Read on Twitter
Which reminds me... journalists, I am begging you to actually familiarize yourself with what the Trump administration has done regarding LGBTQ rights. You screwed this up in 2016 on such a massive scale, and I really don’t think you’ve learned anything. https://twitter.com/parkermolloy/status/1298602230988394496
With Grenell speaking tonight, I’m sure this will be the “gaslight the public about Trump’s record on LGBTQ rights.” evening.
It is your job to point out when he’s lying, not to just regurgitate his talking points.
It is your job to point out when he’s lying, not to just regurgitate his talking points.
Here’s a piece I wrote about the failure of mainstream media to cover 2016’s LGBTQ rights stuff. https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/its-time-reckoning-journalists-who-boosted-false-narratives-about-donald-trumps-lgbtq
In 2016, Trump repeatedly used LGBTQ people in service of his anti-Muslim/anti-refugee/anti-immigrant policy pushes.
During the 2016 RNC, he promised to protect LGBTQ people from a “hateful *foreign* ideology” (he was referring to Islam). https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/its-time-reckoning-journalists-who-boosted-false-narratives-about-donald-trumps-lgbtq
During the 2016 RNC, he promised to protect LGBTQ people from a “hateful *foreign* ideology” (he was referring to Islam). https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/its-time-reckoning-journalists-who-boosted-false-narratives-about-donald-trumps-lgbtq
At no point was he talking about actually protecting LGBTQ rights. He was saying that he would physically “protect” us from the scary boogeymen he created during the campaign via his immigration policies.
Look at how nonsensical this all was. https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/its-time-reckoning-journalists-who-boosted-false-narratives-about-donald-trumps-lgbtq
In 2016, he repeatedly advocated for anti-LGBTQ policies, talked about appointing anti-LGBTQ judges. He even tried to accuse Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio of secretly supporting LGBTQ rights (which is laughable, but also, means he was trying to portray himself as *against* those)
When Trump has implemented anti-LGBTQ policies, mainstream media have mostly just... not covered it. https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/nearly-all-tv-news-networks-failed-cover-trump-pence-administrations-recent-attacks
I have more to say about this. I’ll add more to this thread later.
But in the meantime, I REALLY need journalists to understand the damage they do when they don’t ACCURATELY report on what this administration has done regarding LGBTQ rights
Alright, back to this thread.
One thing the Trump administration always points to is an initiative to "decriminalize homosexuality" worldwide.
But...
1. It was mostly that they just left certain Obama programs in place.
2. But weakened them.
3. And accomplished nothing. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/acting-intelligence-head-richard-grenell-s-push-decriminalize-homosexuality-has-n1140131
But...
1. It was mostly that they just left certain Obama programs in place.
2. But weakened them.
3. And accomplished nothing. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/acting-intelligence-head-richard-grenell-s-push-decriminalize-homosexuality-has-n1140131
It was a fake initiative. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/10/trump-decriminalization-homosexuality-lgbtq-richard-grenell-state-department/
In fact, when it was announced, Trump didn't even know it was happening. It was pure PR. Just a chance for the administration to pretend that they're not *completely* terrible on this issue (though they are) http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-seems-unaware-his-plan-end-criminalization-homosexuality
I am going to tweet links to stories about Trump's actions on LGBTQ issues since taking office, starting from the beginning.
February 2017: Trump administration rescinds Obama era guidance protecting trans students from discrimination and bullying in schools https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/22/politics/doj-withdraws-federal-protections-on-transgender-bathrooms-in-schools/
March 2017: Trump administration rolls back data collection on LGBTQ individuals in the National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants, making it more difficult to see if this community is being served https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/news/2017/03/20/428623/trump-administration-rolling-back-data-collection-lgbt-older-adults/
March 2017: Trump installs anti-LGBTQ activist Roger Severino to run the Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/03/trump-taps-anti-lgbtq-activist-roger-severino-lead-hhs-civil-rights-office/
March 2017: Trump proposes cuts to HIV and AIDS research funding in his first ever budget https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-28/white-house-proposes-large-cuts-to-nih-research-grants-this-year?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
March 2017: Trump administration reverses course on a Cesnsus question that would have asked about LGBTQ status, cutting off a key way to make data-based funding requests for LGBTQ Americans. http://www.out.com/news-opinion/2017/3/28/breaking-trump-administration-removes-lgbtq-people-2020-census
April 2017: Propublica reports that the Trump administration hired Jim Renne, who was involved in a Bush-era scandal to purge the federal government of gay employees https://www.propublica.org/article/official-in-bush-era-purge-of-gay-employees-now-in-trump-administration
April 2017: Trump administration officially reverses the federal government's stance on North Carolina's anti-trans bathroom bill, calling for the case the Obama administration had been fighting to be dismissed https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/justice-department-withdraws-lawsuit-over-hb2-bathroom-bill-n746551
June 2017: Trump nominates Stephen S. Schwartz, a lawyer who helped defend North Carolina's anti-trans bill in court, to a federal judgeship. https://www.lambdalegal.org/blog/dc_20170906_letter-of-opposition-to-stephen-schwartz
June 2017: Trump administration rolls back Department of Education anti-discrimination enforcement efforts regarding LGBTQ people https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-administration-rolls-back-civil-rights-efforts-federal-government
June 2017: Trump's Department of Commerce removed references to sexual orientation and gender identity from non-discrimination employment policies https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/commerce-department-eeo-statement-sexual-orientation-gender#.yiz3dPZYW
(They eventually reversed course after backlash)
June 2017: Trump's Department of Education issues a memo telling the agency's lawyers that they can simply dismiss civil rights complaints filed by transgender students https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/06/16/education-department-memo-lays-out-trump-administrations-approach-to-handling-transgender-students-civil-rights-complaints/
June 2017: Several members of Trump's HIV/AIDS Advisory Council resign, saying he "simply doesn't care" about the issue https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/trump-hiv-aids-pacha-resignations#.jfNXV857m
