Who is ‘obsessed with men playing in women’s sports’? JD Vance says Democrats, but Ohio Republicans can’t get enough.

Vice-President JD Vance spoke at a rally for Republican candidates in Lima, Ohio, on Friday. In that speech, he brought up the infinitesimal number of trans Americans participating in athletics.

“We have a Democratic Party that is obsessed with things like men in women’s sports,” said Vance, using transphobic language to misgender trans women. 

Yet the actual mentions at recent campaign events tell a story of the “obsession” that is starkly different from Vance’s. 

The Buckeye Flame conducted a review of 18 campaign events in Ohio since the start of September. At those events, Republicans raised transgender-related topics 22 times. 

Democrats’ mentions? Zero.

At the Friday rally alone, Vance and another Republican candidate raised the topic of “men playing in women’s sports” five additional times:

• Vance: “Marcy Kaptur voted multiple times to keep giving your tax dollars to schools that let boys play in girls’ sports.”
• Vance: “If we take the smart leadership this state has had and replace it with a person who wants to mask your kids and have girls play with boys in sports, then you’re never going to get the great economic boom that is coming to this state.”
• Derek Merrin, Republican candidate for U.S. House: “Marcy Kaptur now is claiming that she no longer wants men out of women’s sports.”
• Merrin: “Kaptur has voted two times against a bill that would have prohibited that practice, and she’s a six-time co-sponsor of the radical Equality Act, which would allow men to play in women’s sports and even allow men to force themselves and allow them into women’s locker rooms and restrooms.”
• Merrin: “Republicans are for common sense and are fighting for our children to keep men out of women’s sports.”

In addition to those six Republican mentions, here is the tally from the 17 other campaign events:

• October 10: Ohio Democrats held a press conference on affordability and energy prices. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 0.
• October 8: Merrin held a rally in Defiance. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 1.
• October 7: U.S. House candidate Brian Poindexter (D) held a rally in Parma. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 0.
• October 5: Republican Gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Merrin held a campaign rally in Wauseon. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 2.
• October 3: President Trump held a rally in Vandalia with Republican candidates. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 6
• October 2: U.S. Senate Candidate Sherrod Brown (D) held a rally in Toledo. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 0.
• October 2: Ramaswamy (R) spoke at a rally in Westerville. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 1.
• October 1: Merrin (R) spoke at the annual Paulding County Republican Fall Banquet in Paulding. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 1.
• September 30: Lt. Governor candidate David Pepper (D) held a rally in Youngstown.Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 0.
• September 26: U.S. Senate candidate Jon Husted (R) spoke at the Wood County GOP Breakfast in Bowling Green. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 1.
• September 23: Sherrod Brown (D) held a campaign event in Cleveland. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 0.
• September 22: Brown (D) held a campaign event in Lebanon. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 0.
• September 19: Husted (R) and Ramaswamy held a rally in Lebanon. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 3.
• September 18: Ramawamy (R) and Merrin (R-OH) held a town hall in Toledo. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 1.
• September 6: Sherrod Brown (D) held a rally in Lorain. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 0.
• September 6: Brown (D) held a rally in Amherst. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 0.
• September 5: Pete Buttigieg (D) and gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton (D) held a rally in Hamilton. Number of times transgender-related topics were raised: 0.

Total:
Number of times transgender-related topics were raised by Republicans: 22.
Number of times transgender-related topics were raised by Democrats: 0. 

Trans rights organizers said that candidates and elected officials who continue to focus on dehumanization and hatred are failing all Ohioans. 

“We need help with things like healthcare, housing, food, education, transportation and water, not transphobic bigotry that is both doing real harm and creating distraction,” said Dara Adkison, executive director of TransOhio. “Trans people are not an ideology, we are not an issue, we are not a talking point. We are human beings who just want to exist with the same rights and dignity as everyone else.” 🔥

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