Donald Trump pledged to protect and defend LGBTQ Americans on the campaign trail, using us as a wedge against a "hateful foreign ideology" that he named Islamic terrorism. This Tuesday, he did something seemingly reasonable, issuing a statement that he would keep in place President Obama's nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ employees of government contractors:
President Donald J. Trump is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community. President Trump continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election. The President is proud to have been the first ever GOP nominee to mention the LGBTQ community in his nomination acceptance speech, pledging then to protect the community from violence and oppression.
Great. Now let's get to the real issues. Trump is about to announce a Supreme Court pick who will almost certainly oppose anti-LGBTQ freedoms and oppose same-sex marriage. William Pryor has exhibited "extremist anti-gay views." Neil Gorsuch is a religious liberty enthusiast, which is exactly where the battles for LGBTQ rights and freedoms will be fought in years to come.
Beyond that, congressional Republicans are angling to pass a "religious freedom" bill in the vein of Mike Pence's odious anti-LGBTQ Indiana law, only worse. It will almost surely grant special rights to Christians to discriminate against gay and transgender Americans (and women!) based on their religious beliefs or maybe even just their moral convictions, as their First Amendment Defense Act did last session.
So if pr*sident Trump wants to “protect the rights” of LGBTQ Americans, as stated above, he’s got a hell of a long way to go.