In his election bid to represent Ohio in the United States Senate, J.D. Vance is embracing the playbook of taking swipes at the LGBTQ+ community in order to appeal to a Republican base.
In his latest attempt, Vance—a venture capitalist and author of Hillbilly Elegy—retweeted a message of trans support from U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, adding his own belittling commentary. Rather than looking up the descriptor “two-spirit,” Vance tweeted that it was an invented identity.
I’m sorry but what the hell is two-spirit? Would love if progressives just stopped inventing words. https://t.co/QfxM0GRhQX
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) September 8, 2021
The term “two-spirit” has been used for decades and refers to a person who identifies as having both a masculine and a feminine spirit, and is used by some Indigenous people to describe their sexual, gender and/or spiritual identity.
The Twitter community was quick to blast Vance:
Hey, you pine cone! The term dates back to pre-colonial days in many different Indigenous cultures. Not a “progressive” term at all, and certainly not newly invented.
— Lisa W (@MsBehavior) September 9, 2021
A non-chode would have googled this instead of assuming it was new just because he didn’t know it, and then using it to fan the flames of bigotry, but here we are. 🤷🏻♀️ pic.twitter.com/PWV5E0iA8G
— Emily Ching (She/Her/Elle) (@ChingedyChing) September 9, 2021
J.D. what happened to you? when did you become so angry and cruel? what happened to the little boy with empathy and grit from humble beginnings?
"progressives" did not invent the Two-Spirit identity. Two-Spirit are queer Native Americans, or Indigenous peoples.
— Jenn Jefferys (@JennJefferys) September 9, 2021
Professor Google has very flexible office hours, but since you're too lazy to drop into his office, I'll help you out. pic.twitter.com/vKTgWViyMR
— Kathleen Costello (@AnthroK8) September 9, 2021
.@JDVance1 is offended that LGBTQ+ people choose how they describe themselves and longs for the days when straight white men picked the slurs they were labeled with.
— sanderabernathy (@sanderabernathy) September 9, 2021
It’s an indigenous term. If white men weren’t afraid of actual history you might know that
It’s been around longer than progressives
— JLD (@gallowglass321) September 9, 2021
Vance is far from alone in this anti-LGBTQ+ strategy. Josh Mandel, also vying for the Republican nomination for the Ohio Senate seat, regularly tweets transphobic sentiments. 🔥
Ignite Action:
- Learn more about the two-spirit community. A great place to start is this documentary by Cincinnati news anchor Megan Mitchell:
