After unveiling a platform that was called “the most anti-LGBT platform in history” by Gregory T. Angelo, president of the best-known gay conservative group in the country, the Log Cabin Republicans, the GOP did something fascinating this week. Almost every night of coverage featured someone mention gay rights in a speech.
This started on Monday when former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, stated that the Republican Party should "get the heck out of people's bedrooms" while acknowledging law enforcement of "every sexual orientation."
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This was followed up on Wednesday night by various speakers. There was former House speaker Newt Gingrich who said that, “If our enemies had their way,” he said—referring to “radical Islamists”—“not a single woman in this room could define her future. If our enemies had their way, gays, lesbians and transgender citizens would be put to death, as they are today in the Islamic State and Iran.”
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, someone viewed as extremely socially conservative, followed this by stating that, “"Freedom means religious freedom, whether you are Christian or Jew, Muslim or atheist. Gay or straight. The Bill of Rights protects the rights of all of us to live according to our conscience." Finally, on Wednesday, the vice president for the Eric Trump Foundation, Lynne Patton, said that, “[Donald Trump] knows that LBGTQ lives matter.”
Then to finish it off on the last day of the convention, we had PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel making history as the first GOP convention speaker to announce he is proud to be gay. He stated that, "Every American has a unique identity. I am proud to be gay, I am proud to be a Republican, but most of all I am proud to be an American."
Still, even after this theme of some level of tolerance and acceptance of gay rights, there remain several questions. My main one is: How can you reach out to this group after years of policies that discriminated against them? Sure, you can get a bunch of people on stage and make them act like they care, by uttering a few sentences that mention that community’s right to live the way they should be entitled. However, I believe it goes much further than that. I believe that actions speak louder than words, and what is said in the party’s platform presents some walls that no convention speech can mend.
For those of you who have not viewed the GOP platform on LGBTQ rights, here’s a quick rundown. First, it states an intent to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states. Second, it wants to make it legal to discriminate against LGBT people. Third, it wants to discourage gay couples from adopting children. And last, but not least, it wants to make “conversion therapy” legal for minors. All of these are serious discriminatory policies against the LGBTQ community and Log Cabin president Gregory T. Angelo wrote, “There’s no way to sugar-coat this: I’m mad as hell.”
While Trump may have stood up in his acceptance speech on Thursday night and mentioned LGBTQ rights, while tripping up somewhat on the letters, it does not go far enough. Especially considering that other speakers were not eager to even engage the topic in a serious manner in their remarks.
There was Trump’s potential VP selection and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who stated that, “War is not about bathrooms.” This statement that was meant to criticize President Obama for spending time fighting about open bathrooms rather than ISIS. Along this line was Trump’s actual Vice-Presidential pick, Mike Pence, who has a long history of opposing LGBT rights.
After Trump mentioned the LGBTQ community on Thursday night, he made a point to say, “As a Republican, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said.” Hopefully, this will not be something said by a major party nominee again because LGBTQ rights should not be a question, they should be real rights for real people. Right now, it’s uncertain where the conversation on LGBTQ rights for the GOP heads from here, but after a week of the most anti-LGBTQ platform and mixed messages from speakers, it is anyone’s guess.
