What has VP pick JD Vance said about LGBTQ issues?

Donald Trump selected JD Vance as his vice-presidential running mate for 2024 on Monday, hoping to benefit from his popularity with conservatives. But the decision swiftly drew condemnation from prominent LGBTQ advocacy groups who argue the legislation he supports is detrimental to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.

Both the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ rights organization, and GLAAD, a national LGBTQ media advocacy group, highlighted controversial bills written or sponsored by the senator from Ohio, including a prohibition on “X” gender markers on U.S. passports, an option that the State Department rolled out in April 2022.

Vance also proposed a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, identical to a bill brought up in the House by Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

“Under no circumstances should doctors be allowed to perform these gruesome, irreversible operations on underage children,” Vance said in a statement at the time.

Before assuming office, Vance opposed the federal protection for gay and interracial marriages, stating that the efforts were a “bizarre distraction” from other issues.

Vance has also defended his use of the word “groomer,” often used as a slur by conservatives to describe LGBTQ people and their allies. “I’ll stop calling people ‘groomers’ when they stop freaking out about bills that prevent the sexualization of my children,” Vance said on X, formerly Twitter, in April 2022.

Cy Neff reports on Wyoming politics for USA TODAY. You can reach him at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CyNeffNews

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: JD Vance on LGBTQ issues: A history of controversial remarks