7 anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans caught dressing in drag

We all know that conservatives are hypocrites. Staunchly “family values” Republicans have gotten caught up in gay sex scandals more times than we can count, anti-trans MAGA supporters rail against gender-affirming care while affirming their own gender with plastic surgery, and anti-LGBTQ+ politicians keep getting spotted in drag.

Vice President JD Vance’s old drag look is currently going viral again after California Gov. Gavin Newsom resurfaced the image after MAGA stans were outraged that Bad Bunny — who has done drag in the past — is going to be headlining the Super Bowl halftime show.

But Vance is far from the only vehemently anti-LGBTQ+ Republican who has been caught with a dress on and a full beat.

Vice President JD Vance

JD Vance ran on an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, has called queer people “groomers,” and introduced a bill that would have banned transition-related medical care for minors. He also once dressed in drag. Podcaster and content creator Matt Bernstein outed Vance as having once dressed in drag at a party while at Yale Law. In the photos Bernstein released, Vance is wearing a skirt and a terrible Party City-style blond wig.

Former U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn

While representing North Carolina on Capitol Hill, Republican Madison Cawthorn accused his GOP colleagues of “sexual perversion” and inviting him to orgies. But after revealing the shocking claims on a podcast, two photos of Cawthorn came to light showing the right-wing political partying while wearing women’s lingerie, including a lacy black bra and lace hoop earrings. Amid the avalanche of politically damaging headlines, the anti-LGBTQ+ congressman lost his reelection bid.

Rudy Giuliani

In 2019, an old video resurfaced that featured Rudy Giuliani — then Donald Trump’s personal lawyer — in drag, wearing a curly wig, a full face of makeup, a purple dress, and matching gloves. Trump is also in the old sketch video from 2000, pretending to flirt with Giuliani before motorboating him. At this same time, Giuliani was the mayor of New York City and had spent the past decade cracking down on nightclubs, which disproportionately impacted gay bars.

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos

Former congressman and current inmate George Santos was outed as being a drag performer by Brazilian drag queen Eula Rochard, who shared photos online in 2023 of Santos in a wig, red lipstick, and red feather boa as part of his drag persona, Kitara Rivache. At first, the disgraced former representative claimed he wasn’t a drag queen, then said he was “just young and had fun,” but then he openly revived the act for Cameo in 2024 when he needed money. While Santos is an out gay man, he is also a Republican who supported Florida’s “don’t say gay” law and opposed same-sex marriage while simultaneously being married to a man.

Gov. Bill Lee

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill into law that criminalized drag performers in public and in front of children but went viral when an old high school yearbook photo from the ‘70s resurfaced showing the Republican politician in full drag. A Reddit user uncovered the photo that shows Lee wearing a cheerleader uniform with a very short skirt, a pearl necklace and wig, posing with two young women dressed as men and a male student also in drag wearing a dress.

Texas State Rep. Nate Schatzline

Texas lawmaker Nate Schatzline authored a bill requiring bars or restaurants that host drag performances to register as a “sexually oriented business,” even though he once dressed in drag himself, the Texas Observer reported. Online sleuths were quick to dig up an old video of the Republican dressed in drag for a high school theater project. The video that showed Schatzline wearing a black sequined dress skipping through a park quickly went viral when it surfaced in 2023.

Former Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel

Michael Ertel, who was appointed by “don’t say gay” bill signer Gov. Ron DeSantis, was forced to resign after photos surfaced featuring the Republican politician not only in drag but wearing blackface. The photos from an early 2000s Halloween party show Ertel dressed as a female Hurricane Katrina victim. The photos were taken just two months after 1,800 were killed by the devastating storm.