who oppose this movement as “groomers,” a term often used to equivocate queerness with pedophilia and predatory behaviors.
The GLAAD Accountability Project has compiled several more examples of Vance’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies, such as claiming Biden is only against Russia because Putin is transphobic. He says, “We did not serve in the Marine Corps to go and fight Vladimir Putin because he didn’t believe in transgender rights, which is what the U.S. State Department is saying is a major problem with Russia.” Additionally, he claims that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) had made up the term “two-spirit,” a phrase commonly used by Indigenous trans and gender non-conforming individuals. He blamed the “childless left” for the current state of America, specifically targeting Pete Buttigieg, the first out-gay Secretary of Transportation.
It’s safe to say, that if all of this is only since 2022, we can expect more anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from Vance in the upcoming years, especially if Trump is elected for a second term.
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