At the Republican National Convention, he implicitly endorsed an anti-gay GOP platform. As America grieves George Floyd’s death, some say the LGBTQ+ community can honor his memory by ensuring that Black and Brown people are included on the Pride flag. Trump has hinted at support for letting businesses and individuals discriminate against LGBT people, as blogger Andy Towle notes. A 2018 redesign including Black, Brown, and trans pride stripes is going viral, with some calling for it to become the new symbol of the LGBTQ+ community. (For the record, his opponent, Hillary Clinton, is far more specific about her support for LGBT people, frequently addresses LGBT groups, and marched in New York City’s Pride earlier this year.)īut while these symbols are important, they don’t make up for the other ways that Trump denigrates the dignity of LGBT people.įirst there’s his zeal for restricting LGBT rights-letting states ban transgender people from using the bathroom of their gender identity, opposing the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, his promise to appoint judges to the Supreme Court who will reverse the ruling, or his choice of one of America’s most rabidly anti-gay politicians as his vice president. And he should be applauded for being the first GOP nominee to address LGBT people in his speeches.

Certainly, Trump deserves credit for breaking symbolic barriers of associating himself with the LGBT flag.