122. A Queer Review of the Trump Administration (2017 – 2021)

Snarky Opener (0:00)

It's Spooky Season, so let's talk about something that's really scary: politics. *scream*

Episode Introduction (0:27)

Hello my LGBTQuties, and welcome back to another episode of A Jaded Gay. I'm Rob Loveless, and today I am a non-jaded gay.

I can't even find a way to summarize it, so let me just tell you the whole story of why I'm a non-jaded gay. 

So, I deleted my Facebook like, two years ago, but I recently created one, again, solely for the purpose of using Facebook marketplace. I mean, social media is trash. I don't need it, but it's super convenient to sell old things I don't need anymore.

And I don't like to just throw things out. Not because of any sentimental reasons or anything like that, but I just feel bad contributing to landfills, and especially because the things I'm getting rid of are worth something.

So, I don't want to, just like, throw away money. So, I've been selling a few things on Facebook marketplace, no problem.

And I was recently selling an old podcasting microphone I had. And it's valued at like, $120. I started selling it for $50, lowered the price down to $35, and got a few hits on it.

So, I arranged a time for a guy to come pick it up. And, silly me, I chose a time when I would be not home because I was going to be in the office at work. And when I lived in Pittsburgh, no problem.

When I started selling things here on Facebook marketplace, even though I'm in Philly, I had no problem with just leaving things in the mailbox for people to pick up and them Venmoing me, or, you know, dropping off the money in the mailbox.

So, the guy messages me, and he's like, "Hey, I'm on the way. I'll let you know when I'm there to pick it up, and I'll Venmo you." So, I'm like, great, no problem.

Well, I'm in an all-day meeting, so during one of the breaks, I check my messages. And this is on Facebook Messenger. So, he messaged me, saying, "Just got it, sending the Venmo now" and then 40 minutes later, he left the group.

So, I checked my Venmo, and I have nothing from him. And at first, I thought, okay, maybe he just sent it to the wrong person. But again, it's weird that he sent me the message saying that he had picked it up and was sending the Venmo now.

And then, 40 minutes later, left the group. And then when I tried to look him up, it turned out that he had blocked me on Facebook. So clearly, he was scamming me.

But, like, not very well, because again, if you're stealing from somebody, why would you even let them know when you're there? Why would you lie to say you're Venmoing them? And why would you wait so long to leave the chat and block them on Facebook?

Like, don't commit crimes, but if you're gonna do it, do that shit instantaneously. Come on. So, I mean, I have a security camera, so obviously I have the footage of him taking the microphone and not paying. 

And in it, he was wearing a helmet, and you can see his motorcycle parked across the street. So obviously you could say, "Well, was it really this person? Maybe they had, you know, there was a helmet over their face. How could you tell?"

I used my friend's Facebook to look this person up on Facebook, and yes, he was still on there. And then I wondered, well, maybe somebody's like, using his profile picture, and they're not actually that person. 

Like they created a fake profile and just pulled a stranger's Facebook photo, and they're pretending to be him just because they're stealing from people on Facebook marketplace. Not the case.

So, I'm a creep, and even though my degree is in communications, I should have minored in, like, FBI investigations, because I can find out information. I looked up his name on one of those, like, reverse lookup websites.

And I'm not going to say it, because it's it's too much power to have in one person's hands. You have to use it responsibly. But I reverse-looked up his name, got his name, got his address.

There were several phone numbers associated. I called them all, and not a single one worked. I found his mother. I found his mother's name. And using that information, I looked him up for his other accounts.

I found his Venmo, which I wasn't sure again, if it was him or if it was somebody else with the same name. But I went through his transactions, which were all public, and saw some transaction to somebody who matched his brother's name, who's listed on the website that I reverse-looked him up on.

So, I'm making that connection there. So already we got that. Then I found his Instagram account, which has the same profile picture as his Facebook account.

And all his Instagram photos are of him with his motorcycles and his helmets which matched the ones that were caught on the security camera. And he has his own YouTube channel about this stuff.

So clearly not the sharpest tool in the shed. So, I sent him a Venmo request, and was like, hey, you didn't pay me. Please pay this. Never hear back. So, then I message him on Instagram.

I'm like, Look, you owe me the money like you essentially took this. Like, what's the deal? So that was, like, a Tuesday. Never hear anything from him. So, I'm assuming that nothing's gonna happen, but I'm not gonna let it go.

So, because I have his address and his name and proof that he stole from me, and all the links to his social profiles, I'm like, well, I'm gonna file a police report. So, I did.

And they're like, yeah, if you want this to escalate though, to, like, get the money from him, you have to file, like, a private criminal complaint, which will cost you $40.

Which is ridiculous, because the thing I was selling was only for $35. So, like, am I gonna pay $40 to get $35 back? So, whatever, it's annoying.

Well, then on Friday, all of a sudden, so this is three days after this happened. All of a sudden, I get a message from him on Instagram. Oh, and I forgot to mention I had sent one more Venmo request to him, like, I think Thursday, because he never responded to it.

So, I get an Instagram message from him on Friday. And he's like, Oh, hey, sorry. It's been a really busy week. I thought I sent that to you. I'll send you the Venmo now.

And now, when I saw his message, it was like, 10 minutes after he had sent that to me. And I'm like, well, I still didn't get the Venmo. And I said, so if you're not gonna send it, I'm gonna report you to the police. 

And he was like, oh, come on, it's only $35 that's crazy. I'm sure the police would just roll their eyes at you if you filed the police report.

And I literally responded and said, we can see if they'll roll their eyes when I call them. Seriously, send me this money, because you don't just take something that doesn't belong to you.

Well, then he blocked me. But I don't stop there. And on top of blocking me on Instagram, he also declined my requests on Venmo and blocked me on there. So now I'm pissed.

And now I am gonna file that private criminal complaint. But before I can do that, I figured to give him one last chance, so I use my friend's Instagram account now to message him and say, okay, Rob, just called the police.

They're here now filing the report. They're looking up your address. He has the security footage of you taking the microphone from his house, links to all your social media

*Receipts, proof, timeline, screenshots, fucking everything*

like you should literally just pay the $35. Well, like, two hours go by, and then I got an email notification that he Venmoed me the $35. And so, my friend immediately blocked him on Instagram.

He checked the messages and it didn't show that this person had seen his message. So, he immediately blocked him on Instagram because, like, I didn't want it to escalate any further, but I got my $35.

Like, I know I'm crazy, but like, you know what? You can fuck with my heart; I'll just cry about it and maybe write a book. But if you fuck with my money or fuck with my career, there's gonna be an issue.

So moral of the story, don't steal things people, okay?

And a learning lesson for myself. Now, whenever I'm selling anything on Facebook marketplace, I am meeting them face to face. I am not leaving anything out there.

Whew, that was a very long intro, and now it's time to move into our topic.

A Queer Review of the Trump Administration (2017 – 2021) (7:14)  

Speaking of alleged felonies. *She's got a point*

All right, but in all seriousness, if you couldn't guess from the topic today, we're talking politics.

You know, over the past two and a half years of doing this show, I've realized how much politics affects the LGBTQ+ community.

I mean, I've known that politics has obviously affected our rights, but seeing it play out so much more in terms of how it affected the atmosphere of how people viewed LGBTQ+ people throughout historic topics like the Stonewall Riots and the AIDS epidemic.

And it makes you realize how the societal and political climate really impacted those events.

So similar to our gay icon series, I thought I'd start a queer review series of various presidential administrations regarding their stances and politics on LGBTQ+ issues.

And since we have an election coming up, I thought it would be appropriate to kick off this series with a look at the Trump administration.

I mean, it is the start of Spooky Season, so it's only fitting we talk about some monsters. Buckle up, because this episode is going to be rough.

But first, hang on with me there. Let's pull our tarot card.

Tarot (8:20)  

So, the card we drew for this episode is the Four of Wands. Wands is tied to the element of fire, which is masculine in energy. So, it's very action-oriented.

Wands is tied to passion, creativity, and sometimes sexuality. And in numerology, the number four represents structure and stability.

So, when we draw the Four of Wands, it's signifying a celebration or special event. In fact, it's sometimes referred to as the wedding card, because traditional depictions of the card show two people standing below a floral canopy that's held up by four wands.

So, this card signifies joyful happiness and that we're feeling supported and loved. It's also telling us that we've gone through a period of rapid growth and expansion, so now is the time to take a step back, reflect on all that we've achieved, and celebrate.

And with the number four being tied to stability, the Four of Wands can indicate that we're moving into a period of happiness and security.

So that's a rather optimistic note, considering what we're talking about today.

So, let's try to hold on to that energy, shall we?

Disclaimer on Sources & Coverage (9:22)

And I just want to give a quick disclaimer. I know people who regularly listen to this podcast know that I include all the sources to the episode in the show notes.

However, I'm anticipating there will probably be some hate to this episode. Somehow the conservatives find the political episodes and like to, you know, leave some not-so-nice comments on YouTube or TikTok.

But for anybody listening that's not familiar with this podcast, I do always include the sources. And legitimate sources too, not just like little rando things out here.

But that being said, I do need to preface that there is a character limit in the show notes section of the episodes, so I cannot list out every single source that I'm using for this.

But with that in mind, I am linking GLAAD's accountability tracker, which provided the sources for like 90% of this episode.

So, the ones that aren't included in that accountability tracker, I'm including in the show notes. And then I'm also including the link to the accountability tracker.

Because if you go into that tracker, you'll see that it lists out every single thing that happened in the Trump administration, and it has links to all those articles there. So those are the sources that I had pulled from.

And I was trying to be fair, there were some things that were listed in that tracker that when I tried to look it up, I could only find tweets about it.

I couldn't find actual articles or reportings about those things. So, I did not cover anything unless I could find a legitimate news source covering the event.

And lastly, I am focusing this episode just on LGBTQ+ issues, and specifically legislation. Now, obviously, throughout the Trump administration, there were a lot of things that impacted the society as a whole and may have had disproportionate effects on LGBTQ+ people, but really, I'm focusing on the legislation that he targeted specifically at the LGBTQ+ community.

And I'm not going through every tweet that he said something homophobic in, I'm not including every individual he appointed who had a homophobic past unless it really tied into a key event in this where it resulted in legislation because otherwise, we'd be here all day.

And honestly, I can't drain my mental energy that much. So, this is pretty thorough. And buckle up, because it's going to be dark.

Before and During Presidential Candidacy (11:18)

So, kicking it off. Donald Trump, an alleged Republican, served as the 45th president of the United States from January 20, 2017 until January 21, 2021.

Now the thing about Trump is, prior to being elected, he had an interesting relationship with the LGBTQ+ community.

So, the earliest thing I found about Trump's commentary on LGBTQ+ rights goes back to 1999. In a Meet the Press interview, he said gays openly serving in the military was quote-unquote not something that would disturb me.

Remember, this was around the time of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And interestingly enough, in that interview, he also claimed he was very pro-choice. And we all see how that turned out. Is anyone out there screaming yet?

Anyway, in a February 2000 edition of The Advocate, he said he wanted a more tolerant society. And this was in response to the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, which we previously talked about. 

And if you remember from that episode, Matthew Shepard was murdered in October 1998, and in the years after his family lobbied for better federal hate crime legislation.

So, in this February 2000 interview, Trump agreed with amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and said he would absolutely support hate crime legislation covering race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, notably the Matthew Shepard Act.

But then, at some point in 2000, he said that he believed marriage was between a man and a woman. But then, conversely, from 1999 to 2000 he had a brief presidential campaign for the Reform Party, and his campaign platform included support for civil unions.

And in 2005 he congratulated Elton John for his civil union to David Furnish via a post on his Trump blog and wrote:

"It's a marriage that's going to work. If two people dig each other, they dig each other."

Groovy man. Anyway, fast forward to early 2011. During an interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News, he claimed to be a very conservative Republican and said he's not in favor of gay marriage.

A month later, when asked by the Des Moines Register if gay couples should receive the same benefits as married couples, he said his attitude on it had not been fully formed, but then responded simply, "No." 

Also in 2011, Trump was invited by GOProud, a political action committee for LGBT conservatives—talk about an oxymoron—to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, and he accepted.

In 2012 he called for the exclusion of trans women from beauty pageants because he didn't want Jenna Talackova to compete in the Miss USA pageants. And just a reminder that Trump owned the pageant from 1996 to 2015.

In January 2016, he was asked about the 2015 Supreme Court ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriages nationwide.

And Trump said he would strongly consider appointing conservative Supreme Court justices who would overturn the ruling, arguing that it was a matter that should be left for states to decide instead.

In April 2016, Trump initially criticized North Carolina's House Bill Two which eliminated all private employment and public accommodation anti-discrimination laws that were stricter than statewide law and required that in government buildings, individuals may only use restrooms and changing facilities that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates.

In fact, he said he would not have signed it, and when asked which restroom a transgender person should use in one of his buildings, he said that they should use whichever one they're most comfortable using.

However, in July of 2016, after he became the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, he changed his stance and supported the bill.

On June 13, 2016, Trump gave a speech where he commented on the Pulse nightclub shooting, claiming that there was a threat of radical Islamic terrorists.

He then posed a rhetorical question to the LGBTQ+ plus community, asking who they could count on as a friend, meaning him or his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

And he said that terrorists and this is a quote, "murder gays. I don't want them in our country."

However, he didn't have any mention of proposals for domestic policies that would directly help LGBTQ+ people.

Then, a month before the 2016 election, Trump wrote to the President of CatholicVote.org to express support for legislation that would protect the religious liberty of Christians who oppose same-sex marriage.

In an October 2016 rally, he said that the open military service of transgender Americans was a result of a quote-unquote political correct military and said he would seek new recommendations from military leaders on the topic of trans personnel.

Nine days before the election, he held another campaign rally in Colorado, and an audience member handed him a Pride flag with LGBT for Trump written on it.

And Trump held it upside down for a photo shoot. Cute.

And then, shortly after he was elected, he kind of backtracked on his statement of nominating Supreme Court justices who would overturn Obergefell v Hodges.

He told Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes his personal view on same-sex marriage was quote unquote irrelevant, and that he was fine with same-sex marriage, and that the Obergefell decision had settled the matter.

I am exhausted, and that's all before he was even sworn in.

So now turning into his administration's policies as it affected LGBTQ+ people. And again, like I said at the top of the episode, I'm focusing on legislation and policies that directly pertain to LGBTQ+ people.

And if I don't cover something, don't think that means I'm excusing it or anything like that. I just don't have the time to cover it. There's a lot here.

And again, like I said, I referenced GLAAD's Accountability Tracker for Trump, which you can check out. I pulled some of this information from there but then cross-referenced it with other sources.

And again, I encourage you to check out the sources that are listed in the show description, especially that accountability tracker for further sources backing this information up.

So here we go.

2017 (17:14)

Minutes after he was sworn in on January 20, 2017, any mention of the LGBTQ+ community was erased from the White House, Department of State, and Department of Labor websites.

The day after Trump was inaugurated, it was reported that the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, which was formed in 1993, no longer had a web page.

In June of that year, six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS resigned, saying the President made their job difficult or pointless.

The remaining members of the Council were fired in a letter that arrived two days after Christmas that year. And this advisory council had no members or activity throughout 2018 until it reconvened in 2019 with new members.

So that's cute, like two years there. But let's go back to 2017 and not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

So, on January 30, Trump said he would keep in place a 2014 executive order from the Obama administration, which created federal workplace protections for LGBTQ+ people.

However, in March of that year, he rolled back key components of those protections. Specifically, Trump removed the requirement for federal contractors to prove compliance with federal laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

This move weakened the enforcement of these anti-discrimination protections, making it more challenging to hold companies accountable for discriminatory practices.

On January 31, 2017, Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch to be a Supreme Court justice. And previously Lambda Legal called Gorsuch hostile to LGBTQ+ rights after he voted with the majority on the 10th Circuit Court on the Hobby Lobby case, which concerns religious freedom and employer-provided health care.

On February 2, 2017, ABC News reported that Trump and his administration had drafted a license to discriminate executive order which would usher in across-the-board discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.

On February 22, the Trump administration withdrew federal protections for transgender students, which had allowed them to use bathrooms and facilities corresponding with their gender identity.

The administration argued that the decision should be left to states and local school districts, rather than being enforced at the federal level.

On March 20, the Trump administration's Department of Health and Human Services removed questions about sexual orientation and gender identity from two important surveys: the National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants and the Annual Program Performance Report for Centers for Independent Living.

These surveys had previously collected data on LGBTQ+ individuals receiving federal services which helped identify disparities and potential discrimination in programs for older adults and people with disabilities.

And by eliminating these questions, the administration made it harder to assess whether these programs were effectively meeting the needs of LGBTQ+ individuals, putting vulnerable populations at risk of being overlooked.

On March 24, Trump appointed anti-LGBTQ+ activist and former Heritage Foundation employee Roger Severino to lead the Health and Human Services Civil Rights Office.

And you'll remember the Heritage Foundation from our episode about Project 2025. On March 28, Trump announced that LGBTQ+ people wouldn't be included in the 2020 census, trying to erase their existence even further.

Fortunately, though the census later added sexual orientation and gender identity. Also on March 28, the Trump administration proposed cutting HIV and AIDS research funding under the National Institutes of Health by $1.23 billion in fiscal 2017 alone.

And just a reminder that HIV and AIDS research is what allowed the COVID-19 vaccine to be produced so quickly.

On April 14, 2017, the Trump administration filed to dismiss a lawsuit accusing North Carolina of discriminating against the LGBTQ+ community in response to HB2, which was that bathroom bill we talked about earlier, despite the similarities of the HB 142 replacement.

On June 1, 2017, Trump declined to issue a presidential proclamation designating June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month, which broke an eight-year precedent set by President Barack Obama.

On June 7, the Trump administration quietly rolled back civil rights efforts across various federal departments, including Department of Education policies that required comprehensive investigations into civil rights complaints in schools.

Their new guidelines limited the scope of these investigations and removed requirements for collecting multiple years of data to identify patterns of discrimination, including discrimination against LGBTQ+ students.

Also in June, the Trump administration's Department of Commerce, led by Secretary Wilbur Ross, removed explicit protections for sexual orientation and gender identity from its equal employment opportunity policy statement.

After backlash and media coverage, the department clarified that it did not intend to exclude these categories and reissued the policy statements to include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.

On June 16, the Trump administration's Education Department, led by Secretary Betsy DeVos, issued a memo directing the Office for Civil Rights to evaluate discrimination complaints from transgender students on a case-by-case basis.

The memo clarified that while complaints related to bathroom access could be dismissed, other forms of discrimination, such as bullying, harassment, and failure to use a student's preferred name or pronouns, could still be investigated.

On June 29, the Trump administration appointed anti-trans activist Bethany Kozma to a senior advisor position of the Office of Gender Equality and Women's Rights at the US Agency for International Development.

On July 12, Trump met with a group of evangelical leaders who wished to promote so-called religious exemptions that would harm LGBTQ+ Americans across the nation.

On July 13, Trump nominated Mark Norris to the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. And Norris had previously supported legislation that allowed mental health counselors to discriminate against LGBTQ+ clients during his time as a Tennessee State Senator.

On July 25, reports surfaced that Vice President Mike Pence advocated for the removal of healthcare benefits for transgender service members within the US military.

Then the next day, July 26, Trump announced via Twitter that transgender people would not be allowed to serve in the military in any capacity.

And part of this was because he claimed American forces couldn't afford the quote-unquote tremendous medical costs and disruption of transgender service members.

And then on August 25, he signed a memo prohibiting transgender individuals from joining the armed services unless the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security recommend otherwise. 

And I know we're going in chronological order, but we're going to jump ahead a little bit, just to kind of cover the full life cycle of this anti-trans military ban.

So, the memo he signed on August 25, it faced backlash and legal challenges. On October 30, 2017, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked enforcement of the ban because Trump's reasoning for the ban was unsupported and actually contradicted studies conducted by the military itself.

In March 2018, Trump announced a new policy on transgender service members, specifically banning those with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, which would effectively be a ban on most transgender service members.

On April 13, 2018, Judge Marsha J. Pechman blocked enforcement of the policy, claiming that the updated policy basically repeated the same issues as the older policy.

But then on January 21, 2019, the Supreme Court, which at that point consisted of two of Trump's ultra-conservative picks, allowed Trump's policy to go into effect while challenges in lower courts were being adjudicated.

And on March 12, 2019, Acting Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist signed a directive that allowed Trump's policy to take effect in 30 days of the signing.

And again, like I said, I'm trying to go through all of Trump's acts chronologically, but the trans military ban was a lot throughout his administration, so I was trying to group that all together. But anyway, going back to 2017.

So, July 26 of 2017, the same day as Trump's Twitter announcement about the ban on trans military members, the Department of Justice argued in court that federal civil rights law does not ban employers from discriminating against employees based on sexual orientation.

Also, that day, allegedly, the White House sent out email blasts and tweets recommending readers to read an article by the Heritage Foundation about how transgender is a psychological disorder.

And I'm saying allegedly because the sources for this are Twitter screenshots of the emails and webpage, but I had trouble finding an actual article reporting on this. So, take that with a grain of salt.

On August 12, 2017, Trump refused to condemn those white supremacists during those riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, who were chanting violently racist and anti-LGBTQ+ slurs.

On September 7, 2017, the Justice Department filed an amicus brief in support of religious exemptions to discriminate against LGBTQ+ customers.

On October 3, 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services erased all mentions of the LGBTQ+ community and their health needs in its strategic plan for the fiscal year 2018 to 2022.

On October 5, 2017, the Trump administration reversed a policy that provided non-discrimination protections for transgender people in the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The next day, the Department of Health and Human Services rolled back the Affordable Care Act's birth control benefit, allowing the use of religious exemptions to deny health care to women, trans men, and gender non-conforming people who rely on the no co-pay contraception benefit.

That same day, the Department of Justice issued a sweeping religious exemptions guidance, which invited taxpayer-funded federal agencies, government employees, and government contractors to legally discriminate against LGBTQ+ employees, as long as they cite a religious belief as the reason for doing it. 

On October 11, 2017, the Trump administration's National Park Services withdrew its sponsorship of New York City's first permanent Pride flag, located outside of the historic Stonewall Inn, and dropped out of its pre-scheduled participation in the flag dedication ceremony.

He also appointed a lot of anti-LGBTQ+ people to key positions, promoted anti-LGBTQ+ voices, and spoke at a lot of anti-LGBTQ+ organizations. But I can't list them all, or else we'd be here for hours.

So, if you're interested in more of that, check out that GLAAD tracker. Let's see what else. We're still in 2017? Ugh.

On October 16, 2017, the New Yorker ran a profile on Vice President Mike Pence, and during the interview, when the conversation turned toward gay rights, Trump reportedly motioned toward Pence and said, "Don't ask that guy he wants to hang them all." Like super-duper. Great.

December 5, 2017, the Department of Justice argued in support of a baker who denied service to a gay couple during the Supreme Court oral arguments for the case, Masterpiece Cake Shop versus Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

And that same day, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that President Trump backs the position that business owners should be able to put up signs saying they won't serve LGBTQ+ customers.

And then on December 15, 2017, the staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were instructed not to use the words transgender, vulnerable, entitlement, diversity, fetus, evidence-based, and science-based in official budget documents.

Oh, all right. Well, that was 2017. Only three more years to go, kids.

Let's move on to 2018.

2018 (28:54)

On January 18, the Department of Health and Human Services created a new department that shields healthcare workers who refuse to treat LGBTQ+ patients or those living with HIV by claiming moral or religious objections.

On February 12, the Department of Education officially confirms they will not investigate or take action on any complaints filed by transgender students who are banned from restrooms that match their gender identity.

On March 8, 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary moved to change its official mission statement by removing promises of inclusive and discrimination-free communities.

On March 20, the Department of Education, once again states that it is the Trump administration's position to refuse to protect transgender students denied access to bathrooms and lockers based on their gender identity, even when faced with court rulings reaffirming that transgender students are protected under Title 9.

Also, that day, the Department of Housing and Urban Development defended the Trump administration's decision to remove guidelines from its website intended to prevent anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in homeless shelters by arguing that transgender women accessing shelters make people feel quote unquote, not comfortable.

On April 18, it was revealed that the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief gave a sizable grant to the anti-LGBTQ+ group Focus on the Family Africa on September 18, 2017.

On May 11, the Trump administration rolled back protections for incarcerated transgender people that were intended to mitigate their exposure to sexual assault and abuse, allowing the Bureau of Prisons to quote-unquote use biological sex as the initial determination for designation when placing trans people for housing, screening, and programs and services.

On July 9, Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court, who was sworn in and confirmed on October 6. And Kavanaugh had an extremely conservative record, including supporting the Family Research Council, which is designated as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

On July 30, Trump's Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, announced his new religious liberty task force at the Department of Justice's Religious Liberty Summit.

As stated by Sessions, the group's purpose was to ensure that the Justice Department upholds the administration's guidance for religious exemptions, which he released that previous October.

On October 1, 2018, the Trump administration's State Department implemented a new policy that denied visas to unmarried same-sex partners of United Nations employees, which forced diplomats in same-sex relationships from countries where same-sex marriage is illegal to make a difficult choice: 

·       Marry in the United States and potentially face threats, harassment, or even incarceration upon returning home

·       Leave their jobs

·       Or separate to protect one partner's career

On October, 21 the Department of Health and Human Services proposed in a new memo to change the legal definition of sex under Title Nine, requiring individuals to identify according to their gender assigned at birth.

On October 24, the Department of Justice wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court that it is legal to discriminate against transgender employees based on their gender identity, saying that banning sex discrimination under Title Seven in the workplace did not extend to transgender workers.

The next day, US officials at the United Nations sought to replace mentions of gender, such as gender-based violence, with alternative terminology, like violence against women, erasing all references to gender identity and the issues relating to trans and gender non-conforming people.

On November 23, administration officials removed guidance from the Office of Personnel Management that was intended to protect transitioning employees from adverse actions.

On December 9, 2018, the Trump administration quietly shut down an HIV research facility in Montana after objecting to the National Institutes of Health and its scientists using fetal tissue in their research to find a cure for HIV and AIDS.

On December 19, the Trump administration discharged two service members in the Air Force after disclosing their HIV-positive status to the Department of Defense.

And on December 21, 2018, the Department of Justice issued a statement of interest siding with an anti-LGBTQ+ student organization in a case against the University of Iowa, supporting the group's policy that indirectly bars LGBTQ+ individuals from joining, a form of discrimination known as disparate impact. 

Okay, moving on to 2019 which was probably the worst year of my life. Very bad year dating-wise for me, but even worse, politically speaking.

2019 (33:28)

So, starting off. On January 3, 2019, a leaked memo revealed that the Trump administration considered rolling back disparate impact regulations, which are used to identify and address discrimination based on unequal effects, even if unintentional.

And these regulations impact areas like education and housing. And critics argued that this rollback could undermine protections for marginalized groups, while supporters claimed it was necessary to prevent racial quotas and undue focus on race in decision-making.

January 23, 2019, Trump granted a waiver allowing South Carolina to continue licensing faith-based foster care agencies, such as Miracle Hill Ministries, which served only Christian families.

This decision, which was supported by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, was made in response to a regulation from the Obama administration that prohibited discrimination based on religion in federally funded foster care programs.

Critics, including the Anti-Defamation League, argued that it enabled taxpayer-funded discrimination, citing instances where Miracle Hill turned away Jewish and same-sex applicants.

On January 28, President Trump met with Ginny Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and the anti-LGBTQ+ group Groundswell.

This meeting included criticism of transgender Americans and opposition to the Supreme Court's marriage equality decision.

On February 7, during his Third National Prayer Breakfast speech, President Trump used the platform to defend faith-based adoption agencies, including a Michigan Catholic agency that had faced legal action for refusing service to same-sex couples.

He promised to uphold faith-based adoption, supporting agencies' rights to follow their religious beliefs, even if it meant discriminating against LGBTQ+ people.

On February 8, the day after, the Trump administration confirmed it would include in the 2020 budget plans to fund faith-based adoption agencies that could deny LGBTQ+ families the ability to adopt based on religious exemptions.

On April 4, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced that the Trump administration would not reinstate previous guidelines aimed at preventing discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals in homeless shelters.

On April 10, during a congressional hearing, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos acknowledged that she was aware of potential negative impacts, such as increased harassment, lower academic performance, and higher rates of depression, on transgender students following the Trump administration's decision to roll back Obama era guidelines that protected transgender students.

Despite this knowledge, she maintained that the Office for Civil Rights remained committed to protecting all students from discrimination.

On May 2, 2019, through the Department of Health and Human Services, the Trump administration introduced a rule that allowed healthcare providers to deny medical services based on their religious beliefs.

This rule significantly expanded the ability of doctors, nurses, and even administrative staff, to refuse to perform or assist with certain medical procedures if they objected on religious or moral grounds. And this included the possibility of denying life-saving care to LGBTQ+ individuals, as well as services related to abortion and other reproductive health issues.

Fortunately, this rule was eventually challenged in court and struck down by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in November 2019, which deemed it an unlawful overreach that could harm public health.

On Ma7 13, 2019, President Trump officially opposed the Equality Act, labeling the bill as containing quote-unquote poison pills that could undermine parental rights and religious freedoms.

On May 24, the Trump administration announced plans to allow adoption agencies to reject same-sex couples based on religious beliefs, which would roll back an Obama-era rule that prohibited adoption and foster care agencies from receiving federal funding if they discriminated against same-sex couples. 

That same day, his administration proposed narrowing the definition of sex under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which would exclude protections against discrimination based on gender identity and abortion, effectively undermining safeguards established during the Obama administration.

And this rule potentially impacted around 1.4 million transgender adults and 150,000 transgender teens in the United States, especially those in states without local protections against gender identity discrimination.

On August 14, 2019, the Trump administration's Justice Department urged the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, also known as the EEOC, to change its stance on LGBTQ+ workplace discrimination, seeking to persuade the EEOC to support the argument that businesses could legally discriminate against transgender employees without violating the law.

That same day, the Trump administration's Labor Department proposed a new rule that would allow federal contractors to use religious exemptions as a defense against workplace bias claims.

On August 16, the Trump administration filed a court report urging the US Supreme Court to rule that federal law did not protect employees from discrimination based solely on their gender identity, which took aim at legalizing firing transgender workers.

On August 16, the Trump administration's Justice Department filed a brief with the US Supreme Court, asking it to block workplace protections for transgender Americans.

On August 23, the Trump administration submitted an amicus brief asking the US Supreme Court to rule against workplace protections for LGBTQ+ Americans.

And then on September 20, under Secretary Betsy DeVos, the Department of Education planned to remove sexual orientation and gender identity from terms used to track bullying data, replacing them with sex stereotyping, thus eliminating the tracking of anti-LGBTQ+ bullying.

On September 27, under the Trump administration, the US Department of Justice supported the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in a legal dispute involving Joshua Payne Elliot, a former Catholic school teacher, who claimed he was fired due to his same-sex marriage, which underscored a broader argument about religious liberty, asserting that secular courts should not involve themselves in religious institutions interpretations of their doctrines.

On October 11, 2019, Attorney General William Barr criticized LGBTQ+ curriculums in schools that lacked opt-out provisions for those who oppose them on religious grounds, and also supported the rights of religious schools to refuse to hire teachers in same-sex marriages, referencing that lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

On November 1, 2019, the Trump administration proposed a regulation allowing adoption agencies that received federal funds, aka taxpayer dollars, to use religious beliefs as an excuse to deny placement of children into homes of LGBTQ+ couples simply for being LGBTQ+.

And on December 17, 2019, Trump appointed Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, to his Faith Advisory Council.

And the American Family Association is known for its strong anti-LGBTQ+ stances and is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

And buckle up, because here comes 2020. Remember that year? So much fun. Okay.

2020 (40:46)

January 16, 2020, the Trump administration announced new guidelines aimed at increasing protections for religious practices in public schools and expanding federal funding to religious organizations, even those with a history of anti-LGBTQ+ stances.

Fast forward to March 25, preacher Ralph Drollinger, who led a weekly Bible study for Trump's Cabinet secretaries, wrote in a blog post that the coronavirus pandemic was a form of divine retribution for tolerance of homosexuality.

On April 24, the Trump administration sought to dismantle Obama-era protections for LGBTQ+ patients by revisiting Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which had previously prohibited discrimination in healthcare based on sex and gender identity and aimed to weaken these protections, potentially allowing healthcare providers to discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals more easily.

And just a reminder, this was at the beginning of a global pandemic.

*Um, hello? Are you fucking stupid? *

On May 5, the Trump administration removed data collection requirements related to LGBTQ+ individuals from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, which eliminated the need to collect information on the sexual orientation of children, foster parents, adoptive parents, and legal guardians, which could hinder efforts to address the specific needs and challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth in foster care and same-sex couples looking to adopt.

On May 15, 2020, Kayleigh McEnany gave false answers about the administration's policies against LGBTQ+ Americans, claiming fairness and equity, despite at that time, a record of over 150 attacks against LGBTQ+ people.

And a video surfaced that showed Trump campaign advisor Jenna Ellis falsely linking same-sex marriage to bestiality and pedophilia.

On May 19, 2020, the Trump administration used multiple departments to push religious exemptions at the expense of LGBTQ+ rights, as detailed by the ACLU, Center for American Progress, and the Movement Advancement Project.

On June 3, under the Trump administration, the US Solicitor General and 76 members of Congress filed briefs at the Supreme Court, supporting discrimination against LGBTQ+ couples seeking to become foster parents.

On June 5, Trump's Solicitor General filed a 35-page amicus brief with the Supreme Court, supporting a Catholic adoption agency that refused to work with same-sex couples.

On June 12, during Pride month and the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, the Trump administration announced it was rolling back Obama-era healthcare protections for transgender individuals, which resulted in limited protections against discrimination based on gender identity in healthcare settings since it focused instead on and this is a quote: "the plain meaning of the word sex as male or female."

On June 22, Trump expressed surprise and disappointment over the Supreme Court's decision, authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, his first nominated justice, which ruled that LGBTQ+ people are protected from workplace discrimination under civil rights laws.

And here's an actual quote from him over this:

"Well, so far, we're not doing too well. We've had a lot of losses with the court that was supposed to be in our favor. This is just to show what it means."

On July 10, it was revealed that anti-LGBTQ+ groups received significant financial support through the Paycheck Protection Program, a relief initiative aimed at helping businesses during the pandemic. 

Organizations such as Liberty Council, American Family Association, and Pacific Justice Institute, each designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, received loans ranging from $550,000 to $2 million.

Additionally, controversial televangelists and megachurches with anti-LGBTQ+ stances also secured loans.

Meanwhile, only two national LGBTQ+ organizations, the National LGBTQ Task Force and the LGBTQ Victory Fund, received much smaller amounts of support.

On July 22, Jenna Ellis—remember, that senior legal advisor that has a Twitter problem?—she retweeted an article that promoted conversion therapy, promoting harmful and discredited practices.

July 23, the Trump administration revoked the Obama era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which was designed to address racial disparities in suburban housing.

It was replaced with new regulations that significantly reduced oversight and the requirements for local jurisdictions to prove they were combating racial segregation.

And according to one statistic, 30% of Black LGBTQ+ Americans own a home, compared to 64.3% of the overall population.

And these new regulations came in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.

On September 8, the Trump administration's Justice Department filed a 36-page legal brief arguing that the Archdiocese of Indianapolis had a constitutional right to terminate Joshua Payne Elliott, a teacher at Cathedral High School, for entering into a same-sex marriage based on the First Amendment's protections for religious institutions.

On September 16, the Trump administration sought to limit the scope of the Supreme Court's Bostock versus Clayton County decision, which ruled that anti-transgender discrimination is a form of sex discrimination prohibited in the workplace under Title Seven.

They argued that while Bostock prohibited firing employees for being transgender, it did not necessarily apply to other areas, particularly sex-segregated spaces like school sports and homeless shelters.

On September 18, 2020, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos—Jesus, she just won't go away—she implemented new guidance that significantly rolled back protections for transgender students, allowing schools to deny transgender students access to restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

She also threatened to withhold federal funds from schools that did not comply with these new guidelines, thereby increasing pressure on educational institutions to align with the administration's stance on transgender rights.

Also, that same day, within an hour of the announcement of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell began working to push through a third Supreme Court pick for Trump. 

And on September 26, Trump officially nominated Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, who had previously stated views against marriage equality, defended dissenters of Obergefell v. Hodges, and delivered speeches paid for by anti-LGBTQ+ groups. And unfortunately, she was sworn in.

And then lastly, in 2020, on December 7, the Trump administration finalized a rule through the Department of Labor that significantly weakened LGBTQ+ workplace protections by expanding religious exemptions for federal contractors under Executive Order 11246, which originally aimed to prevent discrimination in employment among federal contractors.

Miscellaneous Information (47:32)

And finally, on January 8, 2021, two, days after the insurrection, the Trump administration finalized a rule that removed LGBTQ+ protections from federal regulations under the Department of Health and Human Services.

This change rescinded Obama-era regulations that prohibited discrimination based on sex, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity among health and human services grantees.

This new rule also overturned requirements for Health and Human Services grantees to recognize same-sex marriages.

And this next part is not linear, but a couple of other statistics surrounding the Trump administration.

So, by September 2020, Trump had appointed over 200 federal judges, and two of them were openly gay. 

There is Mary Roland, who is openly lesbian, and was Trump's first LGBTQ+ judicial nominee to be confirmed by the Senate. She was a judge on the US District Court of Northern Illinois.

And then Patrick Bumatay, who is openly gay, was subsequently confirmed by the Senate to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

However, a 2019 Lambda Legal report claimed that more than one-third of Trump's 53 Circuit Court judicial nominees had a documented history of anti-LGBTQ+ bias.

Episode Closing (48:45)

Oh, that was a long episode. And again, that's not everything, but there's just so much, and I couldn't get to it all.

But overall, I would give his administration an F for their anti-LGBTQ+ policies.

*Loser. Loser. *

I don't see anything that that administration did in the four years that was good for the community.

The only potential silver lining to that was the June 2020 Supreme Court ruling that was authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, that ruled that LGBTQ+ people were protected from workplace discrimination under civil rights laws.

But really that's not even so much the Trump administration. One of his Supreme Court picks authored it. I believe Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

But you could even see the administration work to try to overcome that, even after it was ruled. So really just a terrible time. It was so much worse than I remembered.

But connecting it back to the tarot, remember, we drew the Four of Wands, which is signifying joyful happiness, that we're feeling supported and loved, and that we're moving into a period of security.

And as it relates to this episode, you know, I think a lot of people, prior to the 2016 election, felt complacent where we were at with LGBTQ+ rights.

I mean, summer 2015, same-sex marriage was legalized. People thought that Hillary had the election in the bag.

The past eight years under the Obama administration, we saw major wins for the LGBTQ+ community, and as a result, we thought there was a greater sense of tolerance in the nation.

But then, you know, Hillary obviously didn't win the election. You know, people didn't turn out to vote the way polls thought they would.

And with Trump being appointed, I think it really revealed the, the ugliness and the hate that exists in this country that for so long had been swept under the rug because those voices were not given a platform.

I truly believe that the rhetoric we see from elected officials displaying, that does impact how people behave.

And I think going through four years of extreme hate and chaos really gave people the feeling that they could say what they want and there would be no repercussions.

And it was definitely a challenging four years. But I think for myself and for others was, despite all that darkness, going from a time where it felt like there was greater LGBTQ+ acceptance to then, you know, living under this administration, I think it really made us realize that we can't be complacent.

That there is still so much work to be done. And I think it might have lit a fire underneath us to be more informed when it comes to politics.

To advocate more, to have these conversations with our straight friends and family, to volunteer, to donate to causes, to make a change to really drive equality for us.

And unfortunately, we did have to learn that the hard way. We had to go through four years of terror to really get ourselves to step up and take some action.

But at the end of the day, we did get through it. And I'm not trying to say that as like a throwaway, because I know people... I remember when Trump got elected in 2016, they were like, well, you know, four years will pass by. We'll get through this.

That's a privilege for some people that they're not so stressed out over what's going to happen on a day-to-day basis regarding their rights. So, I definitely don't want to throw that out there as a cop-out, but really more as a celebration that we made it through that.

We made it past that administration, and then hopefully coming out of that administration, we didn't falter and go back to our complacent ways.

Hopefully, we're still raising our voices, speaking out against inequality, and taking action to make an impact for our community.

And while any political episode can be very depressing, I think it is important, like the card says, to take a moment to pause and look at what we have achieved, even in the dark times, how we've overcome adversity, and really celebrate those wins.

And maybe we can celebrate and use those wins as motivation to keep the momentum going. You know, we have another election right around the corner, and I am very stressed out about it as well.

So, we can't get complacent. We need to keep speaking up. We need to show up and vote. Share this episode with friends and family who may not realize how damaging the Trump administration was to the LGBTQ+ community.

And again, I just covered what happened 2017 to 2021. There have been things that have occurred the past couple years, Supreme Court rulings, increases in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, that have all resulted from what Trump did in just four years.

So, celebrate the wins, celebrate that we got through it, but we still need to take action. We need to get to the polls and vote. We need to encourage others to vote.

We need to show up, and we need to show people that we matter and we deserve to be protected by the government as well.

And I'm not a fortune teller, but hopefully, this card is a sign that, you know, in 2025, we'll be moving into a period of happiness and security. And I think y'all know what that means, so fingers crossed.

Yeah, but fun episode, I know. Happy, spooky season!

Um, thanks so much for listening. I know this was a long one, but it's really important that we cover this. Like I said, please consider sharing this episode with family and friends, co-workers, strangers, on the street, whoever.

Just make sure that people know that, all right, you want to vote for somebody, that's fine, but know what they fully stand for.

Because as much as you might want to boast about the economy and stuff, you know, just because the economy might be doing okay, doesn't excuse this bullshit that happened between 2017 and 2021. Okay?

Whew, take a breather, Rob.

Connect with A Jaded Gay (53:48)

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Mmm-bye.