By Kaia Zimmerman
If you say you support someone who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community and plan on voting for Trump, you are hurting that person you say you support.
As someone who is gay and has a family who supports Trump, it is so hard to convey to them how much their support for him can hurt me and my basic human rights. Since Trump has been in office, I have been genuinely scared about my rights being taken away.
Trump may say he supports LGBTQ+ rights, but his actions speak louder than words. Trump opposed the Equality Act, supported employment discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, has reportedly joked about how his running mate wants to hang gay people, banned transgender people from being in the military, tried to revoke transgender health protections, eliminated all information about the LGBTQ+ on government databases, has appointed anti-LGBTQ+ judges, and the list goes on.
The only time Trump seems to act like he cares about LGBTQ+ is election time. Trump recently has been having “pride” events for his supporters. It was hard to see him do that because all he has done is try to take away our rights. It proves that he doesn’t care about any LGBTQ+ person, and just cares about getting their vote.
In recent news, he has also nominated another anti-LGBTQ+ judge, Amy Coney Barrett, to the Supreme Court. Barrett has worked as a trustee at a school who has anti-LGBTQ+ policies, and at her confirmation hearing, she used the phrase “sexual preference,” which was a very hurtful statement to people in the LGBTQ+ community.
With Barrett, the Supreme Court would have enough votes to overturn marriage equality, and also could put more restrictions on the LGBTQ+ community.
Two conservative judges recently said they believed the case that legalized gay marriage, Obergefell v. Hodges, was wrong, and they don’t agree with the decision. The conservatives judges have a majority, if Barrett is confirmed, 6-3. This means that they could if they wanted, overturn the rule of gay marriage.
That is why this election is so important. Trump has shown through his four years in office, that he doesn’t want to protect LGBTQ+ citizens. He is okay with just slowly taking away our rights.
Trump knows that Barrett doesn’t support the LGBTQ+ community, and he still appointed her. It really shows that Trump doesn’t and has never cared about the rights of LGBTQ+.
Thinking about another four years with Trump in office scares me. He could appoint more anti-LGBTQ+ judges, and he could do more to take away the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.
It’s not about Biden or Trump anymore. This election is about basic human rights being taken from minorities. It’s about protecting the rights of every human regardless of sexual orientation, gender, or race.
My parents are Trump supporters along with most of my family. They will never understand the pain, stress, or worry this president has caused me. They will never understand the pain that I feel because my existence is a political question.
If you support someone from the LGBTQ+ community or even believe that their rights shouldn’t be taken away, I urge you to please go out and vote because if Trump wins this election, a lot of basic rights will be taken from the LGBTQ+ community.
Trump opposing Equality Act- https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trump-opposes-federal-lgbtq-nondiscrimination-bill-citing-poison-pills-n1005551
Trump jokes that Mike Pence wants to hang gay people- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/10/17/trump-mocked-pence-joked-about-him-wanting-to-hang-gays-new-yorker-profile/
Trump rolling back on transgender health care- https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/06/12/868073068/transgender-health-protections-reversed-by-trump-administration
Banned Transgender people from the military- https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trump-s-controversial-transgender-military-policy-goes-effect-n993826
Video of Amy Coney Barrett saying “sexual preference”- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq-CDHDDcNg
Trump Administration taking all LGBTQ+ information off of government websites-
Trump supports workplace discrimnation against LGBTQ+
https://time.com/5660956/trump-administration-anti-gay-brief-title-vii/
