Is Donald Trump getting ready to take executive action that would screw over his treasured LGBTQ constituency—the very citizens he promised to protect on the campaign trail? It was a charge that White House press secretary Sean Spicer couldn’t deny during Monday’s briefing, writes Towleroad.
Spicer responded to a question from Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade at today’s briefing.
Said Spicer:
“I’m not getting ahead of the executive orders that we may or may not issue. There’s a lot of executive orders, a lot of things the president has talked about and will continue to fulfill but we have nothing on that front now…”
LGBTQ Nation published a story early on Monday citing anonymous sources saying that an executive order was rumored to be in the works that would allow discrimination against LGBTQ Americans based on religious grounds. If true, that would be rich—since the text of Trump’s own refugee ban reads:
“The United States should not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred [...] or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender, or sexual orientation.”
So it’s not okay for Muslim refugees to target gay Americans—but it might be okay for Christian Americans to do it. It’s also highly possible that any executive order okaying religious based discrimination will target women and birth control, just like previous bills from the GOP.
Some LGBTQ leaders already saw this double standard coming and have condemned being used as “pawns” in Trump’s Muslim ban. Here’s Rachel Tiven, who heads Lambda Legal:
“If he really wants to help LGBT people, he can pledge to retain the Executive Orders that help protect us and to nominate a Supreme Court justice who supports equal treatment of all regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”