Admin correction: This story and its headline have been edited to better reflect the entirety of Vance’s story about being “convinced” he was gay as a boy, including his grandmother’s full response. Additionally, the name of Vance’s wife, Usha, has been corrected.
“I’ll never forget the time I convinced myself that I was gay. I was eight or nine, maybe younger, and I stumbled upon a broadcast by some fire-and-brimstone preacher. The man spoke about the evils of homosexuals, how they had infiltrated our society, and how they were all destined for hell absent some serious repenting,” he wrote in his book. “At the time, the only thing I knew about gay men was that they preferred men to women. This described me perfectly: I disliked girls, and my best friend was my buddy Bill. Oh no, I’m going to hell.” J.D Vance writing in Hillbilly Elegy per LGBTQ Nation
Just about everybody is scrutinizing Vance’s autobiography Hillbilly Elegy to get a sense of what he stands for, and the gay community is no exception. Various gay publications have recently reported on what they found.
The above nugget came from his confession of being gay as a nine-year-old kid in his book, which has raised eyebrows as he is currently one of the most vicious homophobes in the US Senate, where he has served for less than two years before being selected by Donald Trump as his vice presidential candidate.
LGBTQ Nation reported that he expressed his fears to his grandmother when he was nine; he quotes her as saying, “Don’t be a f**king idiot; how would you know that you’re gay?” when he attempted to dive further into his feelings, he quoted her as saying “J.D., do you want to suck d**ks?” She sounds charming, doesn’t she?
LGBTQ Nation continues the story:
Vance replied, “Of course not!”
“Then you’re not gay,” she said. “And even if you did want to suck d**ks, that would be okay. God would still love you.”
The advocate noted that he did not like girls but had feelings for another boy.
“Mamaw,” as he called her, offered him some condolence besides her forceful questions to him with “an assurance of divine love, regardless of his sexual orientation.”
Any empathy or critical thinking skills he may have had evaporated in his lust for power in later years. He is particularly vitriolic when it comes to transexual folks.
The Advocate writes:
Vance’s legislative actions have also drawn significant criticism. He introduced a bill to criminalize gender-affirming care for minors, arguing that such medical interventions are harmful and should be banned. He has also decried the inclusion of a third gender option on passports, branding it as a waste of taxpayer money. “There are only two genders — passports issued by the United States government should recognize that simple fact,” Vance wrote on his congressional website while pushing his bill, the Passport Sanity Act.
Vance has made other significant changes to his identity throughout his life, including his religious beliefs. Raised by blue-dog Democrats, he embraced conservative values, though he was a never-Trump Republican until he joined the U.S. Senate in 2022. He recently became a vocal supporter of Trump. The Times notes that his journey from a skeptical observer to a key player in Trump’s political circle highlights his adaptability and willingness to shift his identity for political gain.
Vance’s narrative, as detailed in Hillbilly Elegy, is one of struggle and transformation. He has spoken openly about his troubled childhood, experiences with various father figures, and his journey through the military and Yale Law School. These experiences have shaped his political views, revealing a man who has constantly reinvented himself. This makes his rigid stance on transgender rights all the more perplexing.
Vance and his wife, Usha, had a dear friend who was trans, Sofia Nelson, while studying at Yale.
From Newsweek:
A college friend of Vance, Sofia Nelson, who is transgender and uses they/them pronouns, weighed in on Vance's stance on LGBTQ+ rights in comments made to The New York Times.
Nelson said they were once friends with Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, and that the senator brought them home-baked treats when they received top surgery.
However, the friendship ended after Vance after he voiced support for an Arkansas bill that would ban gender-affirming healthcare for minors in 2021, Nelson told the Times.
"It hurt my feelings when he started saying hateful things about trans people," Nelson told the Times.
snip
Activist Alejandra Caraballo shared the except from the Times, adding, "JD Vance and his wife were previously close friends with a trans classmate at Yale Law. That all changed in 2021 as he eyed running for senate in Ohio. Vance will throw his friends, family, and loved ones under the bus for political power."
In 2023, Vance introduced cruel and vicious legislation against the dignity of trans people. In a statement on his bill, he said, "Under no circumstances should doctors be allowed to perform these gruesome, irreversible operations on underage children. With this legislation, we can save countless young Americans from a lifetime of suffering and regret," Until recently, there was not that much health care for trans children wishing to transition to their true selves. That changed in 2022 when the World Professional Association for Transgender Health relaxed its standard for sexual identity through medical procedures.
From The AP:
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health said hormones could be started at age 14, two years earlier than the group’s previous advice, and some surgeries done at age 15 or 17, a year or so earlier than previous guidance. The group acknowledged potential risks but said it is unethical and harmful to withhold early treatment.
The association provided The Associated Press with an advance copy of its update ahead of publication in a medical journal, expected later this year. The international group promotes evidence-based standards of care and includes more than 3,000 doctors, social scientists and others involved in transgender health issues.
The update is based on expert opinion and a review of scientific evidence on the benefits and harms of transgender medical treatment in teens whose gender identity doesn’t match the sex they were assigned at birth, the group said. Such evidence is limited but has grown in the last decade, the group said, with studies suggesting the treatments can improve psychological well-being and reduce suicidal behavior.
Starting treatment earlier allows transgender teens to experience physical puberty changes around the same time as other teens, said Dr. Eli Coleman, chair of the group’s standards of care and director of the University of Minnesota Medical School’s human sexuality program.
Republicans always punch down at the most vulnerable amongst us; they just can't seem to ever admit that we are all human and should be treated equally.
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