Facing Reelection, Trump Expands His Anti-LGBT Agenda

In the ramp up to the 2020 presidential election, rather than build a wider base of support, Donald Trump, a/k/a  Der Trumpenführer, is working 24/7 to further divide the nation and to energize his Christofascist and white supremacist base by pandering to their prejudices and pushing an agenda to harm those that his toxic base hates. Among the Christofascists, no group is more hated than the LGBT community (followed by Hispanics, blacks and non-Christians).  As a consequence, Trump is rolling back policies adopted over the 8 years of the Obama administration and seeking to grant special rights to Christofascists to discriminate a will based upon claims that their religious beliefs are offended by the targets of their hatred. As we move through 2020, expect the Trump/Pence regime's anti-LGBT agenda to intensify.  The Advocate looks at both what has already been done to harm LGBT Americans and what may still be forthcoming.  Here are highlights:

In 2019, the Trump administration dramatically expanded upon discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ policies implemented in the first two years of this administration that are harming the health and well-being of LGBTQ people not just in America, but around the world.

It rolled back sexual orientation and gender identity nondiscrimination provisions in health care, employment, and housing. It appointed more anti-LGBTQ federal court judges. And it retreated even further from global leadership on the moral stance that LGBTQ rights are human rights.

Alarmingly, other policies that are not specifically aimed at LGBTQ people, such as restricting asylum hearings in the United States only to people who have been denied asylum in another country, and global religious “freedom” initiatives, are disproportionately affecting LGBTQ people.

Collectively, these policies are unwinding decades of progress that have been made by LGBTQ people and their allies to build access and equity for LGBTQ people in public life. Most tragically, people are dying as a result.

In June, the Department of Health and Human Services released a proposed rule that, if finalized, would reverse a provision in the Affordable Care Act which prohibits anti-LGBTQ discrimination in health care settings. Six regulations prohibiting anti-LGBTQ discrimination in health insurance and elder care were also repealed in 2019. In November, HHS released another proposed rule that would remove regulatory provisions that explicitly prohibit organizations that receive HHS grant funding from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, and religion. . . . . These programs are vital to millions of Americans, especially for marginalized communities, including LGBTQ people, who already experience pervasive discrimination that acts as a barrier to accessing care and services.

Last year also saw the implementation of discriminatory policies first announced in 2017. In April, a ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military that was first announced via a series of tweets by President Trump in 2017 went into effect after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the ban, lifting injunctions imposed by lower courts. An estimated 13,600 transgender servicemembers are now at risk of being discharged.

Things don’t look any better for 2020. On Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, Vice President Mike Pence attended services at Holy City Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tenn., where he also addressed the congregation. After Pence spoke, Bishop Jerry Wayne Taylor sermonized that LGBTQ people have been possessed by a “demonic spirit” and that the devil was “trying to destroy the foundation of marriage and cut off the reproductive process” because “two men can’t have a baby, two women can’t have a baby.” The service was streamed live over the White House’s YouTube channel, where it can still be viewed.

The harm experienced by LGBTQ people under the Trump administration is extensive and dangerous. We have every reason to believe things are only going to get worse in 2020. Simply hoping that these proposals never gain traction is not a strategy. We must mobilize to oppose and reverse them.

 If you have LGBT friends or family members, it is critical that you vote Democrat in November 2020 to end Trump's misrule. 

Trump Admin to Supreme Court: Allow Gays to Be Fired

I have written about the Trump/Pence regime's war against LGBT Americans before for the simple reason that it is never ending. Yesterday, the Trump Department of Justice filed a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that none of the nation's non-discrimination laws protect LGBT individuals from being summarily fired simply because of who they are. One motivation for the regime is to thrill Christofascists - who are near orgasmic whenever Trump/Pence harms gays - to keep them loyal.  Another, in my view, is Pence's deep internalized homophobia that causes him to seek to inflict harm on other gays (Pence, in my view, bears all the hallmarks of a closeted gay like former Virginia Congressman Ed Schrock who I helped "out" over a decade ago).  This is an issue I am passionate about, having been forced from a law firm for being gay.  The financial and emotional harm was horrific and lead to two suicide attempts. Despite a job that has me making good money again, I will never be in the place I would have been but for being a target of anti-gay bigotry.  Should the Trump/Pence regime argument prevail, countless LGBT individuals will either suffer being fired or be forced to remain closeted at work, a truly stressful experience that harms both productivity and one's emotional health.  Here are highlights from The Advocate's review of Trump/Pence's latest assault against gay Americans:

As expected, Donald Trump’s administration has filed a brief with the Supreme Court urging the justices to rule that it’s legal to fire workers because of their sexual orientation.

The administration made the same argument last week regarding gender identity as the court prepares to hear cases October 8 involving employment discrimination against gay and transgender people.

That day the court will hear a consolidated case involving two incidents where workers say they were fired for being gay; one was a skydiving instructor in New York and the other a social worker in Georgia. It will also hear a case regarding a Michigan funeral director fired after her gender transition.

The cases turn on whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids sex discrimination, also applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In the New York and Michigan cases, federal appeals courts ruled that it does, but in the Georgia case, the appeals court ruled that it does not.

Solicitor General Noel Francisco, whose position is part of the Department of Justice, today filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that it most definitely does not, . . . Lawyers and judges have contended that it’s reasonable to interpret a law banning sex discrimination as also banning sexual orientation discrimination — if a man who is attracted to men is treated differently from a woman attracted to men, it’s discrimination. 

Francisco’s latest brief echoes the language of the one he filed last week in the transgender case.

Last week’s was not a friend-of-the-court brief; it was filed because the federal government is a party to the case, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission having taken up the case of Michigan funeral director Aimee Stephens. (The Trump administration has now ordered the EEOC, a quasi-independent federal agency, to cease defending the rights of trans people.) Friend-of-the-court briefs are filed by individuals and organizations that are not directly involved in a case but have an interest in its outcome.

“The friend-of-the-court brief — which was completely voluntary — was among several filed this week urging the Supreme Court to rule anti-gay discrimination is permitted under federal law,” the Blade notes. “Other briefs include filings from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Alabama-based Foundation for Moral Law, which has ties to anti-LGBT Senate candidate Roy Moore.”

Not all Republicans endorse the administration’s position, however. A group of prominent Republicans, although not including any current officeholders, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the upcoming cases to argue that Title VII indeed covers discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Physicians, clergy members, major businesses, and more have filed similar briefs.

But the administration’s stance belies Trump’s recent assertion that he’s “done very well” by LGBTQ people. It’s part of a pattern of endorsing discrimination, with the transgender military ban, revocation of trans-inclusive guidelines for public schools, and support for health care providers’ and federal contractors’ right to discriminate against anyone who offends their religious beliefs.

“This is the Trump Administration’s 124th attack on LGBTQ people since taking office and they join Roy Moore in opposition to workplace protections for LGBTQ people,” said a statement released by GLAAD.  A ruling in the discrimination cases is expected by next June.