Parent of transgender kid tearfully confronts Mike Pence at Iowa town hall

An Iowa woman who raised a trans kid broke down in tears when confronting former Vice President Mike Pence over his anti-LGBTQ policies during a town hall Wednesday night.

Melissa McCollister, a social work professor at Grand View University, cried during an emotional exchange with the staunch conservative who’s running to become the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.

After Pence told the audience he would “protect our kids from that radical gender ideology that’s taken hold in too many public schools,” a visibly shaken McCollister pressed him on what he planned to do about the historically high levels of violence against transgender people across the nation.

“Good evening, Vice President,” McCollister started, after a pause in which she seemed to take a moment to fight back her tears.

“I am an LGBTQ member and I have trans individuals in my family. Recent anti-LGBTQ bills have been signed into law all around the United States, including here in Iowa. So far, in 2023, 15 transgender individuals and gender-nonconforming people have been murdered. The vast majority of those people have been Black and Latinx transgender women,” she said, likely referring to data compiled by the Human Rights Campaign.

“It is very hard for me to ask these questions after just hearing what I heard,” she added. “What is your policy plan to protect the transgender community, specifically Black and brown trans women from historically high levels of violence?

Pence, who proceeded to dodge the question, said he was “deeply grieved to hear about those tragic circumstances” and “truly” moved by her emotions.

He also said if he’s elected president, he will “see to the protection of every American and the rights of every American” without explaining what he planned to do to protect the lives of trans people.