Donald Trump has only been in office for seven weeks, and it’s going to take a marathon runner’s endurance to stay on top of his actions as president. There is no room to stop paying attention.
Mere days after inauguration day, White House sources began commenting on an executive order opening up discrimination against the LGBTQ community on the basis of religious belief.
A leaked copy of that so-called “religious freedom” order emerged, and it was even worse than many expected.
Related: The latest White House leak is totally meta
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Eventually the administration put out a statement that they had no plans to roll back LGBTQ workplace protections put in place by Obama. Activists worried about the specificity of that statement, which made no mention of the rumored order pertaining to “religious freedom.”
Then last week, Trump’s former policy chief confirmed that the administration is still “in the process of redrafting” the order to make sure it won’t be overturned by the courts. Now evangelical group Liberty Counsel Action is working hard to drum up support for the discriminatory action.
“Our contacts in the Trump administration are now specifically asking for pro-religious liberty citizens to speak out loudly in support of this pending order,” they said in a message.
Related: Death to Silence: Lessons from ACT UP to use against the Trump agenda
Mat Staver, the group’s leader added:
“Liberty Counsel Action’s contacts in the Trump administration have asked for pro-religious liberty citizens to speak out loudly in support of this pending order.
We are notifying our team members of the request and asking you to stand with us through our Open Letter to President Trump supporting his executive order on religious liberty.
We want to deliver at least 50,000 signatures… directly to the White House next week as an offering of encouragement to the President.
Radical groups are working overtime to bully President Trump and members of Congress to prevent them from enacting the agenda that we put them in office to accomplish.”
You can find Staver’s open letter to the president here.
“We strongly urge you to issue your executive order on Religious Liberty,” it concludes.
Liberty Counsel has a history of secretly helping state Republican lawmakers draft anti-LGBTQ legislation, so it will be wise to stay abreast of their current campaign.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC 4.0
davidkohl
‘Religious liberty’? That’s an oxymoron. Religious freedom for the extreme right wing just means attacks on the rights of LGBT groups. It’s about their ‘freedom’ to discriminate against and otherwise oppress the people they hate most – LGBT people. Well now they have their Commander-in – Chief of Craziness and Discrimination they see the opportunity to roll back the advances made in recent years to bring some kind of equality. They are exactly the same type of people who trampled on and ignored and violated the rights of people of colour in the South even after they lost the Civil War. Executive Orders are not allowed to violate civil and human rights. At least there is no possibility – at least not right now – of any attempt to overturn equality in marriage. But if they get away with this religious freedom nonsense they might feel emboldened to try. They have to be stopped.
Shannon1981
Is anyone surprised? Did we really expect Pence to allow Trump to leave us alone? While I doubt Trump himself has any real ideas about this community (or anything except stroking his own ego and banning Muslims and groping women, really), Pence and Sessions certainly do. Trump’s whole cabinet is VIRULENTLY anti-LGBTQ.
Ivanka and Jared might have slowing him down, but they didn’t stop him. They don’t have more influence than Pence and Sessions do.
Mo Bro
And in related news . . . the sky is falling!
No, really! Look up! It’s falling!
Can’t see it? Doesn’t mean it’s NOT falling!
Run! RUN! RUUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!!!!!
(smh while lol)
DCguy
In other words, the Trump Troll wants to avoid actual details about the issue so will post anythinto distract.
You are an anti-lgbt bigot and feel that your job is to shill for and give cover to the GOP for whatever anti-lgbt initiative they push.
Shannon1981
Why the hell don’t you go over to Breitbart or Heat Street where you belong, Mo Bro? It’s clear you will never agree with the opinions expressed here.
dwes09
It is interesting how you never have anything substantive to add to a discussion. What exactly do you think your response says about you?
The article speculates, based on actual information, that trump is still planning actions harmful to our community.
But you, idiot hetero that you are, somehow thinks stupidity is a valid response that does something other than show you to be a buffoon.
You must love being laughed at, and get off on humiliation.
Mo Bro
@Shannon1981:
Allow me to tell you why . . .
As long as Queerty claims it’s “free of an agenda, except that gay one,” then I am welcome here.
If they ever (honestly) change their motto to being “free of an agenda, except that hard-left one,” then I shall gladly bid adieu and put my feet on the street.
BigWill
Fake Biracial Bisexual…I mean Mo…has a screw loose.
DCguy
The Trump Troll game plan.
Distract from the issue when it comes to the GOP being anti-lgbt. Or trying to tell lgbts that they should sit down and shut up and not complain about ANYTHING because in some other country (Insert name of country here) they would be shot.
So to compare, they are basically saying that woman who are raped should shut up about it because in some other countries they would be arrested for reporting it.
BRYANinSF
I don’t think SCROTUS (formerly known as Trump) or his fellow idiots fully understand the ensuing outrage and the degree to which it will be expressed by all LGBT folks and their supporters if these blatant, discriminatory so-called “religious freedoms” measures become Federal law. Targeting a specific “class” of people and denying them the rights granted to all other citizens are unforgivable acts of hatred and bigotry.