Trump Adds to Assault on Obama Legacy With Anti-LGBT Stances
- Series of executive actions quashes advocates’ early optimism
- Department of Justice says rights questions are up to Congress
Trump was the first Republican presidential nominee to mention LGBT people in his acceptance speech but any early optimism among gay-rights supporters has disintegrated in recent months.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesEarly on, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people seemed to be exempted from Donald Trump’s most inflammatory rhetoric. He was the first Republican presidential nominee to mention LGBT people in his acceptance speech. After his election, he declared same-sex marriage "settled law." Once in office, he left in place an executive order protecting the federal government’s LGBT employees from discrimination.
But any early optimism among gay-rights supporters has disintegrated in recent months. The Trump administration has rescinded policies that supported transgender students and soldiers and signaled its opposition to gay rights in a pair of federal cases.