Trump’s Homophobic Politics and LGBT Community Rights
Translated by Google Translator
Well, I am still in my saga to demonstrate the similarities between the Trump government and the Bolsonaro government. The purpose of this is to build a solid foundation for understanding the US paradigm so that we can strategize against the demolition of democracy being done in Brazil. The theme of the current text concerns Donald Trump’s attack on the LGBT community. This theme will allow those who know at least a little about Brazilian politics to draw their own parallels with what happens in Brazil regarding this subject.
I always read articles from foreign newspapers and magazines, and as I search the Internet, I find the following headline from an article in The Washington Post: Trump, who launched himself as a pro-LGBT, is now under fire from the Democrats for reversing protections. : //beta.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-who-cast-himself-as-pro-lgbt-now-under-fire-from-democrats-for-rolling-back-protections/2019/05/30/95c04e96 -8306–11e9–95a9-e2c830afe24f_story.html). I draw attention, too, to the section of the newspaper in which the article is published: democracy dies in darkness. So we realize four things right away: The Trump government belies what was said in its campaign; this government is against the LGBT community; There is a relationship between LGBT issues and democracy; democracy is at serious risk. Therefore, the public in this article of ours are not just those in the threatened community, but all minorities and those who defend democracy. It is also worth remembering that The Washington Post article only served as a starting point for my text.
As stated above, Trump in his campaign decided not to publicly attack the LGBT flag. Today, he still does not admit that he is against this flag, he even poses with the rainbow flag and claims that he is the first Republican president to recognize LGBT pride month (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ davidmack / trump-pride-month-tweet-anti-lgbt-record). However, in his actions as president, he shows the exact opposite, as I will show by a few examples.
In January 2017, Trump signs his first decree that eases Obama’s health reform, and in doing so, his team removed all references to global warming and LGBT rights plans (https: //www.help.org. com / brazil / 2017/01/21 / international / 1484963310_078554.html). Also in January, the government ends the Office of National AIDS Policy page.
On February 1, 2017, US President appoints Neil McGill Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, taking office on April 10, 2017. Gorsuch is a seemingly moderate, educated, liberal, natural rights advocate who often decided to use its religious side to the detriment of civil rights, which reveals a danger to the LGBT community (https://lgbtbar.org/bar-news/neil-gorsuch-friend-foe/). In addition, “Neil Gorsuch has an unacceptable and hostile track record for LGBT people” (https://www.lambdalegal.org/blog/20170131_no-to-neil-gorsuch). Still in February, the Justice Department withdrew a motion that allowed transgender students in public schools to use the bathroom with which they identified.
In March 2017, Trump signed an executive order revoking the most important components of an earlier Obama administration order that prohibited federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation. Trump’s order “disrupts several of Obama’s previous orders, including“ Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ”(https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/lgbtq-advocates-say-trump-s -news-executive-order-makes-them-n740301). Therefore, this new order now dispenses with certain requirements that ensure a safe and non-discriminatory workplace for LGBT members.
On July 26, 2017, Trump uses Twitter to say that transgender people could not serve in the army because the US military could not afford medical expenses for their disruptions. On this subject, on August 25 of that same year, the president signed a memorandum prohibiting transgender individuals from joining the armed forces unless the secretary of defense and the secretary of homeland security advise otherwise. Of course, this raised a number of legal issues that culminated in Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly’s decision to block the execution of the memorandum.
On December 1, 2017, Donald Trump, during the proclamation of World AIDS Day, did not even mention LGBT individuals, which was repeated with his deputy Mike Pence in 2018.
On February 12, 2018, Trump proposed the budget for 2019 with the total cut in funding for AIDS education and training centers.
March 2018 arrives, and the US president signs a memorandum that restricts transgender participation in the army. In this memo, people with “gender dysphoria” could not serve the army, except for a few exceptions (https://internacional.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,trump-divulga-memorando-que-restringe-presenca-de- Trans-Army People, 70002240446). Between comings and goings in court, the US Supreme Court allowed the president’s memorandum to enter into force until the decisions of the lower courts took place.
On July 9, Brett Michael Kavanaugh is appointed to the Supreme Court. In 2016, in a speech in honor of the late Judge Antonin Scalia, Kavanaugh opposes the “new constitutional rights not contained in the Constitution”, a clear allusion to LGBT rights (https://www.usatoday.com/story / opinion / voices / 2018/09/14 / brett-kavanaugh-could-threaten-gay-transgender-progress-toward-equality-column / 1277425002 /).
On August 27, 2018, Trump appointed Allison Jones Rushing to the United States Circuit Judge of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Rushing has built his career arguing against LGBT rights on many occasions and has links to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian organization recognized for its anti-LGBT rights position.
The New York Times published, on October 21, 2018, an article that stated that the Trump administration intended to define gender only as an immutable and biological condition, determined solely by genitalia, denying the recognition and protection of transgender people (https: // www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/politics/transgender-trump-administration-sex-definition.html).
On November 23, 2018, “the Trump administration erases key guidelines for transgender federal employees” (https://transequality.org/press/releases/trump-administration-erases-key-guidelines-for-transgender-federal-employees ). In practice, this administration has removed guidelines that address restroom use, name changes, respectful language, and dress codes regarding transgender people on the OPM website, a government personnel management agency, a regression from the government Obama.
In May 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services published a rule proposing the withdrawal of recognition of federal law prohibiting transgender patients from being discriminated against in the health service. Fortunately, US courts have decided not to adopt this rule (https://transequality.org/the-discrimination-administration)*
Most of the US population supports same-sex marriage and the participation of transgender people in the army. It is a favorable scenario for those who identify with the LGBT flag. Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has repeatedly criticized Trump’s homophobic policy. Other Democratic candidates have done the same, including Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), Senator Kamala D. Harris (California), and Montana Governor Steve Bullock. As we can see, despite the support of much of US policy and the population, the LGBT community is undergoing a serious attack from the Trump administration, as it tries, by a variety of means, to restrict its rights in the name of most sometimes, of religious postures considered by many as fundamentalists.
Alexandre Lessa da Silva
* I advise anyone who wants to know about other decisions of the Trump government against the LGBT community to visit this site.
