Donald Trump's Cabinet Elect and Their Views on LGBTQ

Although Donald Trump called himself a “supporter” of LGBTQ rights, his cabinet and senior staff will include some of the most anti-gay politicians in the country. One of the biggest decisions a president can make is the selection of a Supreme Court Justice. In January, Trump told Fox News he would “strongly consider” appointing Supreme Court justices who would overturn the 2015 decision allowing same-sex marriage.

Many people in the know say that his views on many issues are all over the place, and he’s likely to follow the advice of the person he last talked to. When you look at the cabinet members he is assembling you see they all want to roll back gay rights. They are the ones who will have Trumps ear and are likely to pursue their agenda independently within their domains.

The Attorney General is the top law enforcement officer and lawyer for the U.S. government. He or she is expected to protect Americans and not have antagonism against certain groups – like the LGBTQ community, women and people of color. So it is a concern that the Human Rights Campaign has given Jeff Sessions a “zero percent” voting record on LGBT rights. 

This record goes beyond voting for a failed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and against the repeal of “Don’t ask don’t tell,” as Sessions did, and includes his opposition to expanding the definition of a hate crime to include LGBTQ people. As head of the Justice Department, Sessions could undermine hate crime protections and undo Obama’s directive to schools not to discriminate against transgender students. 

On LGBTQ rights, Ben Carson is hostile, saying that sexual orientation is a choice, comparing gay sex to bestiality, and opining that LGBTQs have more rights than Christians in America. He’s the choice for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary. He’s also opposed to non-discrimination laws of all kind, laws he would be tasked with enforcing. As HUD Secretary he could rescind a 2012 rule prohibiting anti-LGBT discrimination in federally funded housing for low-income people, as one example.

The billionaire Republican donor Betsy DeVos is not only anti-public school – we’re noticing a trend of nominating those who are opposed to the mission of the cabinets they would lead – she’s also an antigay activist. Her family has donated to anti-gay groups, including groups that advocate for the widely discredited conversion therapy to “cure” gays of their same-sex attraction.

LGBTQ kids have reason for concern, as Devos could remove the protection of favorable guidance in schools, including the Department of Education’s letters that have taken a strong stand against antigay and ant-trans policies in school districts.

As Trump’s top White House adviser not subject to Congressional confirmation, Steve Bannon will definitely have the President’s ear. He’s been getting deserved consternation for his views on race and his alleged coddling of white supremacists. But as the chairman of Breitbart News Network, he also signed off on antigay stories, with headlines like, "Gay rights have made us dumber, It's time to get back in the closet".

Vice President-elect Mike Pence signed a controversial "Right to Discriminate" bill that allowed business to refuse service to LGBTQ people. As a Congressman, he urged lawmakers to “oppose any effort to put gay and lesbian relationships on an equal legal status.”

“One thing we know is that Pence is deeply devoted to undermining the human and civil rights of the LGBTQ community,” writes Emily Hauser in the Week. Hauser says Americans should pay close attention to what Pence does, as he’s already playing an outsized role in the administration, almost a shadow President.

Many members of the transition policy team echo these same feelings toward gays. This includes a Britbart editer who has worked for antigay groups and has written about the “homosexual agenda.” Plus, the Trump transition team’s domestic policy advisor, Ken Blackwell, has said gays can be reformed, “just like arsonists.”

Will the beliefs and past actions of these officials, assuming the ones up for confirmation are confirmed, matter to the day-to-day lives of LGBTQ Americans? Are hard-won gains of recent years in danger of being rolled back? Most definitely.

It’s become clear that as far as broad public opinion goes, the equality train has left the station. A solid majority of Americans approve of gay rights. The Pew poll even found that 51 percent think that a person should use the restroom that corresponds to his or her gender identity. In North Carolina, Republican Gov. Pat McCrory was defeated, likely for pushing House Bill 2, the infamous “bathroom bill,” that brought an economic backlash to the state.

But the general public doesn’t make laws. And this election, we’re told, turned on economic anxiety of the white working class. LGBTQ rights were not well-explored in the general campaign, possibly because so many of the gains under the Obama administration were considered “settled.” But let’s be honest, nothing is ever settled.

There are many unknowns in the upcoming administration. LGBTQ rights can be rolled back. Without close scrutiny and, if necessary, public outcry, the civil rights gains of this community could recede like the tide. 

WikiLeaks and LGBT Community

1. WikiLeaks, the transparency website founded in 2006 by Julian Assange, (who currently lives in London, where he fled after Sweden issued a warrant for his arrest based on sexual assault allegations.) Wikileaks has waded into the waters of partisan politics with its release of thousands of private emails from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign. There’s a principled argument for this kind of radical transparency. Assange himself made it more than a decade ago on his then-blog: “The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and.”The reality, however, is that some secrets exist for a reason. While Assange may be basking in the limelight for embarrassing Clinton these past two weeks, some of his recent actions may have caused significant collateral damage — particularly to members of the LGBT community.
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3. In July, WikiLeaks published documents from inside the regime of Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following a failed attempt at a coup. That leak, however, included the private information of thousands of Turkish women, including their home addresses. In publishing Saudi Arabian diplomatic cables, the site outed two male teenage rape victims in Saudi Arabia, and published the name of a man imprisoned for “sexual deviation.” One survivor was reportedly “raped by a man while abroad” and one was “so violently raped [that] his legs were broken,” the cables said, according to the Associated Press. 
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5. WikiLeaks’ methods were criticized by exiled whistleblower Edward Snowden, who exposed the NSA’s controversial metadata program in a 2013 leak. “Democratizing information has never been more vital, and WikiLeaks has helped,” Snowden has said. “But their hostility to even modest curation is a mistake.” The Washington Post later argued that WikiLeaks operates under a “reckless just-publish-everything mentality,” acting with a blatant disregard for the civilians caught in the crosshairs.
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7. When it comes to reporting on LGBT lives, redacting sensitive information is extremely important. The practice of outing, revealing someone’s sexuality before the individual is willing or able to come out publicly, has been criticized by LGBT activists as an invasion of privacy, but this is only part of the story. Outing can cause severe psychological harm, it can lead to youth being expelled from their homes, and it can even get someone killed. It destroys lives. And yet WikiLeaks’ mantra of radical openness has seemingly begun to filter down to the culture at largeIn 10 countries around the world, being LGBT is not only a crime —  it is punishable by death.
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9. Nations mandating the execution of LGBT people include Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iran and Saudi Arabia, the same country where WikiLeaks forced gay men out of the closet. In March, Okaz, a newspaper in Jidda, reported that Saudi officials have recently sought to make discussing one’s sexuality on social media a death penalty offense. This decision follows a recent uptick in sting operations targeting gay men, with 35 criminal prosecutions for sodomy in a six-month period.
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11. In July, 19-year-old Hassan Afshar became the latest LGBT person put to death in Iran. Iranian officials claimed that the teenager, still in high school at the time of his arrest, raped another young man, even though Afshar’s parents insisted the sexual encounter was consensual. The distinction didn’t matter. The young man, who was denied access to a lawyer, was hanged July 18. Since 1979, reports estimate that  4,000 to 6,000 LGBT Iranians have been sent to the gallows because of their sexuality.
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13. Cases like Hassan’s have become more common in recent years, as LGBT people have been subject to an international backlash from conservative groups following recent gains in equality. In Indonesia’s Aceh province, ruled by sharia law, citizens are subjected to 100 lashes if found guilty of same-sex intercourse. The country’s high court is set to rule on whether to bring the penalty against homosexuality nationwide, which could mean up to 15 years in prison for those convicted. Ahead of that decision, Indonesia has sought to block access to all gay hookup apps, including Grindr, Blued and BoyAhoy.
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15. Even in the U.S., LGBT-identified people may choose not to disclose their sexuality to office mates or supervisors, in fear of being the victim of workplace discrimination. According to UCLA’s Williams Institute, between 15% and 43% of LGBT people have faced on-the-job harassment, with transgender employees most vulnerable. Despite the passage of marriage equality in 2015, you can still be fired in 28 U.S. states for being LGBT. These include Kansas, Mississippi, Idaho and Indiana.
16. Being outed can lead to job loss, but for youth, it can even mean living on the street — or worse. The Williams Institute of UCLA School of Law reports that 40% of homeless-youth service providers’ clients identify as LGBT, and a majority of them were kicked out of their homes because of their orientation or gender identity, the report says. 
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18. LGBT youth who face rejection from their community are 8.4 times more likely to attempt suicide than those who experienced acceptance. Nineteen-year-old Tyler Clementi, then a student at Rutgers, brought national attention to this issue in 2010 after his roommates filmed him having a sexual encounter with another man. Clementi, who was still coming to terms with his sexuality, took his own life after the video was put online. Sensitive subject matter requires great sensitivity.
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20. WikiLeaks’ mission is to expose government wrongdoing and corruption through radical transparency, promoting a culture of greater accountability. By forcibly outing LGBT people, though, the site has done the opposite—helped bigots, bullies and oppressive regimes everywhere.Hillary Clinton will likely recover just fine from these leaks and from future data dumps. Not everyone may be so lucky.

The Gender Spectrum

For many people, the terms “gender” and “sex” are used interchangeably, which is incorrect. This idea has become so common, particularly in western societies, that it is rarely questioned. We are born, assigned a sex, and sent out into the world. For many people this is cause for little, if any dissonance. Yet biological sex and gender are different: gender is not inherently nor solely connected to one’s physical anatomy.

A person’s sex includes physical attributes such as external genitalia, sex chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, and internal reproductive structures. At birth, it is used to assign sex, that is, to identify individuals as male or female. Gender on the other hand is far more complicated. It is the complex interrelationship between an individual’s sex (gender biology), one’s internal sense of self as male, female, both or neither (gender identity) as well as one’s outward presentations and behaviors (gender expression) related to that perception, including their gender role. Together, the intersection of these three dimensions produces one’s authentic sense of gender, both in how people experience their own gender as well as how others perceive it.

Western culture has come to view gender as a binary concept, with two rigidly fixed options: male or female, both grounded in a person’s physical anatomy. Rather than just two distinct boxes, biological gender occurs across a continuum of possibilities. This spectrum of anatomical variations by itself should be enough to disregard the simplistic notions of a binary gender system.

Beyond anatomy, there are multiple domains defining gender these domains can be independently characterized across a range of possibilities. Instead of the static, binary model produced through a solely physical understanding of gender, a far richer tapestry of biology, gender expression, and gender identity intersect in a multidimensional array of possibilities. The gender spectrum represents a more nuanced, and ultimately truly authentic model of human gender.

Gender is taught to us from the moment we are born. Gender expectations and messages bombard us constantly. Upbringing, culture, peers, schools, community, media, and religion are some of the many influences that shape our understanding of this core aspect of self. How you learned and interacted with gender as a young child directly influences how you view the world today. Gendered interactions between parent and child begin as soon as the sex of the baby is known. Many aspects of gender are socially constructed, particularly with regard to gender expression.

Like other social constructs, gender is closely monitored and reinforced by society. Practically everything in society is assigned a gender – toys, colors, clothes and behaviors are just some of the more obvious examples. Through a combination of social conditioning and personal preference, by age three most roles and expectations are so entrenched in our culture that most people cannot imagine any other way. As a result, individuals fitting neatly into these expectations rarely if ever question what gender really means. They have never had to, because the system has worked for them.

“Gender-expansive” is an umbrella term used for individuals that broaden commonly held definitions of gender, including its expression, associated identities, and/or other perceived gender norms, in one or more aspects of their life. These individuals expand the definition of gender through their own identity and/or expression. Some individuals do not identify with being either male or female; others identify as a blend of both, while still others identify with a gender, but express their gender in ways that differ from stereotypical presentations. A gender-expansive person’s preferences and self-expression may fall outside commonly understood gender norms within their own culture; or they may be aligned with them even as one’s internal gender identity doesn’t align with the sex assigned at birth.

The diversity of gender is a normal part of the human experience, across cultures and throughout history. Non-binary gender diversity exists all over the world, documented by countless historians and anthropologists. Examples of individuals living comfortable outside of typical male/female expectations and/or identities are found in every region of the globe. The calabai, and calalai of Indonesia, two-spirit Native Americans, and the hijra of India all represent more complex understandings of gender than allowed for by a simplistic binary model.

What might be considered gender-expansive in one period of history may become gender normative in another. You only need to examine trends related to men wearing earrings or woman sporting g tattoos to see the malleability of social expectations about gender.

When someone is “typically gendered,” they benefit from gender privilege For individuals whose biological sex, gender expression, and gender identity neatly align, often referred to as “cisgender,” there is a level of congruence as they encounter the world around them. Life many forms of social privilege, this is frequently an unexamined aspect of their lives. Forms they fill out, the clothing stores in which they shop, or identification papers they carry bring few if any second thoughts. For a transgender or otherwise gender-expansive person, each of these, and many more examples, is a constant reminder that they move about in a culture that really does not account for their experience. Social privilege comes from an assumption that one’s own perspective is universal; whether related to race, or language, or gender, privilege comes from being part of the “norm.”

Perhaps the most fundamental aspect of a person’s identity, gender deeply influences every part of one’s life. In a society where this crucial aspect of self has been so narrowly defined and rigidly enforced, individuals who exist outside its norms face innumerable challenges. Even those who vary only slightly from the norm can become targets of disapproval. Yet this does not have to be the case forever. Through a thoughtful consideration of the uniqueness and validity of every person’s experiences of self, we can develop greater acceptance for all. Not only will this create greater inclusion for individuals who challenge the norms of gender, it will actually create space for all individuals to more fully explore and celebrate who they are.

Hillary and Trump: positions on LGBT issues

As we move quickly toward election day, it is important for us to know the Republican and Democrat candidates’ position on LGBT rights. Knowing how Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump would deal with issues for our community is crucial for us. We have been marginalized and faced discrimination against us and have fought hard to get the rights we now have. This could all change and drop us back into having no rights again. The Democratic and Republican platforms are polarized on this issue. The Democrats are supportive of us and our equality of human rights, the Republicans, however, speak of “family values” as “one father and one mother”. The following spells out the positions and past records of Hillary Clinton and Donald regarding LGBTs’ rights.

Hillary Clinton applauded the Obama administration’s guidance directing public schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms matching their gender identity, praised the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, and is committed to protecting LGBT and transgender rights.

§  After the Obama administration issued guidance directing public schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms matching their gender identity on May 13, 2016, Clinton spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa told The Washington Post, “Hillary Clinton applauds the Obama administration for taking actions this week to stand up for the rights of LGBT people–and particularly for the rights of transgender people–across the country.” She continued, “As president, she will fight to make sure all Americans can live their lives free from discrimination.”

§  After North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R) signed House Bill 2 into law on March 24, 2016, Hillary Clinton tweeted, “LGBT people should be protected from discrimination under the law—period.”

§  On Clinton’s campaign website, the candidate describes her commitment to protecting transgender rights: “We must do more to end discrimination against the transgender community. Hillary believes no one should be held back from fully participating in our society because of their gender identity. As secretary of state, Hillary made it possible for transgender Americans to have their true identity reflected on their passports. As president, she will work to protect transgender individuals from violence by directing the government to collect better data regarding crime victims and seeking to improve reporting of hate crimes; streamline identity documents to remove barriers to transgender Americans changing their gender marker on identification documents; and invest in law enforcement training focused on fair and impartial policing, including in interactions with LGBT individuals. Hillary will invest in law enforcement training that focuses on issues such as implicit bias, use of force, and de-escalation, as well as fair and impartial policing including in their interactions with the LGBT community, in particular transgender individuals. It will also focus on educating police officers on correctly identifying bias-motivated crimes.”

§  Hillary Clinton released a 70-second online ad on December 6, 2015, to show her support for LGBT equality. The video includes scenes from a 2011 speech where she said “gay rights and human rights...are one and the same” played over clips of same-sex couples.

§  Clinton argued on October 3, 2015, that the 14,000 soldiers forced to leave the military because of their sexual orientation should have their service records updated to reflect an honorable discharge.

§  Clinton endorsed the Equality Act, a bill introduced on July 23, 2015, by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), which seeks “to protect LGBT people nationwide from discrimination in credit, education, employment, housing, federal financial assistance, jury service and public accommodations.”

§  Speaking at a fundraiser for the Virginia Democratic Party on June 26, 2015, Hillary Clinton applauded the Supreme Court's decision inObergefell v. Hodges and criticized the Republicans' rejection of marriage equality. Clinton said, "This morning, they all decried the Supreme Court's ruling upholding marriage equality—we even heard them call for a constitutional amendment to strip away the right to equality from our gay brothers and sisters. Instead of trying to turn back the clock, they should be joining us in saying loudly and clearly, 'No, no' to discrimination once and for all. I'm asking them, please: Don't make the rights, the hopes, of any American, a political football for this 2016 campaign."

 Donald Trump believes states should decide whether transgender people may use restrooms matching their gender identity and opposes same-sex marriages.

§  After previously stating that North Carolina should "[l]eave it the way it is," and permit transgender individuals to use the restroom they feel most comfortable using, Donald Trump told ABC News on May 13, 2016, “I believe it should be states’ rights and the state should make the decision. They’re more capable of making the decision.” Trump made this comment after the Obama administration issued guidance directing public schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms matching their gender identity.

§  In an interview on April 21, 2016, Donald Trump said that North Carolina erred when it passed a bill restricting transgender individuals’ access to bathrooms that conform with their gender identity. “North Carolina did something that was very strong and they’re paying a big price. There’s a lot of problems. You leave it the way it is. There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go, they use the bathroom they feel is appropriate, there has been so little trouble, and the problem with what happened in North Carolina is the strife, and the economic punishment that they’re taking,” Trump said. He added that he would be comfortable with transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner using whichever bathroom she chose in Trump Tower.

§  In a June 28, 2015, interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Donald Trump was asked by anchor Jake Tapper how Trump's three marriages fit into the definition of "traditional marriage." Trump responded that someone asking the question has "a very good point" and suggested he was at fault for his divorces. Tapper said he wasn't asking for an explanation for Trump's divorces, but rather what he would say to a gay person on this question. Trump answered, "I don't say anything. I'm just for traditional marriage."

§  On June 26, 2015, following the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, Trump tweeted, "Once again the Bush appointed Supreme Court Justice John Roberts has let us down. Jeb pushed him hard! Remember!"

§  On the issue of gay marriage, Donald Trump said during a November 2013 interview on MSNBC, "I think I’m evolving, and I think I’m a very fair person, but I have been for traditional marriage. I am for traditional marriage, I am for a marriage between a man and a woman.”

§  In a March 2011 interview with The Des Moines Register, Trump said gay couples should not be allowed to marry or receive the same benefits as married heterosexual couples.

The importance for LGBT to vote in this election is critical to our future. If Donald Trump should be elected we would surely have to go back into the closet and would find ourselves without any rights once again. We have worked too hard to get where we are today to go back into the discrimination and hostility that could ensure. We must take this seriously and get out and vote!

Democratic and Republican Platform Differences for LIGHT Community

There are stark differences between the 2016 Democratic and Republican platforms. The GOP platform has the most anti-LGBT language in history while the Democratic platform is the most progressive in the history of the Democratic Party.

The GOP platform has no mention of LGBT and mentions the terms gender identity, sexual orientation or equality three times. The Democratic platform has 24 mentions of those same terms and dedicates an entire section to addressing concerns of the LGBT Community. This year there are well over 600 Democrat delegates compared to just 6 out Republican delegates. From this comparison the contrast is obvious—the Democrats are more concerned with LGBT lives than the GOP.

The Democratic Platform

The 2016 Democratic platform applauds the marriage equality ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that “recognized the LGBT people – like other Americans – have the right to marry the person they love,” and acknowledges “there is still much work to be done.”

There is an entire section called “Guaranteeing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights,” where the party outlines all it wants to accomplish to ensure that LGBT lives are equal under the law. It talks about current LGBT topics likeddd LGBT youth being bullied in school, restaurants refusing service to trans men and women and same-sex couples at risk of being evicted from their homes. “That is unacceptable and must change. Democrats will fight for the continued development of sex discrimination laws to cover LGBT people,” the platform reads.

It goes on to say, “We support a progressive vision of religious freedom that respects pluralism and rejects the misuse of religion to discriminate. We will combat LGBT youth homelessness and improve school climates. We will support LGBT elders, ensure access to necessary health care, and protect LGBT people from violence—including ending the crisis of violence against transgender Americans.”

The platform addresses the upcoming 2020 Census and promises to equip the Census Bureau with resources to accurately represent LGBT lives as well as those who are persistently undercounted such as communities of color, immigrants, young children and those with disabilities.

The platform states that the party is proud of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and commits to “insuring fair treatment for LGBT veterans, including by proactively reviewing and upgrading discharge records for veterans who were discharged because of their sexual orientation.”

The Democratic Party believes that LGBT rights are human rights and should be reflected in American foreign policy. “We will continue to stand with LGBT people around the world, including fighting efforts by any nation to infringe on LGBT rights or ignore abuse.”

The Republican Platform

The GOP platform seeks to reverse the 2015 marriage equality SCOTUS ruling through judicial reconsideration or a constitutional amendment returning the issue to the states. In addition, the GOP platform also objects the use of federal law to ensure trans people can use the bathroom consistent with their identity.” They support “ex-gay” conversion therapy and endorse the First Amendment Defense Act; a “religious freedom” bill that critics say enables anti-LGBT discrimination.

The platform discusses LGBT youth and access to safe schools, claiming that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is being used by bureaucrats and President Obama to impose a social and cultural revolution upon the American people by wrongly redefining sex discrimination to include sexual orientation or other categories.

Families are also a target in the GOP platform, and the platform stands firm on “traditional values” and states, “Traditional marriage and family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is the foundation for a free society and has for millennia been entrusted with rearing children and instilling cultural values.

The Republican Platform indicates a strong “no-change stance” while the Democratic Party is proud of and acknowledges their shift in focus. It is imperative for all LGBT people to get out to vote in the upcoming election so that hard-worked for policies are not revoked, putting us back!