Peter Boykin of Gays for Trump has been vocal in his support of Donald Trump. And that support extends to Trump’s anti-LGBT policies.
In an interview this week with The Daily Beast, the North Carolina resident said that Trump was right to try to purge transgender people from the military because they are “mentally challenged.”
“As long as there are troops and veterans out there who are not getting the care that they should… I couldn’t care less about transgender [people] getting an elective surgery,” he said.
He also appeared to say that transgender people should not be allowed to have guns. “People already have enough problems with PTSD, I don’t think it’s a good idea to give someone going through that type of change a weapon. They might snap and turn it on their fellow soldiers.”
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Boykin also said that the attempted purge wasn’t transphobic. “It’s a business move, not a transphobic move,” he said.
“This is a president that is probably still friends with Caitlyn Jenner,” he added. Jenner, who is also a Republican, recently said that Trump is “the worst” and that she hasn’t spoken to him in over a year.
Boykin, who is running for the North Carolina House of Representatives, talked with the Triad City Beat several weeks ago and made similar statements.
“The school of thought is still out if there is a mental disorder,” Boykin said. The American Psychological Association’s website says “identifying as transgender does not constitute a mental disorder.”
Boykin also rejected the initialism “LGBT,” saying, “I don’t consider transgender to be gay.”
He has gotten media attention over the past several years for his ardent support of Trump. In 2016, he put up billboards in North Carolina supporting Trump’s candidacy that said that they were sponsored by “GaysforTrump.org.”
In 2017, his organization tried to participate in Charlotte Pride, but it was rejected. He said he was sad that gay Trump supporters were “being condemned from the ‘Gay Community,’ one that preaches so-called diversity.”
Earlier this month, he held a Gays for Trump rally in D.C., in which “a couple dozen” people marched and an open mic took the place of official speakers. Boykin blamed the low turnout on the weather.
