For the second year in a row, President Donald Trump's White House has failed to acknowledge June as pride month for the LGBTQ community.
In the past, Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama issued proclamations of support for the LGBTQ community at the beginning of June. Obama hosted pride receptions and discussions, and after the Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was legal, his White House was lit in the colors of the rainbow flag. The Trump White House has so far made no gesture to celebrate or acknowledge pride, and more than halfway through the month, it appears that it will go completely ignored once again.
On the campaign trail, Trump promised to fight for the LGBTQ community. In July 2016, he told a crowd of supporters that as president he would "do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology [Islamic radicals]." He told the crowd he would do more to protect the rights of the community than Hillary Clinton, and told The Washington Post that "people are people to me, and everyone should be protected."
But once Trump took office, his administration removed information about LGBT rights from the White House website, ended certain protections for transgender schoolchildren and issued a ban on transgender people serving in the military. The Trump White House ignored World AIDS Day, and his budget proposed a cut to AIDS and HIV research funding. Most recently, Trump aligned himself with a Colorado baker in a Supreme Court case over the baker's refusal to make a cake for a same-sex couple.
Vice President Mike Pence is a vocal critic of same-sex marriage and has said that gay couples signal "societal collapse." In October, President Trump reportedly joked about Pence wanting to "hang" gay people.
Trump has acknowledged a series of other monthlong campaigns but stays mum on pride. "In May, Trump and Pence recognized National Physical Fitness and Sports Month," the gay advocacy group Human Rights Campaign wrote on Twitter. In June, they said he acknowledged that it was "National Ocean Month and Great Outdoors Month, and yet, they still refuse to recognize Pride month for LGBTQ Americans. Why are Trump and Pence so insistent on erasing us?"
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was the only administration official to recognize pride month and released a short statement that focused on human rights. "The United States joins people around the world in celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) Pride Month, and reaffirms its commitment to protecting and defending the human rights of all, including LGBTI persons," he wrote.
Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson has attempted to ask White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders about Trump's refusal to acknowledge Pride month since June 1, but has not been called on during a press briefing since January. He believes that is at least partially due to the fact that he represents a LGBTQ-focused outlet. Johnson told Snopes that "their not calling on me is very consistent" with their "disengaged at best, hostile at other times" views of the LGBTQ community.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment from Newsweek.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Nicole Goodkind is a political reporter with a focus on Congress. She previously worked as a reporter for Yahoo Finance, ... Read more
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