Trump has launched at least 225 attacks on LGBTQ+ rights since first becoming president

Donald Trump has verbally and politically attacked LGBTQ+ people at least 225 times since his last presidency according to a GLAAD report.

The president-elect, 78, is set to be sworn into office on Monday (20 January) following his election win in November 2024.

Ahead of the inauguration, LGBTQ+ nonprofit GLAAD highlighted its accountability tracker which outlines the instances in which Trump has signalled his anti-LGBTQ+ position or supported anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

So far, it has logged at least 225 times the president-elect has publicly signalled his opposition for LGBTQ+ rights through his words or actions.

“LGBTQ+ people are in all states, communities, families and workplaces, and leaders should include and protect us with the fundamental freedoms all Americans enjoy,” GLAAD’s president and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis, said in a statement.

“Together, we must hold the incoming administration to the promise of equal justice under law, and resist threats to our basic American right to live freely and with dignity.”

Among the hundreds of instances of homophobic and transphobic rhetoric by Trump, which stem as far back as his pre-45th presidential campaign, are comments he has made, legislation he has supported and signed, and more.

In 2011, Donald Trump said in an interview that he was “just not in favour of gay marriage,” saying: “I live in New York. New York is a place with lots of gays, and I think it is great. But I’m not in favour of gay marriage.”

More recently, Trump has aimed at the trans community, including spreading misinformation that Democratic vice president, Kamala Harris, “supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners and illegal aliens.”

Trump has also lied about gender-affirming care for trans youth, saying at a Moms for Liberty summit that kids were going to school and undergoing gender-affirming surgeries, which is not true.

Following his inauguration, Trump has vowed to sign potentially hundreds of executive orders on the first day of his presidency, including a ban on trans women in female competitive sports.

Sources close to the president-elect have suggested he could sign upwards of 200 executive orders, including policies around immigration, energy, and government operations.

Among the orders is expected to be a ban on trans women from female competitive sports after Trump signalled his pledge to implement a ban.