LGBTQIA
Timeline
| 2004.05.14 | Pence tries to create a constitutional amendment which declares that marriage in the U.S. shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. congress.gov (See also Mike Pence) |
| 2013.07.09 | Pence signs a bill that would make it a felony for same-sex couples to apply for a marriage license. yahoo.com (See also Mike Pence) |
| 2015.03.26 | Pence signs a bill making it legal for businesses to discriminate and refuse service on the basis of "religious freedom." motherjones.com (See also Mike Pence) |
| 2016.04.21 | Trump says transgender people should use bathroom they're comfortable with, including at Trump Tower. nytimes.com (See also Social Issues) |
| 2016.05.16 | Trump vows to rescind the Obama administration's directives aimed at protecting transgender people against discrimination in schools and health-care coverage. washingtonpost.com |
| 2016.07.15 | Trump tweets, "I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Governor Mike Pence as my Vice Presidential running mate. News conference tomorrow at 11:00 A.M." twitter.com — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2016 |
| 2016.09.22 | Trump states, "If I am elected president and Congress passes the First Amendment Defense Act, I will sign it to protect the deeply held religious beliefs of Catholics and the beliefs of Americans of all faiths." donaldjtrump.com |
| 2016.10.03 | Trump responds to question about women and transgender people by saying military is "too politically correct." washingtonpost.com (See also Social Issues) |
| 2016.11.10 | Alarmed by Trump election victory, LGBTQIA groups fear reversal of civil rights gains. nytimes.com (See also Social Issues) |
| 2016.11.15 | Trump says same-sex marriage is 'settled,' but intends to appoint Supreme Court justices who wish to reverse Roe v. Wade. cnn.com (See also Abortion, Presidential Transition) |
| 2016.11.16 | In Denver, a transgender woman's car is vandalized with hate speech, including "Die Tranny," "Trump," and a swastika. denver.cbslocal.com (See also Hate Crimes, Trump Effect) |
| 2016.11.22 | Sessions fought against hate crime protections for the LGBTQ community. If confirmed as Attorney general he may undermine them. motherjones.com (See also Jeff Sessions) |
| 2016.12.01 | Legal experts in Vermont make public appearances to explain LGBTQ legal rights under Trump. digital.vpr.net (See also Social Issues) |
| 2016.12.02 | During his tenure as Alabama's attorney general Sessions launched a campaign to prevent a gay rights group from holding a conference at the University of Alabama. cnn.com (See also Jeff Sessions) |
| 2016.12.06 | LGBTQIA community members flock to self-defense classes after Trump election victory. teenvogue.com (See also Social Issues) |
| 2016.12.13 | Human 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) |
| 2016.12.15 | Human Freedom Caucus releases its wish list for Trump's First 100 Days: Rules, Regulations, and Executive Orders to Examine, Revoke and Issue hrc-assets.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2016.12.15 | The 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. |
| 2016.12.17 | Transgender Americans hurry to complete paperwork before Trump takes office. npr.org (See also Social Issues) |
| 2017.01.09 | Jeff Sessions would put LGBT rights at grave risk if confirmed. lambdalegal.org (See also Jeff Sessions) |
| 2017.01.18 | The Human Rights Campaign releases survey results revealing the deeply damaging fallout the November election has had on U.S. youth, 70 percent of whom have witnessed bullying, hate messages or harassment, especially that which is racially driven or targets LGBTQ populations—and transgender young people are most frequently targeted. hrc.org (See also Hate Crimes, Racism) |
| 2017.01.20 | The White House’s LGBT rights page disappears from their website. techcrunch.com (See also Homophobia, First 100 Days) |
| 2017.01.20 | Trump appoints John Gore, who represented North Carolina’s higher education system against a challenge to the discriminatory HB2 "bathroom bill", as deputy assistant attorney general. nationallawjournal.com |
| 2017.01.30 | American people living with HIV/AIDS who get their healthcare through Obamacare, Medicaid, Medicare or Ryan White -- or some combination of these programs -- are rightly scared about what is going to happen to their coverage amid Trump's and Republican's plans to repeal Obamacare and remake Medicare and Medicaid. thebody.com (See also Affordable Care Act) |
| 2017.01.30 | Trump leaves in place a 2014 Obama administration order that created new workplace protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. nytimes.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.01.31 | A leaked copy of a draft executive order titled “Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom,” obtained by The Investigative Fund and The Nation, reveals sweeping plans to legalize discrimination thenation.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.01.31 | Trump nominates Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court, whose interpretation of religious freedom protections favors "unpopular religious beliefs" over civil rights. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.01 | LGBTQIA groups are not reassured by Trump's promise to respect President Obama's 2014 anti-LGBTQ executive order, and fear an increase in religious exemptions. newsweek.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.02 | US president describes a world ‘in trouble’ in speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, amid a growing number of disputes with foreign leaders theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days, Muslim Immigration Ban, Australia, Mexico, Johnson Amendment, Attacks on Civil Liberties, Affordable Care Act, Department of the Treasury, Russia, Yemen, Iran, Mike Pence) |
| 2017.02.03 | Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner talk Trump out of drafting an executive order that would have overturned enforcement of LGBT rights in the workplace. lgbtqnation.com (See also Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, First 100 Days, Homophobia) |
| 2017.02.08 | Trump didn’t sign a religious liberties executive order, but states are filling the gap washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) Rights groups say measures introduced in more than a dozen states are thinly veiled efforts to legalize discrimination against gay and transgender people. |
| 2017.02.11 | Trump administration files legal brief that indicates forthcoming reversal of Obama administration's transgender rights expansion efforts. chicagotribune.com (See also Social Issues) |
| 2017.02.21 | In a letter to the nation's schools, Trump administration officials reveal their plans to roll back protections for transgender students, that require public schools to allow children to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that matched their gender identities. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.22 | According to three Republicans with knowledge of the situation, Betsy DeVos wanted to keep protections for transgender schoolchildren in place but was overruled by Trump and Jeff Sessions. slate.com (See also Betsy DeVos, Department of Education, Jeff Sessions, First 100 Days, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.02.22 | Trump administration revokes guidance stating federal law requires transgender students to have unfettered access to bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity. theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.22 | Trump revokes Obama guidelines on transgender bathrooms, so students can no longer use facilities that match their chosen gender identity. reuters.com |
| 2017.02.23 | Trump's administration on rescinds federal rules that allowed transgender students to use the bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity. mobile.nytimes.com (See also Jeff Sessions, Betsy Devos, Department of Education) |
| 2017.02.24 | Caitlyn Jenner calls out Trump on Twitter, saying: "You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community....You can still fix it." nbcnews.com |
| 2017.02.24 | Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner publicly silent as White House rolls back transgender protections after previously advocating for LGBT workplace rights. politico.com (See also Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner) |
| 2017.02.24 | Trump administration rescinds a federal directive requiring public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.03.16 | The 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) |
| 2017.03.24 | Trump Appoints Anti-LGBTQ Activist to Lead HHS Civil Rights Office hrc.org (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.03.25 | Trump 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) |
| 2017.03.28 | Trump signs an executive order that will allow federal contractors to discriminate against LGBT employees. newnownext.com (See also First 100 Days, Executive Orders) |
| 2017.05.24 | Betsy 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) |
| 2017.06.15 | The 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) |
| 2017.06.29 | The 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) |
| 2017.06.29 | The 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) |
| 2017.07.08 | Donald Trump Broke His Promise to the LGBTQ Community (Teen Vogue) teenvogue.com |
| 2017.07.26 | DOJ 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. |
| 2017.07.26 | Trump 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) |
| 2017.07.27 | The 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) |
| 2017.07.27 | There 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) |
| 2017.08.21 | Sam 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) |
| 2017.08.21 | Trump nominee Sam Clovis has argued that LGBT protections could lead to legalization of pedophilia cnn.com |
| 2017.08.22 | Trump endorses anti-LGBTQ activist Kelli Ward as candidate for U.S. Senate glaad.org |
| 2017.08.23 | Trump 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) |
| 2017.09.11 | A 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) |
| 2017.09.26 | Trump administration will urge court to rule against gay workers’ rights nbcnews.com |
| 2017.09.28 | Trump 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 |
| 2017.10.05 | US 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.” |
| 2017.10.13 | Donald 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) |
| 2017.10.16 | During 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) |
| 2017.10.18 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions refused to discuss his conversations with Donald Trump about James Comey or Russia, despite 5 hours of testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. nytimes.com (See also Russian Meddling in Election, Legal Issues, Department of Justice, Assaults on Civil Liberties) |
| 2017.10.30 | A federal court in Washington is barring Donald Trump from changing the government’s policy on military service by transgender people. apnews.com (See also Legal Issues) |
| 2017.11.24 | Jeff Sessions is methodically reshaping the Justice Department to reflect his nationalist ideology and hard-line views, from calling for prosecutors to pursue the most serious charges possible to altering the department's legal stances in cases involving voting rights and LGBTQ issues some would call discrimination. washingtonpost.com (See also Jeff Sessions, Department of Justice, Racism, Nationalism, Immigration, Muslim Immigration Ban, Assaults on Civil Liberties) |
| 2017.11.27 | A federal judge ruled that the military must move forward with plans for allowing transgender recruits starting on Jan. 1, 2018. buzzfeed.com (See also Legal Activity, Department of Justice, Department of Defense) |
| 2017.12.11 | A federal judge on Monday denied the Trump administration’s request to delay an order requiring the military to begin accepting transgender recruits starting Jan. 1, saying the argument for more time seemed based on “vague claims.” washingtonpost.com (See also Legal Issues, Department of Defense, James Mattis) |
| 2017.12.14 | A White House senior adviser at the Department of Homeland Security previously promoted conspiracy theories about former President Barack Obama's birthplace, lamented the "Zimbabwe-fication of America," and mocked the LGBT community. cnn.com (See also Racism, Black Americans, Department of Homeland Security, Belief in Conspiracy Theories) |
| 2017.12.19 | The collapse of three of Donald Trump’s judicial nominations in the span of a week has embarrassed the White House, revealed weaknesses in its vetting process and threatened to cause Senate Republicans to apply more scrutiny to the president’s picks. washingtonpost.com (See also Legal Issues, Supreme Court, Corruption) |
| 2017.12.29 | Donald Trump fired the remaining members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, informing them without explanation with a letter delivered by FedEx, six months after six members resigned from PACHA writing in an open letter, published in Newsweek, saying the Trump White House was pushing for legislation that would harm people living with HIV. newsweek.com (See also Assaults on Government, Health Care) |
| 2018.01.08 | Donald Trump on Monday resubmitted 21 judicial nominees to the Senate whose nominations expired in 2017 ― including two rated “not qualified” to be federal judges by the American Bar Association. huffingtonpost.com (See also Assaults on Government, Legal Activity, Black Americans, Voter Suppression) |
| 2018.01.17 | The Trump administration is considering a set of regulations that would offer new protections to health workers who refuse to provide care to transgender patients or women seeking abortion services. splinternews.com (See also Women, Department of Health and Human Services, Homophobia) |
| 2018.01.19 | The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it was allowing doctors, nurses and other health care workers to refuse to provide services for people that they object to based on religious beliefs, including abortion, providing contraception, and transgender health concerns. nytimes.com (See also Women, Homophobia) |
| 2018.02.01 | A higher-education bill working its way through Congress is a religious, right-leaning wish list, worrying college administrators and gay-rights groups. nytimes.com (See also Department of Education, Assaults on Civil Liberties) |
| 2018.02.12 | The Education Department has confirmed that it won't investigate or take action on any complaints filed by transgender students who are banned from restrooms that match their gender identity, charting new ground in the Trump administration's year-long broadside against LGBT rights. buzzfeed.com (See also Department of Education, Betsy DeVos) |
| 2018.02.26 | A federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act “prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation” — a major win for LGBT rights advocates and a loss for Donald Trump, whose administration argued that LGBT employees are not protected under that law. mic.com (See also Legal Activity) |
| 2018.03.23 | Donald Trump on Friday issued orders to ban transgender troops who require surgery or significant medical treatment from serving in the military except in select cases. politico.com (See also Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense) |
| 2018.05.11 | The Trump administration rolled back rules that allowed transgender inmates to use facilities that match their gender identity, including cell blocks and bathrooms, thereby reversing course on an Obama administration effort to protect transgender prisoners from sexual abuse and assault. buzzfeed.com (See also Reversals) |
| 2018.09.14 | Betsy DeVos is driving an effort to make it easier for religious schools to avoid Title IX, which would prevent people from knowing which religious colleges discriminate against women and LGBT students. buzzfeednews.com (See also Women, Betsy DeVos, Department of Education) |
| 2018.10.02 | Due to a new rule from the Trump administration, foreign diplomats and foreign staffers assigned to the United Nations in New York need to be married — and not just in a domestic partnership — in order to obtain a visa for their partner to enter the United States. buzzfeednews.com (See also Department of State, Reversals) |
| 2018.10.21 | The Trump administration is considering narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, the most drastic move yet in a government-wide effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people under federal civil rights law. nytimes.com (See also Reversals, Department of Health and Human Services, Assaults on Civil Liberties, Homophobia) |
| 2018.10.22 | Donald Trump said that transgender issues were in flux after a report that his administration was considering defining gender as male or female based on genitalia at birth drew widespread condemnation. reuters.com (See also Homophobia, Reversals) |
| 2018.10.24 | The Justice Department told the U.S. Supreme Court that businesses can discriminate against workers based on their gender identity without violating federal law. news.bloomberglaw.com (See also Supreme Court, Department of Justice, Assaults on Civil Liberties) |
| 2018.11.23 | The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to take up three cases challenging the administration's repeated efforts to bar transgender people from serving in the military. buzzfeednews.com (See also Supreme Court, Department of Justice, James Mattis) |
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)