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) |
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)