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![Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio speaks at a campaign event, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Byron Center, Mich. (AP)](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/photos/VanceMichigan/a9a2c59cfa2b02bace119199b15e40d7.jpg)
![Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio speaks at a campaign event, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Byron Center, Mich. (AP)](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/photos/VanceMichigan/26f2b188d51e14f4491e714061e53ed4.jpg)
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio speaks at a campaign event, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Byron Center, Mich. (AP)
Buttigieg overstates Vance’s views on gay marriage
If Your Time is short
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In 2022, while campaigning for his Ohio Senate seat, J.D. Vance opposed the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill that federally recognized same-sex marriages, citing concerns about religious liberty and describing discussion around the bill as a "distraction."
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During a 2022 Senate campaign debate with then-Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, Vance referred to same-sex marriage as the "law of the land" and said, "I'm not trying to do anything to change that."
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Vance has not actively opposed same-sex marriage as a senator. He recently acknowledged gay families and confirmed they would be included in family policy proposals.
In back-to-back interviews on CNN’s "State of the Union," Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg contradicted each other when asked about Vance’s views of gay marriage.
During the Aug. 11 broadcast, host Dana Bash asked Vance his thoughts on Buttigieg's family, which includes Buttigieg’s husband and adopted twins: "Do you recognize them as parents and, more broadly, as being part of families?"
"Well, of course I do, Dana," Vance said.
Bash then invited Buttigieg on-air and asked him to respond to Vance’s statements.
"When you asked him and pressed him on whether my family was legitimate, he said yes because I think he kind of felt shamed into it," Buttigieg said. "Last time I checked, he doesn't even think I should legally be able to have a family."
Buttigieg then said Vance holds "anti-marriage equality views."
It’s been nearly a decade since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees the right to same-sex marriage. But LGBTQ+ advocates fear gay marriage’s future is not assured.
However, saying Vance is "anti-marriage equality" doesn't give a full picture. Vance opposed a 2022 federal law that recognized same-sex marriages. He has also voiced acceptance of gay marriage being legal, calling it "the law of the land" and saying he wasn’t doing anything to try to change that.
The Transportation Department did not respond to our request for comment from Buttigieg, but, when asked for Buttigieg’s evidence, a spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign pointed us to 2022 campaign trail comments Vance made against the Respect for Marriage Act.
The act, signed into law in December 2022, requires all states recognize the legality of same-sex marriages — legislative protections that could hold should the 2015 Supreme Court precedent that legalized gay marriage be overturned. Congress took up the issue after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called the 2015 ruling on gay marriage "demonstrably erroneous" and advocated it be revoked using the same rationale that the court used in revoking federally protected abortion access.
During an Oct. 10, 2022, televised Senate race debate between Vance and Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, Vance said he opposed the Respect for Marriage Act, then pending before Congress.
"I don't think it's actually about gay marriage, it is not about same-sex marriage or same-sex equality," Vance said. "Look, gay marriage is the law of the land in this country. And I'm not trying to do anything to change that." He said he opposed the bill because he thought it would make it easier for the government and others to sue religious organizations that "don’t comply with the dictates of the federal government."
Vance’s team declined PolitiFact’s request for comment on Vance’s current same-sex marriage equality position. A 2022 Cleveland Plain Dealer story said that when asked about gay marriage, Vance, who is Catholic, had "pointed to the position of the Catholic church, which officially opposes it."
In his memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," Vance wrote about his exposure to antigay religious sentiment and described being friends with gay people. But he did not specifically weigh in on gay marriage.
PolitiFact could not independently find any specific statements that Vance has made about the church’s position.
Vance’s stance on the Respect for Marriage Act came up frequently during his Senate run.
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In July 2022, the Christian nonprofit Mission: America reported that Vance had said he would vote "no" on the bill, citing concerns about religious liberty.
In August 2022, in comments to reporters who asked him about the bill, Vance called it a "distraction."
"You have a sky-high inflation crisis, you have a huge recessionary problem, and we're arguing about rights that have already been granted by the Supreme Court," he said. "It seems like a bizarre distraction for a country that actually has much, much deeper and more serious crises."
The Respect for Marriage Act passed the House on Aug. 19, 2022, and was sent to the Senate, where religious liberty protections were added, earning the bill bipartisan support. Some conservative legal organizations, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, still opposed the legislation finding the protections insufficient.
In his October debate with Ryan, Vance again said he continued to oppose the act.
President Joe Biden signed the law Dec. 13, 2022, before Vance took office.
As senator, Vance introduced proposals to restrict gender-affirming health care for youth and prohibit the use of the "X" gender designation, as opposed to "M" or "F," on passports. Nonbinary people often use the "X." Neither bill has made it out of committee.
Since becoming the Republican vice presidential candidate, Vance’s political opponents have scrutinized Vance’s views on American families, and resurfaced statements he made in 2021, including to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson. In these interviews, Vance said people with children have more of a political stake in the nation’s future than those who do not and lamented that the U.S. was being run by "a bunch of childless cat ladies."
"The entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children," Vance said on Carlson’s July 29, 2021, show, citing Buttigieg and Harris as examples. "How does it make any sense that we have turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it. … Maybe if we want a healthy ruling class in this country, we should invest more, we should vote more, we should support more people who actually have kids, because those are the people who ultimately have a more direct stake in our future."
Vance has responded to the criticism by saying his comments were taken out of context.
On Aug. 11, following the CNN segment, CBS News’ "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan asked Vance whether his proposal for a new childcare policy would include gay families. Vance said, "All families would be included, of course all families would be included."
Trump and the Republican Party more broadly have quieted their opposition to gay marriage.
Before his presidency, Trump said in interviews that he supported "traditional marriage." But, following the Supreme Court’s legalization, he described the issue as "settled." The recently released 2024 Republican party platform also removed a 2016 condemnation of same-sex marriage legalization, but states an aim to "promote a Culture that values the Sanctity of Marriage, the blessings of childhood, the foundational role of families, and supports working parents."
Buttigieg claimed that Vance holds "anti-marriage equality views."
As he campaigned for his Ohio Senate seat in 2022, Vance said he would not support a bill that would federally legalize same-sex marriage. He cited concerns about religious liberty and described the bill as a "distraction," given that the Supreme Court has already granted same-sex marriage rights.
But Vance did say during a debate that "gay marriage is the law of the land in this country. And I'm not trying to do anything to change that."
Vance’s campaign did not clarify his current views on marriage equality. But comments in recent interviews signal that Vance recognizes families with gay parents. The Republican Party has removed from its 2024 platform its 2016 condemnation of same-sex marriage.
The statement is partially accurate but omits important details or takes things out of context. We rate it Half True.
Our Sources
Email interview with James Singer, spokesperson for the Harris-Walz campaign, Aug 12, 2024
YouTube, "Pete Buttigieg reacts to Vance's comments on Walz's military service," Aug 11, 2024
The New York Times, "Supreme Court Ruling Makes Same-Sex Marriage a Right Nationwide," June 26, 2015
U.S. Supreme Court, "19-1392 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization," June 24, 2022
The New York Times, "Clarence Thomas’s Concurring Opinion Raises Questions About What Rights Might Be Next," June 24, 2022
The Columbus Dispatch, "Ohio Senate race: JD Vance opposes Respect for Marriage Act," Aug. 2, 2022
Mission: America, "JD Vance Says He Would Vote "No" on Same Sex Marriage," July 26, 2022
YouTube, "Ohio U.S. Senate debate between Tim Ryan, JD Vance," Oct. 10, 2022
Washington Blade, "J.D. Vance signals opposition to same-sex marriage bill," October 11, 2022
Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Abortion, immigration and democracy: How do U.S. Senate candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Ryan compare on the issues?," Oct. 18, 2022
Thom Tillis, "Tillis Helps Secure Robust Religious Freedom Protections in The Respect for Marriage Act," Nov. 14, 2022
USA Today, "Senate advances same-sex marriage bill that also includes religious freedom protections," Nov. 28, 2022
Alliance Defending Freedom, "What You Should Know About the Respect for Marriage Act," June 10, 2024
Senator J.D. Vance, "Protect-Childrens-Innocence-Act.pdf," accessed Aug 15, 2024
Senator J.D. Vance, "Passport Sanity Act," accessed Aug 15, 2024
Congress.gov, "S.2357 - Protect Children’s Innocence Act," July 18, 2023
Congress.gov, "S.3011 - Passport Sanity Act," October, 4, 2023
The Washington Post, "JD Vance has repeatedly criticized childless people," July 31, 2024
NBC News, "JD Vance says 2021 comments about giving more votes to people with kids were a ‘thought experiment’," Aug. 11, 2024
Internet Archive, "Tucker Carlson Tonight," July 29, 2021
YouTube, "J.D. Vance on Democrats' Anti-Family Policies, Media Attacks, and Whether Biden Can Remain in Office," July 26, 2024
FoxNews, "JD Vance says 'anti-family' Dems took 'childless cat lady' remark 'out-of-context': 'Lie of the left'," July 29, 2024
YouTube, "Senator JD Vance on "Face the Nation"," Aug. 11, 2024
PolitiFact, "Where Trump and Biden stand on key LGBTQ+ issues," June 18, 2024
YouTube, "Donald Trump is "for traditional marriage" (CNN interview with Jake Tapper)," June 28, 2015
The Washington Post, "Trump says 17-month-old gay marriage ruling is ‘settled’ law — but 43-year-old abortion ruling isn’t," Nov. 14, 2016
The American Presidency Project, "2024 Republican Party Platform," July 8, 2024
The Washington Post, "GOP adopts platform that softens language on abortion, same-sex marriage," July 8, 2024
The American Presidency Project, "2016 Republican Party Platform," July 18, 2016
NPR, ‘What does the Respect for Marriage Act do? The answer will vary by state," Dec. 8, 2022
The White House, "Remarks by President Biden and Vice President Harris at Signing of H.R. 8404, the Respect for Marriage Act," Dec. 13, 2022
NBC News, "Thomas wants the Supreme Court to overturn landmark rulings that legalized contraception, same-sex marriage," June 24, 2022
Alliance Defending Freedom, "Biden signs marriage act into law, threatening religious liberty for millions of Americans," Dec. 13, 2022
PolitiFact, "What states would ban same-sex marriage if the Supreme Court overturned Obergefell?," July 20, 2022
YouTube, "Dana Bash asked JD Vance about Tim Walz calling him weird. Hear his response," Aug. 11, 2024
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Buttigieg overstates Vance’s views on gay marriage
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