Rather than acknowledging its existence, the Trump-Pence administration has utilized Pride month to significantly heighten their aggressive attacks on LGBTQ people. In the midst of a pandemic, HHS released new rules allowing for discrimination against LGBTQ patients and HUD leaked plans for a rule restricting transgender people’s access to emergency shelters. Trump attacked the Supreme Court’s pro-equality ruling and tried to silence embassies embracing equality. All while elevating anti-LGBTQ extremists and anti-LGBTQ legislation.

Rather than recognizing Pride, the Trump-Pence team instead: 

June 5: Pence picked an anti-LGBTQ extremist to lead a listening session with Black leaders

Jackson compared LGBTQ activists to Nazis and said marriage equality was a satanic plot

“Jackson, a key figure in the Religious Right’s outreach to African American Christians, has previously said that gay rights advocates are trying to recruit young people ‘just like during the times of Hitler,’ and that gay marriage is part of a ‘satanic plot’ to destroy the family.” [LGBTQ Nation, 8/3/12]

Jackson said Black Lives Matter will fail because there are lesbians in its leadership 

“Jackson attempted to gain relevance on disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker’s television show last week by taking swipes at LGBT people and the Black Lives Matter movement. Bakker, who went to prison for financial misdeeds, now hawks ‘end times’ buckets of survival supplies to his followers. ‘We can’t have social justice, we need biblical justice,’ Jackson said. ‘It matters that Black Lives Matter has, at the head, a few lesbians who are against the patriarchal society.’” [LGBTQ Nation, 4/10/18]

June 10: Trump hosted a White House roundtable with Anti-LGBTQ supporters Raynard Jackson, Lawrence Jones, Wayne Dupree, and Darrell Scott

Raynard Jackson accused “gay leaders” of using Pulse to spread the “radical homosexual agenda”

“Take, for instance, D.C. Republican strategist, cable-news pundit, and hater of LGBTQ people Raynard Jackson, who has spent years railing against homosexuals — and even claimed gay leaders were using the Pulse nightclub massacre to spread a ‘radical homosexual agenda.’” [Miami New Times, 10/1/18]

Darrell Scott condemned  “the open acceptance of homosexuality”

“In 1998, a Plain Dealer reporter observed Scott bring ‘the congregation to its feet with his condemnations of ... the open acceptance of homosexuality in other churches.’” [Cleveland.com, 11/30/15]

Lawrence Jones launched crowdfunding for an Indiana restaurant after the pizza shop said they would refuse to cater a same-sex wedding

“A crowdfunding page in support of Memories Pizza, the Indiana pizzeria that drew criticism this week for saying it wouldn't cater gay weddings, has raised nearly $500,000 in 24 hours. A GoFundMe page was set up this week after the restaurant's Yelp page was flooded with negative reviews...The GoFundMe page was set up by Lawrence Jones, a contributor to a show on Glenn Beck's The Blaze TV network, ‘to relieve the financial loss endured by the proprietors’ stand for faith.’” [The Verge, 4/3/15]

Dupree said “#JesusTakeTheWheel” in response to Anderson Cooper’s announcement that he became A Dad. [WayneDupreeShow Twitter, 4/30/20]

June 12: The Trump-Pence Administration finalized rule on section 1557 of the ACA that rolled back critical protections for LGBTQ people

On the anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub Massacre, the Trump Administration rolled back non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ patients in the non-discrimination clause of Obamacare. 

“The new Trump administration rules reverse an Obama policy that banned health care providers from discriminating against transgender patients and women seeking abortions... The Trump administration overhaul, which had been years in the making, came against warnings from health care groups that the rollback could make it easier for hospitals and health care workers to discriminate against patients based on their gender or sexual orientation.” [Politico, 6/12/20]

June 14: Details were revealed about a Department of Housing and Urban Development forthcoming proposed rules to denying transgender people access to homeless shelters

Washington Post: HUD to change transgender rules for single-sex homeless shelters

“Under HUD’s proposed new rule, details of which were obtained by The Washington Post, operators of single-sex shelters may consider someone’s biological sex — instead of how they self-identify — in making placement and accommodation decisions. They could ‘determine an individual’s sex based on a good faith belief that an individual seeking access … is not of the sex, as defined in the single sex facility’s policy, which the facility accommodates,’ the proposed rule says.” [Washington Post, 6/14/20]

June 15: The Trump-Pence-Pompeo State Department ordered the U.S. Embassy in South Korea to remove pride flag and Black Lives Matter banner

CNN: US embassy in Seoul removes Black Lives Matter banner and Pride flag

“The US Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, has removed a large banner for the Black Lives Matter movement after a request from State Department leadership and taken down a rainbow flag that celebrates LGBTQ pride...It is not clear why the Pride flag -- which was hung in late May, according to the embassy's Facebook page -- was removed and no explanation has been offered yet.” [CNN, 6/15/20]

June 16: Trump falsely claimed there was an AIDS vaccine.

TRUMP: “These are the people — the best, the smartest, the most brilliant anywhere. And they’ve come up with the AIDS vaccine.  They’ve come up with — or the AIDS.  And they — as you know, there’s various things, and now various companies are involved.  But the therapeutic for AIDS — AIDS was a death sentence, and now people live a life with a pill.  It’s an incredible thing.” [Whitehouse.gov, 6/16/20]

June 18: Trump criticized “horrible and politically charged” opinions on Title VII and DACA, and claimed the Supreme Court didn’t “like” him

June 19: The Trump Administration backed anti-transgender Idaho bill

The Trump Administration submitted a court filing that supported a recently-passed Idaho Bill that banned transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports

“A recently passed Idaho law banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports — the first such law in the nation — received backing on Friday from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The support came in the form of a court filing submitted by the U.S. Department of Justice, saying a federal judge considering a lawsuit challenging the ban should conclude that the law does not violate the U.S. Constitution. The ban prohibits transgender students who identify as female from playing on female teams sponsored by public schools, colleges and universities. The ban does not apply to men’s teams.” [AP, 6/19/20]

June 24: Trump welcomed Anti-LGBTQ Polish President Duda to the White House

Duda has called LGBTQ rights an “ideology” more harmful than communism among other horrific attacks on the community

“The Polish president has recently attracted international attention by making LGBT rights an issue during the presidential campaign. He vowed to protect Polish families from what he calls ‘LGBT ideology.’ He recently called the LGBT rights movement an ideology more dangerous than communism. Public television in Poland, which is controlled by the ruling Law and Justice ruling party that backs Duda, has pushed a similar message about the LGBT rights movement, which many conservatives in mostly Catholic Poland see as a foreign import and a threat to their culture. The populist Law and Justice embraced the same messages critical of the LGBT rights movement before the parliamentary election it won last year. Several municipalities in Poland have declared themselves ‘LGBT free.’” [Time, 6/23/20]

June 28: Pence joined Anti-LGBTQ Pastor Robert Jeffress for a “Celebrate Freedom” event

Jeffress delivered a sermon entitled “Why Gay Is Not OK.” in 2008

"About a 100 people stood outside the First Baptist Church in downtown Dallas Sunday morning to protest Robert Jeffress' sermon, "Why Gay Is Not O.K." Dr. Jeffress' sermon, delivered at three services, examined biblical admonitions cited as being against homosexuality." [Dallas Morning News, 11/9/08]

Jeffress said LGBTQ Americans live a “filthy” and “miserable” lifestyle.

“Robert Jeffress is a Baptist megachurch preacher in Dallas, Texas, and another member of the advisory board, who gave a private service to the Trump family on Inauguration Day. He has never been shy about expressing his views about the LGBT community. In 2011, he claimed that ‘homosexuality is being crammed down our throats,’ and accused LGBT people of using brainwashing to ‘inject homosexuality’ into mainstream culture. He has also said that LGBT Americans live a ‘filthy’ and ‘miserable’ lifestyle.” [Atlantic Online, 4/23/17]