JD Vance, no fan of gender-neutral bathrooms, was photographed in his high school yearbook next to three girls posing in front of urinals in a bathroom during his senior year.

  • TheAlbatross
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    203
    ·
    3 months ago

    I’m no fan of Vance, but I’m really struggling to see why this photo matters.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      195
      ·
      3 months ago

      He supports criminalising people of the ‘wrong’ gender using the wrong bathroom.

      • TheAlbatross
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        52
        ·
        3 months ago

        That really isn’t what’s happening in the photo, as I’ve said in more detail elsewhere in the thread, and pretending that’s what’s being depicted makes the attack look foolish and desperate.

        • jonne@infosec.pub
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          73
          ·
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          I see girls in a boys’ bathroom for a joke picture? Is that not what it is? That’s what he’s advocating to criminalise.

          • TheAlbatross
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            19
            ·
            edit-2
            3 months ago

            No, what he advocates is legislation that forbids trans women from using women’s bathrooms. Women in women’s bathrooms is what he’s arguing against, his problem is that some of those women are transgender and his platform is one of virulent transphobia and persecution.

            To argue this demonstrates some element of hypocrisy requires one to say they see transgender people as their assigned gender at birth and not their current gender.

            • jonne@infosec.pub
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              47
              ·
              edit-2
              3 months ago

              All bathroom bills mention you need to use the bathroom of the gender assigned to you at birth and don’t mention trans status at all. Those bills target anyone that goes into the ‘wrong’ bathroom and they would see what’s in this picture as a crime as well.

              State Reps. Beth Lear, R-Galena, and Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, introduced House Bill 183 which would require Ohio K-12 schools and colleges to mandate that students could only use the bathroom or locker room that matches their sex assigned at birth. It would also prohibit schools from allowing students to share overnight accommodations with the opposite sex.

              https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/04/11/transgender-student-bathroom-ban-bill-passes-out-of-ohio-house-higher-education-committee/

              Under this new Ohio bill, what’s in the picture would be a crime.

              • TheAlbatross
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                5
                ·
                3 months ago

                To pretend this isn’t specifically targeting transgender people is cognitive dissonance.

                • jonne@infosec.pub
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  23
                  ·
                  3 months ago

                  Of course it is targeting trans people, I wasn’t saying anything else. I don’t understand what you’re misunderstanding here. JD Vance supports bathroom bills that will bar people from going into the ‘wrong’ bathroom, but he was totally ok with it back in high school is the point we’re making.

                  And obviously a side effect of those kinds of laws is that they affect all of us. Make a mistake and accidentally walk into the wrong bathroom? If the wrong cop is around you could be arrested and branded a pervert.

                  The gender sports bills are the same, now some pervert coach from the opposing team can demand to inspect everyone’s genitals, that doesn’t just affect trans people, it affects every woman.

                • gaylord_fartmaster@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  20
                  ·
                  3 months ago

                  No one is pretending anything, and no one is claiming these laws aren’t specifically targeting trans people, of course they are. What they are claiming is that the same law would apply to what is being depicted in the photo, which is true.

                • prole
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  5
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  3 months ago

                  Dude, what? Do you think trans adults just materialize fully formed? They’re attempting to criminalize their ability to understand who they are before graduating high school. It’s fucking insane, and if you actually cared about them you’d easily see how these things are inextricably connected.

            • originalfrozenbanana@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              16
              ·
              3 months ago

              Yeah honestly I dont think this photo is anything. Vance is a piece of shit, and we have plenty of evidence. A photo of people in the bathroom that was clearly set up as a bit isn’t really demonstrating anything here

            • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              10
              ·
              3 months ago

              This is a picture of women in a men’s bathroom. They don’t have urinals in the girls room usually…

              Or, if this is the women’s room as you seem to think it is, what the hell is that pervert J.D. Vance doing in there?

      • Thatuserguy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        90
        ·
        3 months ago

        I dunno man, downvote me or whatever, but this really feels like it’s reaching? This is literally just him fucking around as a kid in high school. Who cares?

        He’s a piece of shit no doubt, but hate him for the stupid shit he’s saying and doing now and recently. Not for some random photo of him from over 20 years ago.

        • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          31
          ·
          3 months ago

          For what it’s worth, I have to agree with you. I guess people forget that kids do stupid shit in high school, and this photo isn’t really that stupid. Now if this was a photo of Vance organizing a right-wing group in high school, that might be noteworthy.

          • davidagain@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            7
            ·
            3 months ago

            Under his proposed law, these girls would be guilty of a crime and would be sex offenders for using a bathroom that doesn’t match their birth sex. The fact that it’s in a school makes it “worse”.

            You might say that’s unreasonable, but the unreasonable thing is the law, not the kids.

            • prole
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              8
              ·
              edit-2
              3 months ago

              I don’t know what these psychopaths have to do before people like this (not you if that wasn’t clear) listen to what they’re saying. It’s unbelievable. Vance openly supports legislation that would literally make these girls criminals, period.

              They’re telling us who they are, and exactly what they will do. Please listen.

            • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              3 months ago

              Under his proposed law, these girls would be guilty of a crime and would be sex offenders for using a bathroom that doesn’t match their birth sex. The fact that it’s in a school makes it “worse”.

              Yes, he’s a hypocritical misogynist, and he’s obviously an opportunist who will do and say whatever it takes to appeal to his base — even if it means throwing his wife under the bus with blatant racism. You’ll get no argument from me about that. But this photo is not the smoking gun everyone seems to be making it out to be. There is nothing revolutionary about it at all. It’s not even his photo. He just happens to be in it.

              You might say that’s unreasonable, but the unreasonable thing is the law, not the kids.

              Get upset for the right reasons. This photo isn’t one of them.

        • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          23
          ·
          3 months ago

          I went from super conservative evangelical, even harder right than my parents in many ways, in high school, very nearly got pulled into even further right stuff in young adulthood, and now am basically the opposite of all of that. Had facebook been a thing when I was that age, who knows what nonsense I would have been spouting or doing.

          I despise Vance and all the he and his ilk stand for, but I agree this just doesn’t feel right to me.

        • Moops@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          18
          ·
          3 months ago

          Yeah this is a reach. He’s a big enough turd we really don’t need to stretch this much.

        • Spot@startrek.website
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          3 months ago

          I’m thinking, if you got to have fun, minding your own business… not hurting anyone; No matter how much you may have grown or changed and no longer like or approve of doing those activities, you don’t get to be part of a brigade that strips the rights from people who DO choose to and again, aren’t hurting anyone. You don’t get to incite violence against people who are Minding Their Own Fucking Business without the bare minimum of getting exposed for being a fucking hypocritical piece of shit.

          • Thatuserguy@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            10
            ·
            3 months ago

            Again, he’s a piece of shit and deserves to be called out for it. But like, this is the equivalent of putting out a hit piece about how he didn’t share his juice box in elementary school, showing that he’s always been against social welfare programs. Like, what?

            Even if that is true, I’m not the same person with the same views as I was in high school, and I imagine most aren’t. You’re not a hypocrite for that; you just grew up. Unfortunately he grew up in the wrong direction, but I think holding people to things they did and believed in a completely different stage of their life is wrong.

            Judge people for who they are here and now. There are FAR more consequential and important things that energy is better spent attacking him on than a joke picture in a yearbook from 22 years ago.

            • Spot@startrek.website
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              5
              ·
              3 months ago

              Sure, but he’s unwilling to let others grow and make their own choices in their time. Just because you don’t do something anymore is no reason to ban everyone else from doing it now, let alone criminalize it. He got to be curious and explore who he is, he should be letting others do the same. Exposing this stuff helps show what he is taking away from others even though it was OK when he did it.

      • TheAlbatross
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        18
        ·
        3 months ago

        This really isn’t that, though. These women aren’t using a men’s room, they’re posing for a photo. They certainly aren’t trans men using a men’s room, as is their damn right should they wanna.

        It’s high schoolers being silly.

        Vance is a deplorable man with deplorable ideologies but this doesn’t demonstrate any hypocrisy.

        This kind of “gotcha” is uncritical, unserious, and looks desperate.

      • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        “So one day you’re posing with girls in the boys bathroom and 22 years later you’re against it. WHICH IS IT VANCE???”

        I guess it’s just another Phone-it-in-Friday.

        Edit: Shit I’m tired. Forgot what damn day it was.

      • TheAlbatross
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        3 months ago

        This is a picture in a High School yearbook.

        It’s not a picture of trans people exercising their rights to use a bathroom that fits their gender.

        It’s ridiculous to make those things equivalent and say it demonstrates some hypocrisy makes the author look foolish and desperate.

        • superkret@feddit.org
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          3 months ago

          It’s ridiculous to make those things equivalent

          Yet the laws proposed by Republicans do just that.

          • TheAlbatross
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            9
            ·
            3 months ago

            Do you think it’s useful to say that the horrendous bigotry and transphobia put out by the RNC is also a threat to teenagers taking goofy photos for their high school yearbook or does that perhaps strike you as an unserious critique?

            • davidagain@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              3 months ago

              You’re getting unreasonably cross about the obvious thing to say about a meme. Go shout at some pigeons or something and let people make fun of intolerant bigots on the Internet it peace.

    • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      21
      ·
      3 months ago

      Wow man, just waking up from a coma?

      Anyway, the last decade or so, Republicans have been extremely critical of transgender people, insisting that mixing sexes in the bathroom is criminally negligent, and deserves criminal charges or “self-defense”.

      J.D. Vance is a Republican politician who is currently running for Vice President. His running mate is fiercely anti-LGBT, as are most of his closest peers in Washington. He has been photographed in drag, and with women in the men’s bathroom.

      This illustrates hypocrisy, and a lack of claimed values.

      If you would like to learn more about right-wing bigotry and hypocrisy, I suggest removing your head from your ass and opening your eyes.

      • meowMix2525@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        3 months ago

        I totally agree with you about right wing hypocrisy and bigotry, I just don’t think this will serve as a good example of it. Being transphobic wouldn’t preclude him, or anyone that could be swayed to vote for him, from thinking that gender bending (mocking trans people) comedy is funny… not all performances are endorsements. Things like minstrel shows and blackface were also considered funny at a point in time and it’s not because anyone involved thought blacks were people or deserving of equal rights.

        • OccamsRazer@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          3 months ago

          They know all of this, but the only thing that matters is making the opposition look bad. The narrative is the only thing that matters, and reality or context are mere inconveniences. It’s a politics thing. Annoying if you want the truth, but unfortunately effective in a popularity contest like the US elections.

      • GladiusB@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        I mean sure. But if anyone sees their pleas as anything other than a smoke screen, I don’t think we are in the same game. I have no way of taking them as anything other than just gaslighting.

    • astronaut_sloth@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      3 months ago

      I tend to agree and give a ton of leeway to stupid, offensive stuff from years past that people have evolved from. We all said and did stupid stuff that we regret. However, this isn’t offensive, and that’s to highlight that Vance either A. regressed in his values from being normal to being weirdly pro-hyper-traditional gender roles or B. has no true beliefs and is just saying what he says because he thinks it wins him votes.

    • exanime@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      3 months ago

      So JD Vance has proven to be one of the most hypocritical people in politics, which is a lot to say, like saying he is the one of the people with most guns in Texas or something like that.

      This pic, and others like it, are basically checking ALL boxes on the stuff he seemed to be OK with before but now denounces because he is a weird hypocrite.

      • ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        Now all we need is for those who support people like him to care about their leaders being exposed as hypocrites, but they’ve proven over and over that they don’t, so this kind of story has zero impact on them.

          • ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            3 months ago

            It’s by slinging this kind of juvenile and insignificant shit that you are joining them. There is plenty more relevant, serious, and recent shit to criticise him for, hypocrisy and all.

            • exanime@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              3 months ago

              Nah, to the violent, non violence means nothing

              Taking the “high road” means nothing to the Maga crowd. Once the cult is over, we can return to normal times if we all behave

              • ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                3 months ago

                Lmfao, this isn’t violence.

                E: and that’s my point exactly: want to have an impact? Go punch this fucker in the face (or follow him around or camp out outside his home, or anything that actually makes him feel threatened, or if you can’t, donate to and support those who can). This joke of a “gotcha” achieves nothing but giving libs a dopamine hit.

                • exanime@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  3 months ago

                  Lmfao, this isn’t violence.

                  I know, it’s an expression. I then adjusted it to our actual case in discussion

                  You seem to be missing the point on purpose at this point

    • JiveTurkey@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      3 months ago

      I came here to say this. I’m not a fan but who fucking cares about this shit? It just seems petty and desperate.

    • comrade19@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      3 months ago

      Careful i said something similar about the ‘yep’ comment from 2020 and i got some aggressive replies on here. (Apparently im an enlightened centralist or something haha) I agree with you though theres so much worse out there on this weird fella

      • TheAlbatross
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        3 months ago

        I’m a fan of the semi-newish tactic of making the RNC look like hypocritical weirdos. It’s effective and there’s plenty of material to work with. These kind of reaches look desperate and that’s really not the position the DNC is fighting from nor needs to.

        • exanime@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          3 months ago

          I’m a fan of the semi-newish tactic of making the RNC look like hypocritical weirdos

          “Making them look”?.. I think you misspelled “exposing them for being”

  • Asafum@feddit.nl
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    47
    ·
    3 months ago

    “Kamala Harris created inflation that’s crushing American families, caused a historic crisis at our southern border, and allowed deadly fentanyl to flood into communities across our country, (complete bullshit) and this is what the media is worried about,” a spokesperson for Vance told The Daily Beast in a statement when asked about the photo.

    “A goofy high school yearbook from over 20 years ago? Get a life,” the spokesperson concluded (I actually 100% agree with this.)

    This is just fucking stupid. There are half a billion more important things to discuss, we don’t need this kind of stupidity in the national conversation.

  • ATDA@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    24
    ·
    3 months ago

    Weird photo.

    I mean I don’t care about the bathroom stuff, he’s just weird.

  • Aolley@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    3 months ago

    who cares about this? I mean if it’s something he’s still into yeah but teenagers will take lots of photos that are not to be taken seriously

  • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    3 months ago

    The three other girls in the picture were the president, treasurer, and secretary, according to the outlet.

    Are they trying to bait him??!! 😂

    • LEDZeppelin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      3 months ago

      I’m convinced at this point that these so called elite institutions are fertile grounds for most of the rich sociopaths that are root cause of majority of current problems

  • Rhaedas@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    ·
    3 months ago

    This is high school stuff. Humorous for the yearbook, not a big deal even with his current position on trans people. I’m far more concerned about him being supportive of book writers on fascist movements. As Obama has said in the past, stay focused. We don’t need to make things more than they are when there’s bad stuff readily available to attack.

  • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    Seeing this picture of JD Vance made it all make sense.

    The suits, the apparent eyeliner, the sudden radical changes of viewpoint, the book, the sucking up to fascists as long as they will keep paying his bills and tell him he’s acceptable. All of it. It just kind of all clicked into focus.

    No hate for people who were big and awkward in high school. It’s all good, and you don’t have to grow up into the modern monstrosity that is Vance just because this is where you started. He’s actually clearly smarter than a lot of the people in that orbit. He should know better; that’s one of the things that made it all weird and hard to understand. I’m just saying that seeing where he started makes it make sense all the little incongruities about where he ended up, as of now.

  • forrcaho@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    3 months ago

    Ghod, I hope “Occupy Democrats” doesn’t run with this. They made a big deal out of Josh Hawley’s cross-dressing photos, and I was like “no, that’s one thing that should be totally fine”

    • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      24
      ·
      3 months ago

      When the people trying to criminalize crossdressing are caught crossdressing, we should make sure everyone knows.

      • forrcaho@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        3 months ago

        Did you read the piece? Although they claimed they were chastising him for “hypocrisy”, they never pointed out that cross-dressing is, in fact, ok – and the salacious way they treated it made it clear that the author thought him cross-dressing was scandalous.

        • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          3 months ago

          It’s a news article. It told the objective truth. While I agree with the assessment that there’s nothing wrong with crossdressing, I commend TDB for not saying that explicitly, because it would have downgraded this article from objective news to an opinion piece, and this information is best served as fact, not opinion.