Online Photos Allegedly Show JD Vance in Drag
Online users are claiming viral photos of a person in drag are of Republican vice presidential candidate and LGBTQ opponent JD Vance.
Several online political activists are claiming that a photo on social media depicts Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance in drag.
The photo appears to have been taken at around the time that Vance attended Yale Law School. A man bearing a striking resemblance to Vance is shown wearing a blonde wig, a black shirt, a flowery skirt, and a necklace. He appears to be sporting facial hair with a visible 5 o’clock shadow.
The unconfirmed image was posted to X on Sunday, and went viral, trending under the hashtag #SofaLoren, a reference to the Italian actress Sophia Loren and false claims — which also went viral — that the Republican senator had described, in his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, pleasuring himself as a youth with an inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions.
Many people noted the similarities between the man in drag in the photo and Vance, suggesting that the Ohio Republican is being hypocritical for having done drag while having called drag queens and supporters of LGBTQ rights “groomers.” As Metro Weekly has reported, Vance has amassed a record of anti-LGBTQ positions and actions.
A spokesperson for the vice presidential nominee neither confirmed nor denied the photo’s authenticity when approached by The Daily Beast, instead choosing to refrain from commenting.
Travis Whitfell, who attended Yale at the same time as Vance, took responsibility for circulating the picture among friends, whom he claimed subsequently sent it to Matt Bernstein, the online user who first posted it on X and Instagram.
Whitfell appeared to confirm that the picture was legitimate, claiming another Yale classmate had taken it. The photo is believed to have been taken at a 2012 Halloween party.
Bernstein tagged Vance in his Instagram post, adding the caption “eyeliner origin story,” a reference to online speculation that Vance has been using the beauty product to make his blue eyes stand out on camera and in photos. His wife, Usha, has since debunked those claims, claiming that her husband’s dark, plump eyelashes are natural.
Bernstein posted a second photo to Instagram of the same person in the wig and same outfit, tossing their hair and striking a pose for the camera. “i see nothing but joy in the heavily lined eyes of JD vance (sic) in this photo. head cocked, eyes narrowed, hair tossed, lips slightly separated. make no mistake: this is a diva feeling herself,” he wrote.
“there is nothing more natural than the joy that comes from drag, from experimentation, from play. but changing course and becoming a vocal homophobe because you think it’ll score you political points? THAT is unnatural.”
Bernstein declined to reveal to Out magazine the identity of the person who sent him the photo — although Whitfill has confirmed it is a friend of his. He added he doesn’t believe it is ironic that some anti-gay figures have previously dressed in drag.
“I grew up entirely around straight men, and I can tell you that if they have a few drinks and are in a safe environment, they’ll happily throw on a wig,” Bernstein said, reiterating his belief that Vance has embraced anti-LGBTQ views as a political tactic.
Bernstein acknowledges that some people may be apathetic about the upcoming election because they see the various restrictions that have passed — especially at the state level — while a Democratic president was in office.
“People are fatigued, and understandably so, with governments that aren’t adequately responding to their needs. I get that. But I need people to know that under Trump and Vance, the state of queer rights can and absolutely will get worse,” he told Out. “I don’t want people to live in fear, but I do want them to know what the stakes are and act accordingly.”
Many people on the political left slammed Bernstein on X for posting the photo, and other users for amplifying it, claiming that doing so was a misguided attempt by “libs” to appeal to homophobic voters by trying to shame Vance for having done drag.
“I don’t care about the JD Vance drag pics. I better not see any libs being homophobic or some shit about this thing. Dudes (sic) problem is he’s a Nazi not that he wore a wig and some eyeliner,” wrote a user named idiotcoward.
“Maybe I’m just sensitive to the issue because of the course of my own journey but something doesn’t feel quite right about the way libs are using Vance’s drag pix,” wrote a user called Shutyerneck.. “Yes they’re trying to point out the hypocrisy of the right but it just feels kinda gross and mocking.”
“And then watch [libs] try to spin some WE don’t think being queer is bad, but they do, so we have to villainize queer folks to own the homophobes,” wrote Byronicgyro1. “Fuckin exhausting, these assholes.”
Others noted that it was irrelevant, because Republicans and their allies have previously been caught being hypocritical about a variety of issues, and conservative voters have not shown evidence that they are swayed by such revelations.
“I know it’s a drag but I can’t tell you enough how much the hypocrisy argument does not move voters. What does is making clear how a potential leader will do things that harm them,” one wrote in a thread.
Still others noted that donning drag for a party would not elicit the same anger from right-wingers.
“About those photos of Vance in drag a) I’ve seen no confirmation they’re legit. b) I don’t care. c) It’s not hypocrisy,” wrote HistoryBoomer. “Conservatives are bugged by drag near kids (drag queen story time etc). A guy in drag for a college goof is not the same. Also, people do weird shit in college.”
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