Gays for Trump founder running for seat in state legislature
The founder of the Gays for Trump group is running for election for North Carolina’s House of Representatives.
Peter Boykin announced his campaign to run for the District 58 seat in the House of Representatives last month.
Boykin is best known for founding Gays for Trump and for his regular online radio show, MAGAOne.
According to his website, Boykin’s political stances include “MAGA for everyone” and supporting religious freedom.
(Photo: Peter Boykin / Facebook)
House District 58 is traditionally more Democratic, however Boykin’s campaign notes that as the boundaries of the district have been redrawn since the last election, a Republican is more likely to win this year than in previous elections.
As of writing, a crowdfunding campaign organised by Boykin has raised just over $200, short of its $10,000 goal.
(Photo: crowdpac.com)
Boykin is the only Republican candidate standing for the seat in the North Carolina house and will likely face incumbent Democrat Amos Quick in the election.
Related: Danica Roem just became the first transgender state official by beating a massive homophobe
In a statement accompanying his fundraising campaign, Boykin wrote: “I want to ensure people of all walks of life are treated with dignity and respect so long as they also return the favour.
“Equality is treating everyone with equal respect regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, political party, or opinions.”
In an interview with Triad City Beat, Boykin stated that he didn’t like the LGBT acronym because it included transgender people.
He said: “I prefer ‘Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and allies.’
“They have their own agenda. We can support it, but we can’t let them interfere with what we have accomplished. Truly I don’t consider transgender to be gay.”
In the interview, Boykin said that he supports one of the most Donald Trump’s most controversial policies, the banning of transgender people from serving in the military.
(Photo: PeterBoykin.com)
Early in his presidency, Trump announced on Twitter that all transgender service people would be banned from the US armed forces, claiming they were a burden on the military.
The policy led to a deluge of lawsuits, with a DC judge preventing Trump from blocking an already-written directive to actively permit the enrolment of transgender people.
Supporting the policy, Boykin said: “It was more of an economic thing to make sure the military didn’t pay for the transgender surgeries, which are elective.
“The school of thought is still out if there is a mental disorder. I hate to say that transgenders [sic] have a mental disorder because at one time homosexuals were considered mentally challenged.”
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Trump has attacked LGBT rights in a variety of ways since his inauguration in 2017, prompting many people to criticise Gays for Trump for supporting the President.
As well as attempting to ban transgender people from serving in the military, Trump and his administration have removed protections for trans people.
Recently, Trump created Religious Freedom Day, in a presidential proclamation issued last month that constituted a clear assault on LGBT rights.
He made the decision after breaking with Barack Obama’s eight-year tradition of issuing annual proclamations recognising June as LGBT Pride Month.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration told the Supreme Court that it should be acceptable for businesses to put up signs denying service to same-sex couples.
(Getty)
Gays for Trump have also faced some controversy since forming in 2015.
The group made headlines last summer after holding a rally which was only attended by a handful of people.
Last year the group was excluded from marching in a Pride event in North Carolina as organisers stated they “do not reflect the mission, vision and values of our organisation”.
The group attempted to raise funds for a Gays For Trump billboard in Orlando, near the site of the Pulse nightclub shooting.
Boykin’s husband, who is also active with Gays for Trump, was thrown out of a Trump rally in 2016 for assaulting a protester.
The election will be held on November 8.
