Donald Trump used his UN speech to say he stands ‘in solidarity with LGBT people’. There’s just one problem
Donald Trump holds an LGBT rainbow flag given to him by supporter Max Nowak during a campaign rally at the Bank of Colorado Arena on the campus of University of Northern Colorado October 30, 2016 in Greeley, Colorado. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
US president Donald Trump has claimed he “stands in solidarity” with LGBT+ people in countries where being gay is illegal – despite rolling back policies that protect the LGBT+ community at home.
Trump made the comments at an address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, September 24, in which he also reiterated his anti-immigration stance.
“As we defend American values, we affirm the right of all people to live in dignity,” said Trump.
“For this reason, my administration is working with other nations to stop criminalising homosexuality and we stand in solidarity with LGBTQ people who live in countries that punish, jail or execute individuals based upon sexual orientation.”
Trump administration rolls back LGBT+ protections.
Despite Trump’s words, the president and his administration have been criticised since 2016 for scrapping policies that enshrine LGBTQ+ rights – including a policy to ban trans people from serving in the armed forces.
President Donald Trump speaks during campaign MAGA (Make America Great Again) rally at Southern New Hampshire University Arena on August 15, 2019. (Lev Radin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Last month, the Department of Justice filed a brief in the lead-up to a Supreme Court hearing on anti-LGBT+ discrimination in the workplace that claimed “sex stereotyping by itself is not a Title VII violation” – essentially saying that it’s legal to fire transgender workers because of their gender identity.
The Department of Justice also field a brief that same month arguing that it’s legal for employers to discriminate based on sexual orientation.
On October 8, the Supreme Court will begin a landmark hearing to determine whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects against anti-LGBT+ discrimination in the workplace.
We stand in solidarity with LGBTQ people who live in countries that punish, jail or execute individuals based upon sexual orientation.
Supreme Court backs Trump policy to ban trans people from serving in military.
In January, the Supreme Court backed a Trump policy to stop “transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition” from serving in the armed forces.
Recent research, meanwhile, has shown that hate crimes – including those against LGBT+ people – have reached a decade high.
Trump’s administration has also allegedly drained HIV/AIDS funding to pay for child migrant detention, considered ways to legally erase trans people, and been linked to numerous anti-LGBT+ hate groups.
In February last year, the Trump government officially revoked guidance protecting transgender students in public schools and, in May the same year, the president reversed rules allowing transgender prisoners to use facilities matching their gender identity.
Violence against transgender people in America has intensified in recent years.
At least 19 transgender people have been violently killed so far in 2019, with all but one of them being women of colour.
At least 26 trans people were murdered in the US in 2018, again with the vast majority being women of colour.
