# Trump and LGBTQ's?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [August 29, 2019, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400 "2019-08-29T07:15:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2019, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400/1 "2019-08-29T07:15:26Z")
Forgive me if this sounds naïve, but I just have to ask. What if anything has President Trump done to help LGBTQ’s?
In case you don’t know, during the 2016 election, Mr. Trump promised gay people he’d have their backs (no pun intended). He even waved the rainbow flag at one point. And reportedly some gays still support him now.
But what has he done? And could he be holding off for some future time to help them (LGBTQ’s)?
:):):)🙂
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2019, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400/2 "2019-08-29T07:41:42Z")
He’s [banned trans people from the military](https://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/26/politics/trump-military-transgender/index.html) and attacked the process by which they get their [passports issued under the correct name and gender](https://rewire.news/article/2018/10/26/state-department-no-plans-to-change-passport-policy-despite-trump-anti-trans-memo/) (a process which was simplified greatly by one [Secretary Clinton](https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-hillary-clinton-moved-trans-rights-forward)). Note that the actual passport policy hasn’t truly changed.
[His opinion on SSM](https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/president-trump-views-on-same-sex-marriage/) [changes](https://news.yahoo.com/trump-2020-rival-buttigiegs-same-sex-marriage-great-205454677--election.html) with the day of the week, or maybe with who’s asking, or with who he’s spoken with last.
Things he could do to help LGBTQ people include letting those seeking asylum on account of “in my country it’s illegal to be me” apply for it, not kicking them from their jobs, letting them obtain ID which doesn’t misname or misgender them and making it clear that their marriage rights are here to stay. And well, simplifying bureaucratic processes such as that for getting a corrected passport is something that pretty much any government could do for any of their citizens, really.
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### Author:  [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2019, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400/3 "2019-08-29T08:35:12Z")
Funny you mention it; not all that long ago one of my favorite journalists wrote [this article](https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/its-time-reckoning-journalists-who-boosted-false-narratives-about-donald-trumps-lgbtq): “It’s time for a reckoning for journalists who boosted false narratives about Donald Trump’s LGBTQ policy positions.”
> [@](#):
>
> Upon taking office, Trump and his team ordered the removal of references to LGBTQ issues from a number of federal websites. By the second month, the departments of Education and Justice had officially rescinded Obama-era guidance protecting transgender students from discrimination. Six months in, Trump shocked the country by casually tweeting his intention to reinstitute a ban on trans people in the military and having the DOJ issue an updated interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 saying it is legal to fire someone for being gay or trans.
>
> Those are just a few examples of the many, many anti-LGBTQ actions that Trump has carried out since taking office. According to GLAAD, an LGBTQ media watchdog group, the Trump administration has launched 114 attacks on LGBTQ people thus far. Some actions are petty but not actively harmful, such as not officially proclaiming June to be LGBTQ Pride Month while still extending that recognition to Great Outdoors Month, National Homeownership Month, and National Ocean Month. However, other actions could put lives at risk, such as the appointment of anti-LGBTQ lawyers to lifetime federal judgeships and issuing rules allowing discrimination against trans people in public housing and health care.
>
> Some media outlets seemed caught off guard by the barrage of anti-LGBTQ actions. They shouldn’t have been.
>
> […]
>
> **Based on sheer quantity of anti-LGBTQ policies and political appointments, Trump is, arguably, one of the worst presidents on LGBTQ rights in the country’s history**. He may have no personal problem with gay people. He may say he’s “fine” with a gay person being married. He may sell “Pride”-themed merchandise on his website. He may collaborate with Peter Thiel or appoint Richard Grenell to an ambassadorship. He may even sputter out the letters “LGBTQ” from time to time. None of this has anything to do with LGBTQ civil rights or legal protections at home.
The Trump administration hasn’t just been bad for LGBTQ rights, he’s been appalling. The idea that he’s somehow “pro-LGBTQ” is propaganda, not reality. This has been obvious since before the election, and since being elected, Trump has done nothing positive for LGBTQ rights, instead attacking them on all fronts. _What did you expect from a republican_?
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2019, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400/4 "2019-08-29T08:57:34Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#):
>
> And reportedly some gays still support him now.
The USA is a large country. Every demographic group has a lot of Trump supporters in it, even if they’re a small minority within that group. Trump’s worst demographic in 2016 was black women, and there were probably still a hundred thousand black women who voted for him.
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### Author:  [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2019, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400/5 "2019-08-29T09:05:37Z")
Yeah.
Like, let’s be clear, your demographic is no excuse for your politics. Milo Yiannopolous is a gay man who famously mostly fucks black people. He’s also a [full-blown neo-nazi who helped mainstream the white supremacists in the alt-right](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/heres-how-breitbart-and-milo-smuggled-white-nationalism).
Or, if you prefer a more historical comparison, Ernst Röhm was a gay man who was the founder and commander of the SA and a close collaborator with Hitler near the start of the nazi party.
It’s entirely possible to endorse a political party that wants to strip you of your rights or even kill you. It’s especially possible if you’re the kind of person who isn’t deeply reliant on those rights, or who has the money to ignore what you’re losing. For example: Peter Thiel is rich enough that there’s no realistic way his sexuality will really matter to him; if things get bad enough that they might he can load up a private jet and skip town. It’s easy enough to think that the Leopards Eating People’s Faces party is only going to feed other people to the Leopards.
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### Author:  [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400/6 "2019-08-29T12:14:49Z")
Some people are single issue voters and that issue doesn’t have to align with a demographic group. If you are LGBTQ and either anti-abortion or anti-immigrant, Trump is your candidate.
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### Author:  [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2019, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400/7 "2019-08-29T12:22:53Z")
Are you kidding!? He’s Made America Great Again, boosted the economy (DOW over 25000!!!) , solved the North Korea problem once and for all, turned the screws on China and rebuilt American manufacturing to its former glory, and generally pissed off the libs on an almost daily basis!
If the LGBTQ+ community can’t appreciate all of that, that’s their problem.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400/8 "2019-08-31T19:32:54Z")
I’m LGBT, and I held a small hope that Trump wouldn’t be horrible on LGBT issues. He’s from NYC and has worked in entertainment most of his life so he’s definitely had interactions with the community as opposed to someone like George W. Bush who is from Texas and worked in pro baseball.
I don’t think Trump is a homophobe, but people like Pence, Jerry Falwell JR, and Franklin Graham have his ear. And, even Trump knows that the right wing evangelicals are the absolute base of the Republican Party and he needs to throw them red meat every now and then.
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### Author:  [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400/9 "2019-09-01T18:27:52Z")
Well, [here](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-met-his-commitments-to-lgbtq-americans-he-has-our-endorsement/2019/08/15/fb9b741c-bf96-11e9-a5c6-1e74f7ec4a93_story.html) is the best turd shine the Log Cabin Republicans could put on Trump. For those who don’t want to wallow through this drivel here are the main arguments (with my commentary).
[ol]
[li]\*\* Trump said good things about gays at the 2016 convention:\*\* Talk is cheap, particularly for Trump who at one time or another has claimed to support either side of pretty much every issue.[/li][li]\*\* Trump isn’t as bad a Pat Buchanan:\*\* That is a pretty damn low bar.[/li][li]\*\* He’s promised to cure AIDS in 10 years.\*\* He’s also promised to cure cancer, go to Mars, sustain 6% economic growth, and have Mexico pay for a border wall.[/li][li]\*\* He’s pushed for the world wide decriminalization of Homosexuality: \*\* This is more about [condemning Muslims](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/27/trump-administration-will-push-decriminalize-homosexuality-worldwide-surprised-heres-why/) than it is about supporting gay rights. [/li][li]\*\* He’s appointed lots of gays to his administration.\*\* They only mention the most prominent one by name, Richard Grenell the Ambassador to Germany, hardly a Cabinet post. If he is the best example, it’s pretty clear that no real effort has been placed in that direction.[/li][/ol]
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-lgbtqs/839400/10 "2019-09-01T23:27:18Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Quoth **tim-n-va** :
>
> If you are LGBTQ and either anti-abortion or anti-immigrant, Trump is your candidate.
Any actual anti-abortion single-issue voter would vote Democratic. There aren’t many anti-abortion Democrats, but there are at least a few. There are zero anti-abortion Republicans. Anti-choice, sure, but they’d be just as happy to mandate abortions as to prohibit them.