There have been more than a hundred attacks and counting on LGBTQ Americans since President Donald Trump took office in 2017, as monitored by GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project (TAP).
Run by GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, this project records the anti-LGBTQ statements and actions of Trump and his inner circle as a resource for media reporting on these attacks.
Trump Accountability Project: The 101th attack
The 101th attack by the Trump administration was its refusal to reinstate essential housing protections for the LGBTQ community across the country.
During a recent House appropriations hearing, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson refused to acknowledge that a simplification of housing guidelines actually blocked LGBTQ people from housing opportunities.
These guidelines, which removed LGBTQ Americans as a protected class, also prevented shelters for the LGBTQ homeless.
“There is a systematic and sinister erasing of LGBTQ protections and policies happening at the hands of this Administration,” warned Zeke Stokes, Chief Programs Officer at GLAAD.
“Now more than ever, it’s vital LGBTQ Americans and marginalized communities raise their voices and tell their stories. The LGBTQ community will not go into hiding, and we will not be silenced,” Stokes said.
Recorded in the Trump Accountability Project
Prior to this, the Trump administration had banned transgender Americans from serving in the country’s armed services.
Just last month, Department of Justice employees had reported to Attorney General William Barr on the treatment of LGBTQ employees at the agency that had resulted in their low morale and their resignation due to the work climate.
Since Trump took office 805 days ago, these attacks have kept coming at an average of almost one a week.
Other attacks by the administration were stripping protection of transgender children in schools, the Department of Justice’s support for “freedom to discriminate” legal challenges at the state level.
Likewise, Trump has pushed for ultra-conservative judicial nominees that are known to rule against LGBTQ rights.
A sample of the Trump Accountability Project
Among the attacks recorded in the TAP in the last three months were:
March 25, 2019 – Trump Administration officials within the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) were accused of performing abuse– including harassment and denying health care services– to more than 12 immigrants who identify as LGBTQ.
March 11, 2019 – In its Fiscal Year Budget for 2020, the Trump Administration announced new plans to cut US$250 million from the Global Fund, slash US$1.5 billion from PEPFAR, and “limit future spending” on Medicaid– three components in the ongoing fight against HIV and AIDS.
February 7, 2019 – At the annual National Prayer Breakfast, Trump praised Second Lady Karen Pence for teaching at an anti-LGBTQ school and defended a Michigan adoption agency for refusing to serve an LGBTQ family based on so-called “religious exemptions.”
January 23, 2019 – The Trump Administration approved a waiver request by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, which could give faith-based adoption agencies the ability to deny LGBTQ couples adoption rights based on so-called “religious exemptions”– all while using government tax dollars.
January 3, 2019 – In a leaked memo by the Justice Department, the Trump Administration considers dissolving the “disparate impact” regulation, which grants marginalized communities (including LGBTQ Americans) legal protections from unintended discrimination in housing, education, and other ways of life.
For more about the attacks, check out the list here.