Trump on LGBT Rights: Con Man or Hypocrite?
President Trump has attacked America’s protected classes on the basis of sex, religion and race. The attacks are not just rhetorical, they involve policy action, too, from his history of mistreating women to the Muslim ban and reaction to white supremacism in Charlottesville. But what has Trump done with respect to the LGBT community? While some of his words have offered glimmers of hope, the overwhelming weight of evidence points to hostility to LGBT Americans.
The most recent example of hostility is the Justice Department argument that the Civil Rights Act does not protect against employment discrimination against members of the LGBT community.
President Trump’s hypocrisy reflects the division between an anti-gay evangelical base and his life experience in New York among members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. His first and notorious fixer was Roy Cohn, a closeted gay lawyer who allegedly was abandoned by Trump when diagnosed with AIDS.
What is the evidence on Trump’s LGBT policy? A pro-gay group like the Log Cabin Republicans would claim his lack of personal prejudice and then point to Trump’s appointment of a gay U.S. Ambassador to Germany. More significantly, they would herald Trump’s recent major policy commitment to seeking the eradication of HIV/AIDS.
Critics of the President can point to a longer list of statements or policy positions adverse to the interests of the LGBT community. These negatives include denial of visas to the same sex partners of diplomats and overly broad interpretations of religious exemptions from legal requirements. These points are widely viewed within the LGBT community as a license to discriminate.
There is also the matter of Trump’s appointment of life tenured federal judges with a personal history of ant-gay animus. And his bias against people of different sexual orientation was the ex cathedra ban of transgender Americans from serving in the military.
The best example of a con job was the attempt to support LGBT rights by appearing to support decriminalization of homosexual sex in the 70 or so countries of the world where LGBT rights are so curtailed.
In light of these conflicting views, how should one view the apparent attempt by the U.S. Ambassador Grenell to claim that the administration was about to launch an effort to roll back laws in foreign countries which criminalized homosexual sex?
It made for a positive sound bite — until two shoes dropped. First, this effort may only be a feint against Iran and its admittedly brutal treatment of homosexuals. Second — and more damning — is that when asked about this effort, President Trump denied knowing anything about it.
What would a sincere supporter of the LGBT community do? Seek a president who understands and supports the expansion of LGBT rights and not a person like Trump who does not.
Domestically, such a president would join the business community and enthusiastically support legislation outlawing discrimination against gays in employment. A supportive president — consistent with the views of military leaders like former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis — would not ban transgender persons from the military.
Internationally, a President secure in his views about sexual orientation would support the International Human Rights Defense Act, which seeks to prioritize efforts to secure the decriminalization of homosexual sex in the 72 countries where it is banned today. This bill would also enact into statute appointment of a special envoy on these issues (Obama appointed such a person voluntarily).
The tragically hostile treatment of gays in too many nations in the Middle East, Africa and Asia — including in some places the death penalty, torture and imprisonment — is an affront to basic human rights. A president who expects us to believe he supports all Americans should demand a more consistent and aggressive posture to protect the community from harm and promote acceptance of their positive role in the world.
Last month, the Log Cabin Republicans executive director Jerri Ann Henry resigned over the group’s decision to endorse President Trump. Her decision suggests we are at a crossroads on LGBT rights. We hope voters will follow her lead and turn their backs on our con man president.
