This article was originally published by Them.
The past several years have seen record-high numbers of anti-LGBTQ+bills introduced in state legislatures around the country, which has demonstrably worsened the mental health of the queer and trans youth bearing the brunt of that onslaught.
But Detroit-based public defender Sofia Nelson, who has recently made national headlines due to their past friendship with J.D. Vance, wants trans youth to know that the decade they have known the Republican vice presidential hopeful has taught them a very important lesson: Right-wing politicians are cynically using anti-trans hatred “as a political ploy.”
In a new wide-ranging interview with the Detroit Free Press published Tuesday, Nelson spoke to the personal side of their fallout with Vance. They met Vance at Yale Law School, and the two bonded over their shared Midwestern, working-class backgrounds, with the Ohio senator reportedly even bringing Nelson baked goods during top surgery recovery. The two stayed in touch via email after law school as well, traveling to visit each other in a purely social capacity, including Nelson’s trip to attend Vance’s wedding. The attorney described themself as “heartbroken by the transformation that [Vance and his wife, Usha Vance] decided to undergo.”
“The J.D. that I got to know in law school — and it’s reflected in our correspondence after law school — was thoughtful and compassionate,” they told the Free Press.
This past weekend, the attorney leaked about 90 emails and text messages between themself and the Ohio Senator to the New York Times, stretching primarily from the years 2014 to 2017. That trove included an apology email from Vance for potentially misidentifying them as “an extremely progressive lesbian” in his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, and an email in which Vance said “I hate the police” in the wake of the 2014 killing of Michael Brown.
In their new interview with the Free Press, Nelson said that they leaked the emails for two “key” reasons. They said that while “we all evolve our thinking,” Vance’s “flipflop on every conceivable issue, whether it be Donald Trump or LGBTQ+ rights ... shows a lack of core values or a willingness to turn your back on core values to advance your career and amass money.”
“I think that hypocrisy is deeply concerning, and the American people have a right to know where he used to stand on the issues compared to where he stands today so they can evaluate for themselves whether he's trustworthy,” Nelson told the newspaper.
The attorney also sought to emphasize “the fact that he had a meaningful and respectful relationship with a trans person — that being myself — and is now demonizing trans people and trying to prevent parents from accessing medical care for their children.”
“We need to trust medical providers, parents and the children to make these decisions for themselves,” Nelson said. “Every parent loves their child unconditionally, and is going to be cautious and thoughtful in making these decisions, but parents are best equipped to make those decisions, and to try to deny them that freedom, I think, is deeply concerning.”
They also took the time to address trans youth directly in their interview, “because I was a trans kid once, and it was deeply scary to think that there was something wrong with me that was going to prevent me from leading a full and happy life.”
“I want trans kids to know that these politicians, they don’t actually think you’re bad. They don’t actually believe there’s anything wrong with you,” they said, “They’re engaging in opportunism to win elections. I know that because he was very loving and respectful of a trans person in his life, and is now choosing to use trans kids as a political ploy.”
A spokesperson for Vance provided the Free Press the same statement that he gave the Times, writing that over email that it was “unfortunate this individual chose to leak decade-old private conversations between friends to the New York Times” and that “Vance values his friendships with individuals across the political spectrum.”
“He has been open about the fact that some of his views from a decade ago began to change after becoming a dad and starting a family, and he has thoroughly explained why he changed his mind on President Trump,” the statement reads. “Despite their disagreements, Sen. Vance cares for Sofia and wishes Sofia the very best.”
