At a Tuesday press briefing, President Donald Trump came up with his latest ludicrous and easily debunk-able claim. When asked by a reporter about whether his “administration [had] been taking steps to make it easier to discriminate against LGBT people in the workforce,” Trump falsely claimed to have been given an award just this week.
“Well, you know I just got an award and an endorsement yesterday. It was the Log Cabin group, and I was very honored to receive it. I’ve done very well with that community. Some of my biggest supporters are of that community…” Trump stammered on. “As you know, Peter Thiel, as so many others there, they’re with me all the way and they like the job I’m doing. And I just got a big endorsement from the Log Cabin Group.
Trump was referring to the Log Cabin Republicans, a national gay conservative group, which did endorse him, in a move that prompted many leaders to resign.
While the endorsement is very much a fact, this doesn’t mean Trump is automatically an LGBT ally. It just means a group of Republicans, who happen to also be gay, have endorsed him. Moreover, this is in no way an award. According to reporter Daniel Dale, “the spokesman for the Log Cabin Republicans tells me they didn’t give Trump an award. This is the second award the president has made up this week.”
The Log Cabin Republicans’ director told Out magazine: “We have worked closely with the White House and they recognized our 40th anniversary, however, we have not given the president any awards.” If anything, Trump’s policies, like the initial reporter said, have harmed the LGBT community. As per the gay magazine, his “administration asked the Supreme Court to block transgender Americans from having access to protections in the workplace, revealed plans to allow federal contractors to discriminate against LGBTQ+ employees, and pressured the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission to reverse its Obama-era policy of supporting workplace protections.” It’s unlikely that he’ll be getting an award anytime soon.
@lgbt_history
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