LGBTQ leaders, groups condemn Capitol riot
A number of LGBTQ leaders and groups have spoken out against the Capitol riot in Washington, DC last Wednesday, after President Donald Trump urged his supporters to march on to Congress.
At that time, a joint session of Congress was being held to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral win last November, the results that Trump had been protesting ever since.
After speaking at a “Save America Rally,” Trump returned to the White House as his supporters stormed the Capitol. The resulting clashes left four people dead.
LGBTQ groups call for Trump’s removal after Capitol riot
Among the LGBTQ groups that spoke out against the riot was the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the country’s largest LGBTQ rights advocate, who called for Trump’s removal.
In a tweet, the group said, “For the good of our democracy, Donald Trump must be removed from office immediately.”
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon said Trump’s actions “to incite violence and encourage a coup were traitorous, and anti-American.”
Meanwhile, Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings urged leaders to utilize “any and all processes available to them, including the 25th Amendment,” to ensure an orderly transition of power.
A similar declaration by another LGBTQ law group, GLAD, was made calling “for the removal of the President through the procedures set forth in the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution or through impeachment.”
GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis called on Facebook and Twitter in a tweet to permanently ban Trump: “It’s time to take real steps towards security, safety and justice for all.”
Lastly, the National LGBTQ Taskforce said Trump should “immediately removed” from office through the 25th Amendment.
LGBTQ leaders slam Republicans and Capitol riot violence
LGBTQ politicians and leaders also spoke up, with Sarah McBride, the first transgender state senator in US history, tweeting: “CNN is right to use the term ‘insurrectionists’ and to call this an ‘attempted coup’.”
“This is shameful and is a direct result of the rhetoric and actions of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley,” McBride said.
Meanwhile, gay New York congressman Mondaire Jones told the Medhi Hasan Show that Trump was “the main cheerleader for the violent insurrection” and that, ““What happened today is never supposed to happen.”
Jones further said he had agreed to co-sponsor articles of impeachment against Trump to remove him from office. He said it was important that America send “a very strong message” to the world.
Another gay New York congressman, Ritchie Torres, tweeted: “Democracy will not perish in the face of violent mobs instigated by Donald Trump and his enablers.”
And former Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who is also gay, said in a tweet: “Words have consequences, especially the words of a president and his allies.”
“Today those consequences include violent rioters attacking our Capitol to overthrow the American democratic process. This must end, and democracy must prevail,” Buttigieg said.