LGBTQ Leaders Condemn Trump Running Mate J.D. Vance
HRC, Task Force, GLAAD, and others blast J.D. Vance as extremely hostile to the modern-day LGBTQ movement.
In what came as no surprise to astute political observers, LGBTQ groups pummeled former President Donald Trump for selecting U.S. Senator J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate.
The Ohio Republican, who will turn 40 in August, is a Yale-educated, self-acclaimed populist who has become known best for his hatred of the political Left, support of natalist domestic policies, and archconservative stances on social issues, particularly concerning the LGBTQ community.
As expected, LGBTQ advocates and allies — many of whom already hold Trump in contempt — saw the Vance pick as doubling down on the anti-LGBTQ policies that Trump promoted when he was last in the Oval Office.
In fact, Vance, who is much more vocal and pugilistic than Trump’s last running mate, Mike Pence, may be even more hostile than Trump himself.
“Donald Trump has been a bully for years — and his pick of MAGA clone J.D. Vance is a reminder that nothing has changed,” Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. “This is anything but a unity ticket.
“We are not simply choosing between two campaigns. We are choosing between two fundamentally different visions of America. One, with Trump and MAGA ‘yes man’ J.D. Vance at the helm, where our rights and freedoms are under siege. And the other, with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris leading the way, where we are advancing toward freedom and equality for all.
“We must defeat Trump, Vance, and their brand of chaos and division, and send Joe Biden and Kamala Harris back to the White House.”
Initially critical of Trump during the former president’s first campaign in 2016, Vance has since become one of Trump’s most ardent supporters. He styles himself as a near-clone of the former president in the hope of appealing to the same kinds of voters who helped propel Trump to victory.
“GLAAD urges all media covering Trump’s choice for vice president to include his history of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policy,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement that also chastised national media outlets for dismissing LGBTQ people and concerns as somehow not legitimate.
“LGBTQ Americans are taxpayers, family members, colleagues, classmates, neighbors and friends, and our concerns are the same as any Americans: our freedom to be ourselves to live in safety and dignity, the right to make private health care decisions, read books of our choosing, marry who we love, and not be discriminated against for who we are,” Ellis continued.
Vance has a history of making inflammatory, combative statements on various issues.
With respect to LGBTQ rights, Vance opposes marriage equality, nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people, and in vitro fertilization, which is crucial to helping many LGBTQ couples form families. He has dismissed transgender identity as not real, introduced legislation to criminalize doctors who assist transgender youth in accessing gender-affirming treatments, and advocated for Florida-style “Don’t Say Gay” laws, calling those who disagree with him “groomers.”
“This is the most consequential election of our lifetimes, and with Donald Trump’s decision today to add J.D. Vance to the Republican ticket, the stakes of this election just got even higher,” Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement.
“J.D. Vance embodies MAGA — with an out-of-touch extreme agenda and plans to help Trump force his Project 2025 agenda on the American people,” Harrison added.” Vance has championed and enabled Trump’s worst policies for years… Let’s be clear: A Trump-Vance ticket would undermine our democracy, our freedoms, and our future.”
The National LGBTQ Task Force similarly blasted Vance for his positions on LGBTQ-related issues.
“In choosing Sen. Vance, we now have a potential vice president that is hostile to LGBTQ liberation, reproductive rights, immigration rights, and more,” Kierra Johnson, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement posted to Instagram, along with several bullet points outlining Vance’s past statements and policy positions. “We must redouble our efforts to educate the public about what is at stake in the upcoming elections and take action to queer the vote.”
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