The White House would like Christians to know President Donald Trump has been on their side since taking control of the government, and has done so in the form of a self-congratulatory “fact sheet” release.
In it, Trump’s many “accomplishments” in the realm of giving religious folks what they want include a license to discriminate against the LGBTQ community and others in the so-called name of “religious freedom.”
“In his first year in office, President Trump has taken strong action to restore the foundational link between freedom and faith in the United States of America,” it reads.
Included in those actions, as it relates to chipping away at LGBTQ rights, are:
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- Allowing churches to become more involved in politicking by signing an order to end the Johnson Amendment that keeps nonprofits from explicitly campaigning for or endorsing a particular candidate or party.
- Supporting Colorado baker Jack Phillips in his case before the Supreme Court, where he is arguing that his First Amendment rights to free speech are being violated by being made to make cakes for same-sex weddings.
- Trump’s DOJ, led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, released a memo giving added weight and concern to claims of violations of “religious liberty.”
- Giving even further weight and power to those claims by setting up the new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, in order to allow healthcare workers to deny providing services to patients if they claim to do so would violate their religious convictions.
- Speaking to anti-LGBTQ “faith leaders” at various gatherings, such as the National Prayer Breakfast, both last year and this year, the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference, and the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit.
“Trump has assembled one of the most anti-LGBTQ administrations in recent history and has stopped at nothing to court fringe activists united around their desire to discriminate against LGBTQ Americans and erase the LGBTQ community’s hard-fought progress,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD, which recently published a list of all the anti-LGBTQ actions undertaken by Trump during his first year in office.
“Today’s document shows this is not a secret agenda, but rather something Trump proudly boasts as he continues to lead a culture war against LGBTQ Americans and other vulnerable communities,” Ellis added.
