The gay conservative group Log Cabin Republicans has decided to endorse Donald Trump for reelection in 2020, with group leaders falsely claiming in a Washington Post op-ed that the same guy who brought us Vice President Mike Pence and banned transgender military service members has taken “bold actions that benefit the LGBTQ community.”
"He has committed to end the spread of HIV/AIDS in 10 years, through the use of proven science, medicine and technology to which we now have access,” the group claims. “This scourge decimated a generation of gay men in the United States and continues to inflict pain, suffering and death at home and abroad.”
Back here in reality, LGBTQ outlet NewNowNext reports that Trump “diverted funds from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program to cover the increased costs of detaining immigrant children,” “twice requested cuts to PEPFAR,” and “is so ignorant on this issue he asked Bill Gates on not one but two occasions what the difference was between HIV and HPV.”
Just this week, his administration also “opened the door ... to permitting government contractors to discriminate against LGBT employees with a proposed rule that frames the issue as protecting companies’ religious beliefs.” The American Civil Liberties Union said his administration “is shamefully working to license taxpayer-funded discrimination in the name of religion.”
The endorsement is a reversal from the group’s decision to not endorse back in 2016. There are so many better ways to spend a Friday than wondering why a gay group would support a profoundly anti-gay administration, but some thoughts are that it’s probably why some Latino Republicans would still support a profoundly anti-Latino administration. Maybe they feel proximity will protect them. Maybe it’s about power and relevancy. Maybe they don’t love themselves. Or maybe they’re just terrible.
