James David Vance, better known as "JD" Vance, is the new number two in the Trump campaign. The senator from Ohio will become vice president if Trump is re-elected as president. LGBT+ organisations are worried about the homophobic statements Vance has made during his political career. The submission of transphobic bills by Vance also raises concerns among these organisations.
One of the bills written by Vance would prohibit providing trans care to minors, with a potential prison sentence of 15 years. He called this proposal the "Protect Children’s Innocence Act", in which trans care for minors was labelled "horrific." Additionally, individuals providing care to transgender children abroad would no longer be eligible for visas to the US.
During his career as a senator, Vance submitted another bill to remove the option of having an "X" on passports. "There are only two genders — passports issued by the United States government should recognize that simple fact," Vance said about his proposal. Both bills were halted at an early stage.
Shortly before Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Vance claimed that President Joe Biden was considering a war with Russia "because Putin does not believe in transgender rights." He also tweeted that the term "two-spirit," used by many Indigenous Americans to refer to their gender identity, was "invented" by "progressives." Furthermore, Vance believes that sexual orientation and gender identity should not be part of anti-discrimination legislation and is against legally establishing same-sex marriage.
Vance also participates in the Republican Party's attacks on education about the LGBT+ community. He called Democrats "groomers" and accused them of "trying to sexualize six-, seven-year-old children."
As a child, Vance was convinced that he was homosexual because he had no interest in girls. He writes about this in his memoir "Hillbilly Elegy." His grandmother convinced him that he was heterosexual by asking, "JD, do you want to suck dicks?" "Of course not!" was the eight-year-old Vance's answer, which made him realise that he did not have homosexual feelings.
Vance, who lives in the LGBT+ neighbourhood of Washington D.C., has been on the radar of LGBT+ activists for some time. For example, knitted Pride flags with the text "respect our rights" were hung at his house. The president of the LGBT+ organisation GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis, responded to the news of Vance's nomination by saying: " GLAAD urges all media covering Trump’s choice for vice president to include his history of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policy. LGBTQ Americans are taxpayers, family members, colleagues, classmates, neighbors and friends, (…) Our concerns are not a ‘culture war’ sideshow—they are central to the core issues of this election."
