Anti-Gay Iowa Governor Named Ambassador To China

Before he was even sworn-in back in 2010, the first thing Iowa Governor-Elect Terry Branstad did was call for a public referendum to repeal same-sex marriage. Three of the state Supreme Court justices that had upheld same-sex marriage in 2009 were voted out of office in the same election. And now, barring unlikely opposition in the Senate, he’s heading for China where LGBT rights are still in their infancy. Via Reuters:

President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as the next U.S. ambassador to China, choosing a longstanding friend of Beijing after rattling the world’s second largest economy with tough talk on trade and a telephone call with the leader of Taiwan.

The appointment may help to ease trade tensions between the two countries, the world’s two biggest agricultural producers, diplomats and trade experts said. It also suggests that Trump may be ready to take a less combative stance towards China than many expected, they said.

Branstad has accepted Trump’s offer, Trump spokesman Jason Miller said on Wednesday. The nomination, which will be formally made once the Republican president-elect is sworn in on Jan. 20, was well received, even among some Democrats. “He’s tenacious, and trust me, with the Chinese, you need to be tenacious,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former governor of Iowa, said of Branstad.

Branstad will be replaced by Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds. The current ambassador to China is former Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana who has a decidedly mixed record on LGBT rights.