Donald Trump to become first president to speak at anti-LGBT hate group gathering
(Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Donald Trump is to address the conference of a recognised anti-LGBT hate group.
The US president will speak at an event hosted by the Family Research Council (FRC), which is classed as a “hate group” for its strongly anti-LGBT agenda.
Trump is to address the group’s controversial Values Voters Summit in Washington, DC, Friday.
White supremacists, far right activists and religious extremists will be among the event’s attendees.
Trump caused controversy for speaking at the event while a presidential candidate in 2016.
However no elected president has spoken at the summit – making Trump the the first president to endorse the hate group.
The speaking post for Trump comes after he announced a bombshell decision about discriminating against LGBT people.
The Trump administration has issued a directive giving the go-ahead for religious businesses to discriminate against LGBT people.
The federal government directive was issued today by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had been tasked by Trump to head a ‘review’ of religious liberty protections, after pressure from anti-LGBT lobbying groups.
Speaking alongside Trump at the summit will be former Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson, who made shocking comments that he wants to “rid the Earth” of “wicked” gays.
And he’s not the only anti-gay extremist to speak alongside the 45th president.
Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has said he doesn’t know whether or not gays and lesbians should be put to death, will also be addressing the event.
Moore, now backed by Trump, was recently removed as a state supreme court justice for instructing state employees to ignore the US Supreme Court ruling in favour of marriage equality.
In addition, Moore also has ties to an extremist pastor who has called for gay people to be put to death.
The Southern Poverty Law Centre lists FRC as an extremist group with an anti-LGBT ideology.
Its own website in 2016 said: “Family Research Council believes that homosexual conduct is harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large, and can never be affirmed.
“It is by definition unnatural, and as such is associated with negative physical and psychological health effects.”
(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Steve Scalise, the House Majority Whip, is also set to speak.
Four months ago, Republican congressman Steve Scalise had his life saved by a heroic lesbian police officer.
Now fully recovered from the attack, one of Scalise’s first actions on his return to action will be to give a speech to the Family Research Council next week.
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Tony Perkins, the FRC’s president, said that Scalise’s return to health was not down to the brave actions of a lesbian police officer, but “an answer to prayer.”
“His fighting spirit in overcoming the odds is a source of inspiration for those who are fighting for the heart and soul of our nation and our culture.
“I look forward to welcoming my friend and former colleague back to the Values Voter stage.”
Perkins once speculated that flooding was God’s punishment for homosexuals.
However, when his own home was destroyed in what he called a flood “of near biblical proportions,” the homophobic pastor insisted it happened because of God’s love.
