Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy earns an ‘F’ from leading Ohio LGBTQ+ group

This story originally appeared on The Buckeye Flame.

Republican Ohio gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy states on his website that he is “fighting to lift all Ohioans.” His past statements about LGBTQ+ issues tell a different story.

Ramaswamy received an “F” on Equality Ohio’s 2026 Candidate Scorecard, indicating that he has a “poor record and likely to harm LGBTQ+ civil rights.” Dr. Amy Acton, his Democratic opponent, currently has a grade of “Pending.”

Using research from both The Buckeye Flame and the GLAAD Accountability Project, we have compiled a list of Ramaswamy’s past statements on LGBTQ+ individuals to help inform LGBTQ+ voters on his positioning.

The list, in reverse chronological order, starts with his most recent remarks, in his campaign for governor, followed by statements he made during his run in the Republican presidential primary during the last election cycle.

June 30, 2026: Ramaswamy misgendered trans individuals in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding state bans on trans students’ participation in school sports. He told the Toledo Blade, “Ohio has barred men from competing with women in women’s sports, and the Supreme Court has now held that it’s constitutional. I’ll enforce [the ban] after I’m elected.”

April 2025: Ramaswamy touted the endorsements of numerous anti-LGBTQ+ Republican Ohio state representatives, including:

• Rep. Rodney Creech: author of the language, now passed into law, that bans menstrual products from being placed in men’s rooms in public buildings. In 2023, Creech was accused by a minor of sexual abuse after the minor told police Creech crawled into bed with her while he was partially unclothed and erect. The investigation did not yield charges, but Creech was booted from his committee assignments by Republican leadership from May 2025 to February 2026.
• Rep. Gary Click: sponsor of the law banning gender-affirming care in Ohio and prohibiting trans female athletes from playing in girls’ and women’s sports. Co-sponsor of a bill to protect parents who reject their trans children.
• Rep. Josh Williams: co-sponsor of the proposed drag ban, the bill to protect parents who reject the identity of their trans children from being investigated for abuse or neglect; a bill to prevent name changes on birth and death certificates; a bill to designate May-June as Natural Family Month to honor only two-parent, married heterosexual families; and myriad other anti-LGBTQ+ bills.
• Rep. Angie King: co-sponsor of the proposed drag ban. King once stood alongside neo-Nazis to protest her local community’s Pride celebration.
• Rep. DJ Swearingen: co-sponsor of the law forcing teachers and school staff to out LGBTQ+ youth to their families.
• Rep. Beth Lear: co-sponsor of the bathroom-ban law and co-sponsor of the bill to designate Natural Family Month. Lear once said that adults who affirm trans youth should “have a millstone hung around your neck and be thrown into the deepest sea.”
• Rep. Jonathan Newman: sponsor of a bill to ban students from using pronouns that match their gender identity, who is on record as saying trans people do not exist.

March 2025: Ramaswamy proudly announced that he was endorsed by Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group. In the opening line of his endorsement, Baer touts his own anti-trans record as someone who “spearheaded campaigns to end transgender procedures on children and stop boys from playing girls’ sports.” He later highlights Ramaswamy’s belief that “men are men and women are women.” In response to the endorsement, Ramaswamy said he was “humbled to earn the support of one of Ohio’s top Christian leaders, and it is hands-down one of my most important endorsements.”

February 2025: Ramaswamy praises his endorsement from President Donald Trump, who has amassed an unprecedented record of hateful policy and rhetoric targeting LGBTQ+ Americans.

November 2024: Ramaswamy was appointed to co-lead the “Department of Government Efficiency” with fellow billionaire Elon Musk after the 2024 election, calling for mass layoffs of the federal workforce. Under his direction, staffers used keywords like “homosexual” and “LGBTQ” to identify grants to be eliminated. DOGE canceled more than 1,400 active grants, amounting to $100 million in funding.

September 2023: Ramaswamy claimed during September and December 2023 GOP presidential primary debates that “… transgenderism … is a mental health disorder.” The term “transgenderism” is frequently used by opponents of transgender people to dehumanize and diminish identity to “a condition” that can be debated. Medical consensus states that being transgender is not a mental-health condition.

June 2023: Ramaswamy called the trans community a “cult” and “often a mental health disorder” in a post on X. He further employed language equating LGBTQ+ supportive adults as predators: “We live in a free country & that means you’re free to act how you want as an *adult*, but you can’t foist your views onto everyone else. Leave our kids alone, don’t try to change our language, our bathrooms, our sports. Don’t mandate special ‘trainings’ in our workplace, our schools, our military. ‘You be you,’ but don’t force everyone else to bend the knee to your confused belief system.”

June 2023: Ramaswamy releases campaign ad detailing “10 Truths.” The second truth – directly after “God is real” – is that “There are two genders.” Medicine and science have long recognized diversity in human biology, gender expression and sex characteristics, including in intersex people.

May 2023: Ramaswamy calls the trans community a “cult,” this time to far-right broadcaster Sean Hannity: “Here’s my deal with this LGBTQIA+, especially the trans cult. Dress how you want, behave how you want as an adult, live your life freely, but leave our kids alone and do not demand that we change our language or the way we live our lives. We can all live peaceably that way.”

May 2023: Ramaswamy claimed that banning healthcare for trans youth is a form of protecting them. He equated gender-affirming care to “genital mutilation” and “chemical castration.” He equated trans identity to a “mental health disorder” and said, “Affirming their confusion is not compassion to me.” He said he would sign into law a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors if it reaches his desk in the White House. Health care for transgender people and youth is supported by every major medical association.

May 2023: Ramaswamy lashed out against Target for including trans-friendly swimwear, saying that such inclusion “spit in the face” of conservative customers. He further denounced LGBTQ+ inclusiveness, saying, “Just ask Budweiser how that worked out for them,” referencing the beverage company’s partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. “I have no doubt that many companies do find wokeness to be a good short-term trick,” Ramaswamy said.

The Buckeye Flame reached out to the Ramaswamy campaign for comment on his LGBTQ+ record. No response has been received.

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