17 Times the Trump-Pence Administration Attacked the LGBTQ Community in 2017

by HRC Staff •

At every turn, HRC has been calling out this administration’s hateful and discriminatory agenda from day one.

Post submitted by Brian McBride, former HRC Digital Strategist

Since entering the White House, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have undermined and attacked the rights of marginalized communities across the country, including the historic progress made toward full LGBTQ equality. At every turn, HRC has been calling out this administration’s hateful and discriminatory agenda from day one.

Here are 17 times the Trump-Pence administration blatantly targeted the LGBTQ community for attack in 2017:

1. Less than two hours after Trump was sworn into office as the country’s 45th president, all mentions of LGBTQ issues were removed from the official White House webpage.

2. The Trump-Pence administration revoked the Obama administration’s guidance detailing school obligations to transgender students under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

3. Trump nominated anti-LGBTQ extremist Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States, leading HRC to take the unprecedented step of opposing his nomination before his confirmation hearing, a first for the organization.

4. From Jeff Sessions, Ben Carson, Betsy DeVos, Tom Price, Rick Perry and a slew of other anti-equality appointees, the Trump-Pence administration has filled its cabinet with anti-LGBTQ extremists to lead federal departments crucial to the well-being of LGBTQ people.

5. The Trump-Pence administration decided to not include sexual orientation or gender identity in the 2020 Census -- part of a larger campaign to erase LGBTQ people from federal surveys and disrupt programs that provide direct assistance to the LGBTQ community.

6. Trump signed an executive order to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, landmark legislation that provides access to healthcare for millions of LGBTQ people.

7. The Trump administration released a Fiscal Year 2018 budget filled with draconian cuts to safety net programs that would be devastating to millions of Americans, including people living with HIV.

8. Trump made the dangerous and unpatriotic move to reinstate a ban on qualified transgender people serving in the military. His reprehensible action could result in the discharge of more than 15,000 transgender Americans currently serving our country.

9. Trump-Pence’s Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an amicus brief arguing that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect lesbian, gay or bisexual people on the basis of sex.

10. The Trump-Pence administration cruelly decided to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allowed hundreds of thousands of young people brought to the U.S. as minors to stay in the country -- approximately 75,000 of these “Dreamers” are LGBTQ.

11. Throughout his first year in office, Trump has been hell-bent on stacking federal court benches with anti-LGBTQ extremists including Jeff Mateer, Damien Schiff, Leonard Steven Grasz, Mark Norris, and Stephen Schwartz.

12. Betsy DeVos rescinded critical 2011 Title IX guidance related to schools' obligations to address sexual harassment, including sexual violence, which disproportionately affects the LGBTQ community.

13. The DOJ began implementing a sweeping “license to discriminate” that will put millions of LGBTQ Americans at risk of discrimination. DOJ also issued issued a memo to government lawyers rescinding Obama administration guidance that discrimination protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 apply to transgender people.

14. The New Yorker reported that Trump “jokes” Pence wants to hang LGBTQ people. His remark lays open the depth of the Trump-Pence hostility toward LGBTQ people, and just how deeply they believe we should be treated as second-class citizens in our own country.

15. Trump-Pence refused to acknowledge Pride Month, which previous presidents have embraced, and issued a proclamation for World AIDS Day that failed to mention high-risk communities, including LGBTQ people and people of color.  

16. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the startling admission that Trump agreed with the position that businesses should be allowed to hang signs asserting they won’t serve LGBTQ customers.

17. The Trump-Pence administration made the despicable decision to instruct CDC officials to avoid using particular words or phrases including “transgender,” “vulnerable” and “diversity” in official documents being prepared for next year’s budget -- undercutting critical programs that serve the LGBTQ community.

Despite a tumultuous year filled with setbacks, we also made gains at the local, state and federal level. We’ve defeated anti-LGBTQ extremist nominees Mark Green, Jeff Mateer, Scott Garrett from being confirmed to key positions. From Georgia to Pennsylvania, we helped turn out the vote to elect eight transgender people on Election Day. We made historic gains in Virginia, including helping to elect Danica Roem as the nation’s first out trans representative. We pulled off a stunning victory in helping to elect pro-equality candidate Doug Jones to represent all Alabamians in the U.S. Senate while saying #NoMoore to Roy Moore.

HRC remains more vigilant than ever in our commitment to mobilize, advocate and fight back against Trump-Pence’s discriminatory policies. We will continue to work to ensure all Americans are treated equally under the law by mobilizing to elect pro-equality majorities in the U.S. Senate and House heading into 2018.

Topics:
Federal Advocacy

Related News

View AllRelated News