Are White House insiders ‘faking’ support for draft anti-LGBT order?
White House insiders appear to be conspiring to manufacture support for a draft anti-LGBT order, to help convince the President to sign it.
A draft executive order leaked from inside the White House last month that would actively permit religious discrimination against LGBT people.
The leaked order would protect people who discriminate based on “the belief that marriage is or should be recognised as the union of one man and one woman [or that] male and female refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy at birth”.
After the document leaked and sparked immediate protests, White House officials insisted the order had been spiked – but insiders say it is still secretly being worked on, and is being re-drafted to make it less vulnerable to a legal challenge.
Trump’s former policy chief previously appeared to confirm the document was still being worked on inside the administration.
PinkNews can now reveal that an anti-LGBT lobbying group with ties to senior Republicans has put out a callout to supporters to rally support in favour of the draft.
In the message, obtained by PinkNews, evangelical group Liberty Counsel Action state that people within “the Trump administration [have] asked for our help” to build momentum to pass the order.
They said: “Our contacts in the Trump administration are now specifically asking for pro-religious liberty citizens to speak out loudly in support of this pending order.”
The group’s head Mat Staver said: “Liberty Counsel Action’s contacts in the Trump administration have asked for pro-religious liberty citizens to speak out loudly in support of this pending order.
“We are notifying our team members of the request and asking you to stand with us through our Open Letter to President Trump supporting his executive order on religious liberty.
“We want to deliver at least 50,000 signatures… directly to the White House next week as an offering of encouragement to the President.
“Radical groups are working overtime to bully President Trump and members of Congress to prevent them from enacting the agenda that we put them in office to accomplish.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Liberty Counsel had a quiet influence.
The group was previously revealed to be involved in secretly helping state Republican lawmakers draft anti-LGBT legislation in a number of states, leading to a wave of anti-LGBT ‘conscience’ bills and ‘bathroom laws’ that exploit transgender issues as an excuse to strip back anti-discrimination protections
The same group provided free legal representation to embattled Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, when she refused to carry out her duties because of same-sex marriage.
