In two tweets from this Friday, President Trump made history. He’s now the first Republican president to ever acknowledge LGBT Pride Month. But his tweet was met with a healthy dose of skepticism due to the fact that his administration is undermining gains the LGBT community is making regarding civil rights in the US.
….on the basis of their sexual orientation. My Administration has launched a global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality and invite all nations to join us in this effort!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2019
“As we celebrate LGBT Pride Month and recognize the outstanding contributions LGBT people have made to our great Nation, let us also stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people who live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation,” he tweeted. “My Administration has launched a global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality and invite all nations to join us in this effort!”
As BuzzFeed News points out, last week the Trump administration rescinded discrimination protections for transgender people under the Affordable Care Act. Also, the White House set in place a rule that allows medical workers to cite their religious beliefs to refuse treatment to transgender people. Trump is also hugely allied with the religious right, who’ve been notorious for doing everything they can to make sure gay people can’t enjoy the same marriage privileges straight people can.
Of course, this contradiction wasn’t lost on most people, as evidenced by the comment thread that opened up beneath Trump’s tweet.
https://twitter.com/Mongrosio/status/1134680647392301057
https://twitter.com/CallmeIshma3l/status/1134681323614851072
U have got to be kidding me:
Trans military ban
Allowing people to discriminate against LGBTQ people in adoption
‘Religious freedom bills’
Saying adopted children of LGBTQ couples aren’t citizens because U don’t recognize their marriages. The community doesn’t believe or trust u— Dana Goldberg (@DGComedy) June 1, 2019
Nice Tweet. Now, how about telling Mitch McConnell to bring up the Equality Act?
— David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) May 31, 2019
https://twitter.com/JennieHaake/status/1134619991020412928
https://twitter.com/Systekmusic/status/1134847307848081409
https://twitter.com/Saphireyes69/status/1134858085070041088
Writer Tom Coates chimed in to make a list of all the anti-LGBT actions the Trump administration has taken.
Rolled back LGBT workplace protections https://t.co/M5Dxyxzu4h
— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) May 31, 2019
Justice department says anti-bias law does not protect LGBT people https://t.co/MHbGpIsYmc
— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) May 31, 2019
Refuses to collect data on LGBT people’s needs https://t.co/isr5hOfZ90
— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) May 31, 2019
Appointee anti-LGBT Neil Gorsuch to Supreme Court https://t.co/iQEr3MnNoJ
— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) May 31, 2019
Appointed massively anti-LGBT judges https://t.co/tpflceSFSb
— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) May 31, 2019
The link for that: https://t.co/X5lL1DdGPb
— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) May 31, 2019
Denied trans people the ability to serve in the military https://t.co/5h5awufhJ8
— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) May 31, 2019
LGBT Pride Month was established by former President Bill Clinton in 1999. Back then it was called “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.”
Featured image: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
