Gay Trump fan tells transgender protesters he ‘wants to’ erase them
Rainé Eliza, one of the protesters who was abused (Rainé Eliza/facebook)
A gay Trump supporter has told pro-transgender campaigners that he would like to erase them as they were thrown out of a Republican rally.
Trans advocate Rainé Eliza posted a Facebook video which showed the abuser, who was wearing a “GAYS FOR TRUMP” t-shirt, approach her and her friends as they chanted: “You cannot erase trans people” and comment: “I want to, though.”
The protesters were forced to leave the November 1 rally for Republican congressman Buddy Carter and gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp in Savannah, Georgia, where Vice President Mike Pence made a speech.
US Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the rally (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty)
Writing on Facebook, Eliza said that their protest, conducted less than two weeks after the Trump administration’s proposal to legally erase transgender people was leaked to The New York Times, was met with widespread animosity from the crowd and the authorities.
“We were forcibly removed by the police who told us that we were being removed because the event holders did not want us there,” she said.
“As we exited we chanted “you cannot erase trans people” and “stop killing trans people.” The audience booed and someone said to me ‘I wish I could.'”
As the protesters were forced out, they chanted: “You cannot erase trans people” (Rainé Eliza/facebook)
Eliza urged her followers to vote and encourage others to do the same, while also pleading with people to cast their ballots for Carter’s Democratic opponent Lisa Ring in the November 6 midterm elections.
“The bigoted people at this event who called us names and told us they would pray for us and told us to go back to Cuba and that people like us were better off dead are going to elect Kemp into office if we don’t do whatever we can in the next couple of days to get people to the ballots,” wrote Eliza.
“I’m not a believer in the two party system but what I do know is that we have a chance to put a dedicated person in office who resonates with the struggles of the people in our communities who need the most support right now.”
Carter has a terrible record on LGBT+ issues (Rainé Eliza/facebook)
She continued: “As for Congressman Carter, if he wants to represent the Georgians in his district, he needs to hear the struggles of the people in the community.
“I’m not surprised by his actions and the actions of the Kemp-Pence staff as a whole but it’s incredibly depressing.
“It’s obvious they don’t want to acknowledge people like me even exist.”
Carter has spoken out in favour of President Donald Trump’s proposed ban on trans people serving in the military and repeatedly voted against same-sex marriage during his 13 years in elected office.
