FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Sen. JD Vance told The Daily Signal transgender medical interventions for minors are “crazy” at a rally in Holland, Michigan, on Tuesday.
“I think sex changes for minors, permanently altering, either chemically or surgically, the body of young child, is crazy,” the Republican vice presidential nominee said. “I can’t believe that we do this. I really can’t.”
The crowd cheered enthusiastically for about 15 seconds after his response.
Former President Donald Trump has said he would ban sex-change procedures for children without parental consent. The Daily Signal asked Vance if the potential Trump-Vance administration would ban puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and irreversible surgeries for minors in all cases, regardless of parental involvement.
Vance spoke at a rally outside conservative stronghold Holland, Michigan, on Tuesday afternoon, a week before Election Day. One of the most hotly contested swing states, with its 15 Electoral College votes, Michigan may determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
The Ohio senator said it’s “sad” that teenagers and sometimes even preteens are allowed to surgically alter their bodies.
“We used to in this country recognize that adolescence was a tough time to grow up, that we try to encourage people to accept themselves,” he said. “Now you have some very sick people who when an adolescent is struggling with a problem, they say, ‘No, don’t accept yourself. No, go and surgically alter yourself.’”
“That is an insane way to talk to our young people, and we ought to stop doing it,” he continued.
Almost 6,000 children have undergone transgender surgeries, while 8,579 have been given hormones and puberty blockers, according to medical watchdog Do No Harm’s database.
Nearly 14,000 American children underwent sex-change interventions of some type between 2019 and 2023.
Almost 60% of Americans oppose gender-transition procedures—such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone regimens, and surgeries—for children under 18, including 47% who “strongly oppose” such procedures, according to Rasmussen Reports.
When asked on NBC News if she supports so-called gender-affirming care for kids, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris suggested that life-altering decisions about child gender transitions should be up to doctors.
“I believe that people, as the law states, even on this issue about federal law, that that is a decision that doctors will make in terms of what is medically necessary,” Harris said earlier this month.
