In his convention speech last year, Donald Trump made a play for LGBTQ votes, pleading to “do everything in my power to protect LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.” He was referring to radical Islamists in the context of the then-recent Pulse massacre in Florida. But the key word in that line turned out to be foreign; since taking office, Trump’s administration has gone all-in on oppression in the name of a hateful homegrown ideology. As we celebrate Pride this week, we wanted to take a second to reflect upon what the first nine months of President Trump has meant for LGBTQ folks.
January 20
Three hours after Trump was sworn in, the administration had wiped the LGBT page from whitehouse.gov.
January 25
Trump signed the so-called travel ban, which, while targeting Muslims, was particularly awful for LGBTQ refugees seeking to flee those countries.
February 15
The Southern Poverty Law Center published a report arguing that Trump’s campaign had led to a surge of hate crimes, including against LGBTQ people.
February 22
Trump rescinded Obama-era protections for transgender students.
March 16
The Department of State sent an anti-gay hate group to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
June 7
Education secretary Betsy DeVos refused to commit to stripping federal funding from private schools that discriminate against LGBTQ people.
June 15
The Department of Commerce removed sexual orientation and gender identity from the list of categories explicitly protected from discrimination. After BuzzFeed reported this, the department added LGBTQ people back into its policy.
June 29
Trump appointed an anti-transgender activist to the office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.
July 26
Blindsiding his defense secretary, Trump tweeted that transgender soldiers will no longer be allowed in the military.
August 25
Trump signed an executive order banning new transgender military recruits; the fate of transgender people currently serving in the military is unclear.
