LGBTQ leaders react to Trump’s first State of the Union Address. Heavily contested topics were brought to the forefront of Trump’s speech including immigration, tax reform & religious freedom. As expected Trump did not mention “LGBT” or commit to safeguarding the protections & civil rights of LGBT people in his speech. Jessica Stern, Executive Director of OutRight Action International stated, “I love immigrants. I love people who are not American. I love all workers not just veterans. I love healthcare. I love equal rights & non-discrimination, not coded 'religious freedom.' I love modern interpretations of the US Constitution. I love the visa lottery. I love all families, not just the nuclear family. I love everyone who opposes this regime of empire, misogyny & white supremacy. Today, tomorrow & as long as is needed, we will work for justice & all those we love.” Sarah Kate Ellis, President & CEO of GLAAD concluded, "Managing to read a pre-written speech off a teleprompter does not make one Presidential or lend a single ounce of legitimacy to Trump's anti-LGBTQ agenda. Trump has spent the past year targeting vulnerable communities & surrounding himself with anti-black, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-women & anti-LGBTQ activists with the goal of exacerbating discrimination & erasing LGBTQ Americans from the fabric of this nation."
Prior to the State of the Union Address we talked to some of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations to outline plans for resistance efforts in 2018 with an emphasis on judicial nominations.
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TelePrompter Trump may have delivered a coherent speech before a live studio audience, but the behind-the-scenes footage reveals his administration’s hostility toward civil and human rights. He touts the notion of one united American family, but his actions paint a different reality. Trump actively seeks to disadvantage, divide, and discriminate against women, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, those aspiring to join the middle class, and so many more.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, Congress, led by Republicans, has continuously put party over country. Lawmakers have been unwilling to enact much-needed reforms on a range of civil rights issues including the Dream Act, and have failed in their responsibility to serve as a check on the executive. Most ominously, Congress is also rubber-stamping Trump’s biased and unqualified judicial nominees, allowing him to reshape the courts in his image.
Trump’s infrastructure scam is not a serious plan to invest public money in worthwhile projects that strengthen all of our communities and create good jobs. We can and should invest in ways that raise the quality of life for everyone. And, we must pursue immigration policies that uphold our values as a nation. If the president wants the state of our union to truly be strong, then he must stop stoking hate and sowing division among us.