‘Gays for Trump’ leader faces crushing election defeat
(Photo: Peter Boykin / Getty)
The founder of a Gays for Trump group has failed in his own election bid.
Peter Boykin, who founded the group for gay supporters of President Donald Trump, had been running for a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives on Tuesday.
But the Gays for Trump activist, a gay Republican who supports Trump’s anti-transgender policies, was heavily defeated by Democrat Amos Quick in North Carolina 58th legislative district.
Boykin’s picked up just 6,425 votes (23 percent) in the district, with Quick receiving 21,233 votes (77 percent).
The Gays for Trump activist conceded the race, tweeting: “Sad but True… thanks for all the support, and lets hope that Mr Quick will do our District Right.”
Gays for Trump founder Peter Boykin
The activist added: “I am still a Winner… I proved that the .@GOP.@NCGOP & Republicans embrace diversity.”
Boykin defended his performance, saying he won “2% more than the Black Republican Woman that Ran in 2012.”
The activist is best known for founding Gays for Trump and for his regular online radio show, MAGA First News, where he routinely criticises the LGBT+ community for supporting Democrats.
According to his website, Boykin’s political stances include “MAGA for everyone” and supporting religious freedom.
Gays for Trump leader Peter Boykin opposes transgender rights
Peter Boykin poses with a ‘Gays for Trump’ sign
In an interview with Triad City Beat in February, 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.
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.”
The candidate previously attracted anger when he attempted to raise funds for a Gays For Trump billboard in Orlando, near the site of the Pulse nightclub shooting.
However, the billboard was never installed as Boykin’s crowdfunding efforts raised just $630 towards the required $5,000.
The candidate’s attempts to hold real-life Gays for Trump rallies have also been unsuccessful at drawing crowds, attracting just a handful of diehard gay Trump fans.
