First sitting president to speak to anti-LGBT+ summit
President Donald Trump spoke today at the annual Value Voters Summit, a gathering of hard right conservatives that includes several speakers from organizations designated as anti-LGBT hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
“Trump, the first sitting president to address the Values Voter Summit, ticked off the promises he's fulfilled to evangelical Christians and other conservatives, pledging to turn back the clock in what he described as a nation that has drifted away from its religious roots,” said Associated Press coverage of the event.
“He bemoaned the use of the phrase ‘Happy Holidays’ as a secular seasonal greeting and vowed a return to ‘Merry Christmas.’
“He noted, as Christian conservatives often do, that there are four references to the "creator" in the Declaration of Independence, saying ‘religious liberty is enshrined’ in the nation's founding documents.
"’I pledged that in a Trump administration, our nation's religious heritage would be cherished, protected and defended like you have never seen before,’ Trump said. ‘Above all else in America, we don't worship government. We worship God.’
“Trump stressed his move to weaken the Johnson Amendment, which limited political activity or endorsements by religious groups that received tax exemptions, as well as his administration's effort to expand the rights of employers to deny women insurance coverage for birth control. The White House has also issued sweeping guidance on religious freedom that critics have said could erode civil rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.”
For coverage on anti-LGBT+ actions by the Trump administration, visit:
DOJ directive makes LGBT+ rights subordinate to religious protections
Trump administration response to transgender protections
Trump administration backs anti-LGBT+ cake shop
LGBT+ discrimination abounds in the Trump administration
One of the notable anti-LGBT+ themes of the summit was the inclusion in the welcome ‘SWAG bag’ of an anti-LGBT pamphlet.
“The pamphlet, written by MassResistance, a ‘pro-family activist organization that educates people to help them confront the attacks on the traditional family, children, religion, and society’ that is listed as an exhibitor at the event, is titled “The Health Hazards of Homosexuality.” It’s promoting a book by the same title published by MassResistance in February that apparently includes topics like ‘why homosexuality is a public health issue’ and ‘the ‘born gay’ myth’,” according to HuffPost Queer Voices.
Among the speakers at the Value Voters Summit, in addition to the president, were Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, (an SPLC designated Hate Group); Steve Scalise (R-La), House Majority Whip; former Lt. Col Oliver North, who was convicted in the Iran Contra affair, although the conviction was later vacated and reversed; and Judge Roy Moore, the anti-LGBT former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, now a GOP US Senate candidate.
Also, Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman Liberty Counsel, (an SPLC designated Hate Group); Steve Bannon, head of Breitbart News, former senior advisor to President Trump; and Sebastian Gorka, Former Strategist for President Trump.
It is deeply concerning that the President of the United States is associating with the likes of these speakers. The inclusion of many powerful Republicans is a clear sign that the party continues to adhere to a virulently anti-LGBT+ agenda.
Copyright The Gayly – October 13, 2017 @ 4:53 p.m. CDT.