Remember sweet, sweet July, when Donald Trump promised the Republican National Convention that he would do everything in his power to "protect LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a foreign ideology?"
Well, he hasn't even taken the oath of office and he's already broken that promise.
This morning, Donald Trump announced that former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell would be heading his domestic transition team. Blackwell, who once compared LGBTQ people to animals, is a Senior Fellow at the Family Research Council, a hate group according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
SEE ALSO:Bernie Sanders is prepared to be Trump's 'worst nightmare'Compared to his hate speech against Muslims, Mexican immigrants and women, Trump's rhetoric against LGBTQ Americans was relatively tame during his campaign for the presidency.
His policy-related promises, of course, told a different story -- Trump pledged to support the First Amendment Defense Act, which would allow businesses and healthcare organizations to legally discriminate against LGBTQ folks. He supports HB2, North Carolina's infamous law that prevents trans people from using the bathroom of their choice. And he appointed Mike Pence to be his vice president, the governor best known for his plan to defund AIDS research and support conversion therapy, a dangerous practice since denounced by the American Medical Association. Not to mention Pence's support of Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which also would have allowed legal discrimination against LGBT folks before public outcry necessitated its revision.
So it shouldn't come as any surprise that the candidate who once waved a rainbow pride flag upside down appointed Blackwell, a man who has reportedly blamed mass shootings on "the crumbling moral foundations of our country" and "the attack on natural marriage and the family."
Presidential candidate Donald Trump holds up inverted Pride flag at Colorado rally which reads "LGBTs for Trump." https://t.co/NpmXayixqM pic.twitter.com/PYulopstIM
— SDGLN.com (@sdgln) October 31, 2016
When he was campaigning against same-sex marriage in Ohio in 2004, Blackwell compared LGBTQ people to farm animals.
"I don't know how many of you have a farming background but I can tell you right now that notion even defies barnyard logic ... the barnyard knows better," he said.
In the past seventy-two hours, LGBTQ community leaders have sounded the alarm about Blackwell and addressed additional pressing concerns about a Donald Trump presidency. While same-sex marriage is the law of the land, Trump's list of possible Supreme Court nominees include those who do not support a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. He could further reverse Obama's decision and yet again ban transgender and LGBTQ people from serving in the military.
While Trump has yet, of course, to enact any anti-queer legislation, Americans have already started to feel the brunt of his electoral college win. On Wednesday evening, Rochester, New York, resident Greg Ventura came home to find that the gay pride flags on his porch had been burned. Ventura had come out as gay earlier this year and believes that the incident was hate-related. Another home close to his had a rainbow flag burned Friday evening as well.
All this, and it's not even day one.
TopicsLGBTQ
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