LGBT equality ‘will be at stake’ in Clinton-Trump Presidential race
After Super Tuesday cemented the leads of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as their party’s Presidential candidates, the stakes are high for LGBT rights.
As the results come in from the largest day of voting in the US Presidential primaries, pro-LGBT Democrat Hillary Clinton is currently well ahead of Bernie Sanders, while Donald Trump has blasted away most of the Republican field.
Mr Trump has rallied against equality in recent weeks, telling old Fox News he would likely back a plot to overturn same-sex marriage, and telling evangelical leaders they can “trust” him to protect “traditional marriage”.
In a bid to court right-wingers, he has also assured lobbyists he would not block a Kim Davis-style ‘religious freedom’ law to permit discrimination against gay couples.
Following yesterday’s results, the Human Rights Campaign has warned that LGBT rights will be to play for in a eventual showdown between the two.
HRC President Chad Griffin said: “In the biggest showdown of the campaign so far, the strong showing from both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump foreshadows the stakes for millions of LGBT Americans in November.
“As pro-equality voters look toward Election Day, the differences between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on LGBT equality are enormous.
“Hillary Clinton has presented a clear vision for creating a better future for LGBT people across this nation.
“Donald Trump has demonstrated that he would block full LGBT equality as president, whether it’s by appointing Supreme Court justices to overturn nationwide marriage equality or by supporting legislation that would lead to more Kim Davis-like discrimination.”
HRC has also released a video warning about what will be at stake in November’s Presidential election.
Presidential hopeful Mrs Clinton has near-unanimously swept up endorsements from national LGBT organisations including HRC, many of whom point to her comprehensive manifesto of detailed LGBT policies.
Bernie Sanders, who has not released an LGBT manifesto and lists just a few broad policy points, claimed the wave of endorsements for Clinton were “establishment” groups were rallying around the “establishment” candidate, because he supported equal marriage four years before she did.
