An anti-LGBTQ+ writer for the right-wing media outlet The Daily Caller claims that gay men “fell in love” with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) during his appearance at Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, largely because of Vance’s supposedly good looks.
In an editorial entitled, “Vance’s Baby Blues May Have Just Flipped The Left’s Most Loyal Demo,” writer Gage Klipper stated, “Gay Twitter absolutely lost their minds for Vance last night…. In the words of Gay America, he came out looking snatched.” As proof, Klipper mostly linked to posts on X made by self-described gay MAGA Republicans, including right-wing provocateur Andy Ngo.
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He also quoted a tweet that referred to fake poll numbers claiming gay men were switching parties: “BREAKING NEWS: Reuters post-debate polling shows an unexplained, 55 point drop in support for Harris Walz among gay men, ages 18 to 65.”
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“But really, who can blame them?” Klipper wrote. “Vance has come a long way from his days as a chubby Ohio teen. He’s dropped significant weight recently and is likely working out if his chiseled jawline is anything to go by. His eyes are the color of Mykonos blue, and the new salt-and-pepper beard only makes him look more distinguished.”
Despite Klipper’s enthusiasm for gay conservatives thirsting after Vance (a man who opposes same-sex marriage), Klipper has repeatedly vilified the LGBTQ+ articles in his other editorials for The Daily Caller. In previous posts, he has called the LGBTQ+ community a “cult” that involves a “dystopian… religious worship of sexual fetishes.”
“Expect leather-and-chain pervert parades all across the country while straight couples lobotomized by the media bring their toddlers along to show support,” he wrote in an editorial near Pride Month praising the rabidly anti-LGBTQ+ failed Republican candidate Valentina Gomez. He has also written in support of vandals who deface rainbow crosswalks.
“Americans are sick of having the not-so-secret gay agenda shoved down their throats,” he wrote in another piece accusing the FBI of aligning with “public school groomers [who are] transitioning [parents’] kids in secret,” because some FBI agents marched in a Pride parade.
“The Pride flag has been a scourge on the human race for far too long,” Klipper wrote in another anti-Pride screed. “It’s time to send them all into space… and just hope there’s no one out there to discover our shame. If only there was room for the parades as well…”
“Public service announcement to all public school teachers: talk to a child about his or her gender identity, and you’ll earn a one-way ticket to the asylum,” he wrote in a June 2024 editorial that advocated for LGBTQ+ allies to be thrown in prison. “There’s something clearly wrong with anyone who would convince a young, healthy child to mutilate their body — let alone as part of a sick, sexual fetish. They used to castrate groomers. But I think we can start with some electro-therapy.”
Klipper’s work mostly parrots right-wing rhetoric that characterizes LGBTQ+-inclusive school policies, queer people, and their allies as “woke” pedophilic sexual predators who want to conduct surgeries on kids (even though gender-affirming surgeries are almost never conducted on people under the age of 18). This rhetoric has led to harassment and death threats against educators, politicians, children, and healthcare professionals.
But Klipper’s gay conservatives weren’t the only ones seemingly thirsting after Vance.
On Wednesday morning, Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) posted a heavily photoshopped image of Vance, making him look slimmer with a chiseled jaw. Collins’ post included the caption “Gm” which is sometimes an abbreviation of “good morning.”
While Kipper, Collins, and other Republicans may find Vance attractive, Vance’s racist lies, desire for a national abortion ban, and inability to admit that Donald Trump lost the last election are likely to turn off voters of all sexual orientations.
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