Home / Affected Populations

LGBTQIA

Timeline

2016.12.13Human Rights Campaign changes ExxonMobil grade on gay rights support from 14% to 0% after Tillerson becomes chief executive. money.cnn.com (See also Rex Tillerson)
2016.12.15The Boston globe lists 13 high ranking members of Trump's cabinet who are staunch opponents or who have fought against LGBT rights. bostonglobe.com (See also Homophobia, Presidential Transition, Mike Pence, Ken Blackwell, Nikki Haley, Michael Flynn, Ben Carson, Jeff Sessions, Tom Price, Betsy DeVos)
The individuals are, Mike Pence, Tony Perkins, Ken Blackwell, Kay Coles, Ken Klukowski, Ed Meese, Betsy DeVos, Tom Price, Jeff Sessions, Ben Carson, Michael Flynn, Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo.
2017.03.16The U.S. delegation to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women assembled by Ambassador Nikki Haley includes the Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam), a group that supports the criminalization of homosexuality. hrw.org (See also United Nations, Nikki Haley, Homophobia)
2017.03.24Trump Appoints Anti-LGBTQ Activist to Lead HHS Civil Rights Office hrc.org (See also First 100 Days)
2017.03.25Trump appoints a conservative think-tank staffer who has argued that gays being allowed to marry is a threat to religious liberty and that civil rights protections should not extend to transgenders to head the Civil Rights Office at the Department of Health and Human Services. huffingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Health and Human Services)
2017.03.28Trump signs an executive order that will allow federal contractors to discriminate against LGBT employees. newnownext.com (See also First 100 Days, Executive Orders)
2017.05.24Betsy DeVos refuses to say whether she’d withhold federal funds from private schools that discriminate against LGBQIA students. washingtonpost.com (See also Betsy DeVos, Education, Department of Education)
2017.06.15The Trump Administration's Department of Commerce has outraged LGBT groups by removing sexual orientation and gender identity from the list of categories explicitly protected from discrimination in its latest equal employment opportunity statement. buzzfeed.com (See also Department of Commerce, Wilbur Ross)
2017.06.29The Trump administration has appointed an activist who led a campaign to restrict bathroom access for transgender students to the office of Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in the US Agency for International Development. buzzfeed.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Trump Cabinet)
2017.06.29The Trump administration has appointed an activist who led a campaign to restrict bathroom access for transgender students to the office of Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in the US Agency for International Development. buzzfeed.com (See also False Statements, Women)
2017.07.08Donald Trump Broke His Promise to the LGBTQ Community (Teen Vogue) teenvogue.com
2017.07.26DOJ Argues Title VII Does Not Protect LGBTQ People hrc.org
DOJ files amicus brief in direct opposition to decades of legal interpretation from federal courts.
2017.07.26Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States will no longer “accept or allow” transgender people in the United States military. nytimes.com (See also Department of Defense, James Mattis, Homophobia)
2017.07.27The Justice Department, intervening in an important private employment case, urged a federal appeals court to rule that civil rights law does not bar job discrimination based on sexual orientation. washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Justice, Legal Activity, Assaults on Civil Liberties)
2017.07.27There will be “no modifications” to the military’s transgender policy as a result of Trump’s declared ban on transgender men and women, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs said in a message to top military officers. politico.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior)
2017.08.21Sam Clovis, Donald Trump's pick to be chief scientist for the Department of Agriculture, has argued that homosexuality is a choice and that the sanctioning of same-sex marriage could lead to the legalization of pedophilia. cnn.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties, Assaults on Facts)
2017.08.21Trump nominee Sam Clovis has argued that LGBT protections could lead to legalization of pedophilia cnn.com
2017.08.22Trump endorses anti-LGBTQ activist Kelli Ward as candidate for U.S. Senate glaad.org
2017.08.23Trump is preparing to give the Defense Department formal authority to expel transgender people from the military in an upcoming order, barring the Pentagon from recruiting transgender troops and cutting off payment for sexual reassignment surgery and other medical treatments for those already serving. nytimes.com (See also James Mattis, Department of Defense)
2017.09.11A bipartisan pair of senators introduced an amendment Monday to try to reverse Donald Trump's ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. cnn.com (See also James Mattis, Department of Defense)
2017.09.26Trump administration will urge court to rule against gay workers’ rights nbcnews.com
2017.09.28Trump administration argues before the Second Court of Appeals that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect LGBTQ Americans from being fired because of their sexual orientation newsweek.com
2017.10.05US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has reversed a federal government policy that said transgender workers were protected from discrimination under a 1964 civil rights law. buzzfeed.com (See also Legal Activity, Jeff Sessions, Department of Justice)
Sessions' directive says, "Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination encompasses discrimination between men and women but does not encompass discrimination based on gender identity per se, including transgender status.”
2017.10.13Donald Trump on Friday became the first sitting US president to address the Values Voter Summit, an annual gathering of evangelical conservatives organized by a prominent anti-LGBT group, the Family Research Council, where guests were warned of the "hazards of homosexuality." buzzfeed.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior)
2017.10.16During a conversation with Mike Pence and a legal scholar about abortion and homosexuality, Trump motioned toward Pence and joked, “Don’t ask that guy—he wants to hang them all!” newyorker.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior, Mike Pence)

Assessments

  • 2016.11.14 "What a Trump presidency might mean for transgender students in schools" (Chicago Tribune)
    "‘I think everybody is feeling pretty nervous,’ said Owen Daniel-McCarter, executive director of Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, a nonprofit that works with schools on LGBTQ issues." 
  • 2016.11.28 "The Trump/Pence administration will likely switch sides on global LGBT rights" (Washington Post)
    "During the Obama administration, U.S. diplomatic pressure advanced LGBT human rights around the world quite a bit. The administration of President-elect Donald Trump is likely to reverse that."

  • 2016.11.30  Every One of Donald Trump’s Cabinet Picks So Far Opposes LGBT Rights (NY Mag)

    "During his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump did something unusual: He acknowledged LGBT Americans. Referring to the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Trump said, “This time, the terrorist targeted the LGBTQ community … and we’re going to stop it.” He then promised to 'protect LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.'

    Coming from a Republican politician, even an acknowledgment of the LGBT community is pretty novel. But Trump’s promise was to protect LGBT Americans from hateful ideology abroad — he didn’t mention the hatred many regularly experience at home, sometimes due to policies proposed by people with whom he surrounds himself. Because of all his cabinet and cabinet-level picks so far, not one has a history of standing up for LGBT rights."

  • 2016.12.06 "Gavin Grimm’s Transgender-Rights Case And The Problem With Informal Executive Action" (The New Yorker)
     “Among the myriad areas subject to upheaval is the President’s administration of Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibits schools that receive federal funding from discriminating ‘on the basis of sex.’”
  • 2016.12.15 "Trump's Cabinet: A Who's Who of Homophobia" (Boston Globe) 
    “So far, Trump’s transition team, led by Vice President-elect Mike Pence—the Indiana governor with a history of antigay positions and actions, including signing the draconian Religious Restoration Freedom Act in 2015—appears to have given payback to antigay Trump supporters…” 

  • 2016.12.21 The First Amendment Defense Act Would Be Devastating to LGBTQ Americans (NBC News)

    "FADA would prohibit the federal government from taking "discriminatory action" against any business or person that discriminates against LGBTQ people. The act distinctly aims to protect the right of all entities to refuse service to LGBTQ people based on two sets of beliefs: "(1) marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or (2) sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage." 

    Ironically, the language of the bill positions the right to discriminate against one class of Americans as a "first amendment" right, and bans the government from taking any form of action to curb such discrimination—including withholding federal funds from institutions that discriminate. FADA allows individuals and businesses to sue the federal government for interfering in their right to discriminate against LGBTQ people and would mandate the Attorney General defend the businesses."

  • 2016.12.29 "Brace Yourselves for an Onslaught of Anti-LGBT Proposals in 2017" (Mother Jones)
    "In 2016, state legislatures across the country proposed more anti-LGBT measures than they had in almost a decade, and activists anticipate more of the same in 2017."
  • 2017.01.20 Moments after Donald Trump became president, the White House's LGBT rights page disappeared (CBS News) 
  • 2017.01.23 Trump Administration Removes Apology for Anti-LGBTQ Witch Hunts from State Department Website (Human Rights Campaign)

Further research