Mike Pence’s daughter gets engaged in ‘number one gay community in America’
Daniel Tomanelli (L) and Andrey Pence, Vice President Mike Pence’s daughter, got engaged over the weekend in Provincetown. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
Vice President Mike Pence’s daughter Audrey got engaged to her longterm boyfriend Daniel Tomanelli in one of America’s most famous LGBT-friendly spot.
The youngest of the vice president’s children, Audrey Pence announced the news of her engagement on Instagram, sharing pictures of the proposal which, according to The Boston Globe, took place at Race Point Beach in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Friday (February 15).
Provincetown, affectionately known as P-town, has a near century-long reputation as a haven for the LGBT+ community—a reputation the seaside town in the Cape Cod is is proud to own up to.
Audrey Pence shared pictures of the proposal on social media. (AudreyAnnPence/Instagram)
The Visit Provincetown website features a logo of a whale wearing a LGBT+ rainbow coloured hat. A page on the website dedicated to the town’s “gay and lesbian history” points to the 1920s and 1930s as the time in which Provincetown became increasingly seen as an ideal location for the LGBT+ community.
“It was a feeling of acceptance in this booming art colony that attracted more and more tourists curious to visit this unconventional town at the tip of Cape Cod,” the website reads.
“Mike Pence’s daughter just got engaged in Provincetown, MA., just about the most un-Mike Pence place on Earth.”
— Twitter user
It continued: “It was not a long time before Provincetown became an ideal space to pass the months of summer for gays and lesbians, completely seduced by the feeling of acceptance and artistic energy.”
Having understood the lucrative allure of the town’s reputation as a LGBT+ friendly spot, a non-profit organisation called The Provincetown Business Guild states its mission to “help maintain the #1 Gay Community in America by promoting Provincetown to the LGBT market worldwide.”
Mike Pence’s daughter Audrey once described herself as ‘socially liberal’
Mike Pence’s daughter has previously described herself as “socially liberal,” as Vanity Fair reported last year, and once told a local Indianapolis news station that her father was proud of her for having her own opinion.
The location for Audrey’s engagement is in stark contrast with her parents’ views on LGBT+ rights. Pence recently called criticism of his wife Karen’s decision to teach in a school that bans LGBT+ students and staff “deeply offensive” to Christian beliefs, and avoided the topic of LGBT+ discrimination entirely.
Audrey Pence is Karen and Mike Pence’s youngest daughter.(Tasos Katopodis/Getty)
Twitter users could not resist highlighting the discrepancy of the vice president’s beliefs and Provincetown’s significance for the LGBT+ community.
“Well, whaddy know. Audrey Pence (sleepy VP’s daughter) gets engaged in Ptown. I was hoping it was to another woman,” one person wrote.
“Mike Pence’s daughter just got engaged in Provincetown, MA., just about the most un-Mike Pence place on Earth. I think even the straight people who live in P-Town would scare him,” one Twitter user quipped.
Another reacted: “How mad are Mike Pence and Mother that their daughter got engaged in one of the most well known gay centric towns in America. Thank you to Audrey Pence’s fiance for this perfect little jab. Provincetown for the win.”
“The daughter of Pence, the Homophobe in Chief, getting engaged in Provincetown is pretty rich,” read another reaction.
And yet another person wrote: “Mike Pence’s daughter got engaged (to a man) in Provincetown, America’s LGBT capital. In other news, irony is dead!”
