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US Elections 2024: Read our full coverage.

• Donald Trump's VP pick has history of anti-LGBTQ+ policies
• Vance opposed gender-affirming care, reproductive rights
• Trump-Vance win could be 'abysmal', LGBTQ+ groups say

LONDON - Donald Trump's decision to name J.D. Vance as his running mate for November's U.S. election has been criticised by LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, who say the Ohio senator has a history of working against the progression of gay and transgender rights.

Vance, a best-selling author who was elected to the Senate in 2022, was announced as the on Monday.

The decision was swiftly condemned by American rights groups, who highlighted anti-LGBTQ+ policies , as well as comments he has made against the community. 

Here's everything you need to know.

What is Vance's political record on LGBTQ+ rights?

Last year, Vance introduced the Protect Children's Innocence Act, which sought to , including the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy, for minors. 

The bill, which was not taken up in committee, would have also made providing such care an offence , and prevent schools from "providing instruction" on such services.

Vance also unsuccessfully introduced the Passport Sanity Act the same year, which sought to , such as an 'X' instead of an 'F' or 'M', in U.S. passport documents.

"There are only two genders – passports issued by the United States government should recognise that simple fact," Vance said in a at the time.

Before becoming a senator, Vance he would vote against the Respect for Marriage Act, which would protect marriage equality for same-sex couples.

He has also voiced support for banning abortion and has , a medical procedure to help people have a baby, which is often used by same-sex couples wanting to become parents.

What has he said about LGBTQ+ issues?

Vance has been accused of perpetuating harmful rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community in interviews and on social media, where he shared his opposition to children learning about LGBTQ+ issues.

During an interview on Fox News in 2022, he used the word "groomer" to describe those supporting gender-affirming care for minors, and referred to trans issues as "crazy gender theory".

"I'll stop calling people "groomers" when they stop freaking out about bills that prevent the sexualization of my children," Vance at the time.

The senator also spoke out against laws to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination following a Supreme Court ruling in 2020.

"The conservative legal movement has accomplished two things: libertarian political economy (enforced by judges) and betrayal of social conservatives and traditionalists," he wrote in a now deleted tweet shared in the .

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, Vance claimed that the risk of conflict had been worsened by President Joe Biden's support for trans rights in a now .

However, in his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, Vance wrote that he briefly questioned whether he was , which resulted in his grandmother telling him that God would still love him if that were the case.

He said that the incident showed him how "gay people, though unfamiliar, threatened nothing about Mamaw's being" and concluded there were "more important things for a Christian to worry about".

What have LGBTQ+ groups said?

LGBTQ+ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign said a Trump-Vance administration could be "abysmal" for LGBTQ+ rights.

"Donald Trump has been a bully for years – and his pick of MAGA clone JD Vance is a reminder that nothing has changed," Kelley Robinson, HRC president, said in a .

GLAAD, a non-profit focused on the media portrayal of LGBTQ+ people, urged news outlets to in their coverage of the election.

"LGBTQ+ Americans are taxpayers, family members, colleagues, classmates, neighbours and friends, and our concerns are the same as any Americans," said CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.

"Our concerns are not a 'culture war' sideshow — they are central to the core issues of this election, and the freedoms all Americans want to preserve and protect."

(Reporting by Lucy Middleton; editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile.)