On December 15, the Log Cabin Republicans–an organization of homosexual members of the GOP–held a gala celebrating the group’s 45th anniversary and President Biden’s recent signing of the same-sex marriage law. The event was held at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and was hosted by Donald Trump.
As the attendees lauded the 45th president for his support for gay rights, he gave a speech. Here is an excerpt, including these words, as reported by Politico in Scenes from a celebration of the same-sex marriage law — at Mar-a-Lago:
“We are fighting for the gay community, and we are fighting and fighting hard,” the former president and 2024 candidate said. “With the help of many of the people here tonight in recent years, our movement has taken incredible strides, the strides you’ve made here is incredible.”
“Our movement”?
My question: Is Donald Trump’s “fighting for the gay community” generally known? Do Trump’s evangelical supporters and all the other social conservatives realize where he stands on this issue?
Trump’s pro-gay sympathies are nothing new. Remember how he unfurled the Rainbow Flag emblazoned with the words “LGBTs for Trump.” And his convention address upon receiving the GOP nomination for president in which he vowed “to protect our LGBTQ citizens.” And in response to the applause this elicited, added, “And I have to say, as a Republican, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said. Thank you.”
To be sure, he was referring to the Islamic terrorist attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando in which 49 people were killed. He said he would protect LBGTQ citizens “from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.” That pledge was completely appropriate. Perhaps listeners considered this to be an anti-Islamist comment, rather than a pro-LGBTQ comment. But it was both. At any rate, gay conservatives have always praised him, in the words of the Politico article, “for his embrace of the gay community.” (See this for Trump’s record on the subject.)
There is nothing unusual in this. After all, 55% of Republicans support gay marriage.
But for Christian nationalists and nationalist conservatives, same-sex marriage and the rise of the LGBTQ movement are symptoms of the moral and cultural decline they seek to reverse. And they consider Donald Trump to be their standard-bearer and the strong leader who can put things right. Are those folks unaware of Trump’s support for the “gay community”?
The Left has unfairly and inaccurately demonized Trump for not supporting gay rights. They, of course, play to their progressive base. But could it be that those false allegations, intended as criticism, may have been taken in the wrong way by cultural conservatives, making them think that Trump agrees with them on cultural issues? Was the Left thus responsible for electing Trump in 2016?
Photo: “Log Cabin Republicans” by Ted Eytan, from The Federalist, CC 4.0
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