Trump campaign vs. Trump administration: on Civil Rights
Donald Trump:
Global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality
The Trump administration is launching a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality in dozens of nations where it's still illegal to be gay.U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, the highest-profile openly gay person in the
Trump administration, is leading the effort. The U.S. embassy is flying in LGBT activists from across Europe for a strategy dinner to plan to push for decriminalization in places that still outlaw homosexuality--mostly concentrated in the Middle East,
Africa and the Caribbean. "It is concerning that, in the 21st century, some 70 countries continue to have laws that criminalize LGBTI status or conduct," said a U.S. official involved in organizing the event.
Although the decriminalization strategy
is still being hashed out, officials say it's likely to include working with global organizations like the United Nations and the European Union, as well as other countries whose laws already allow for gay rights.
Source: Josh Lederman, NBC News, on 2019 Trump administration
Feb 19, 2019
James Mattis:
Opposed women serving in infantry; but will allow it
Asked by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) if he intends to roll back the opening of infantry positions to women in the military. Mattis responded, "I've never come into any job with an agenda, a pre-formed agenda of changing anything.
I come in assuming the people before me deserve respect for the job they did and the decisions they've made." Pressed further on the issue and asked about past statements he has made in opposition to women serving in infantry positions,
Mattis said, "I have no plan to oppose women in any aspect of our military. In 2003, I had hundreds of Marines who happened to be women serving in my
23,000-person Marine division. I put them right on the front lines alongside everyone else."
Source: Ballotpedia.org: 2017 Trump transition confirmation hearings
Jan 13, 2017
James Mattis:
Not about who soldiers go to bed with, but how they'll fight
Asked by Sen. Gillibrand if allowing LGBTQ individuals to serve in the military undermines U.S. military performance, Mattis responded, "Frankly, Senator,
I've never cared much about two consenting adults and who they go to bed with. My concern is on the readiness of the force to fight and to make certain that it is at the top of its game."
Source: Ballotpedia.org: 2017 Trump transition confirmation hearings
Jan 13, 2017
Jeff Sessions:
1986: Denied confirmation as federal judge
Expect Democrats to bring up Sessions's history of allegedly racist comments as a federal prosecutor in Alabama--comments which saw him denied confirmation as a federal judge in the 1980s.
The nomination sent news outlets scrambling to their archives to dig out transcripts of those fateful Senate judiciary committee hearings from 1986.
Senators heard a Justice Department official testify that Sessions, then US Attorney for the Southern district of Alabama, had suggested that a prominent white civil rights lawyer might justly be called "a disgrace to his race" for representing
black clients. Under questioning Sessions said that he did not recall making that comment, and could not understand why he would have made it, but did not deny his colleague's account.
Source: The Economist on 2017 Trump transition/confirmation hearings
Nov 18, 2016
Jeff Sessions:
1986: Called NAACP a "pinko" organization that hates whites
Sessions' nomination sent news outlets scrambling to their archives to dig out transcripts of those fateful Senate judiciary committee hearings from 1986.
Asked whether he had called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a civil rights group, a "pinko" organisation that hates white people,
Sessions told his Senate inquisitors: "I am loose with my tongue on occasion, and I may have said something similar to that." He did deny the account of a black federal prosecutor who testified that
Sessions called him "boy" and chided him to be careful how he spoke to "white folks". Twenty years later Sessions is in a position to avenge that humiliation.
Source: The Economist on 2017 Trump transition/confirmation hearings
Nov 18, 2016
Mike Pence:
OpEd: supports conversion therapy & anti-LGBTQ extremism
Mike Pence has made virulent anti-LGBTQ activism the cornerstone of his political career. HRC's comprehensive "The Real Mike Pence" campaign includes a report, microsite and series of videos that shine a spotlight on Pence's decades-long crusade against
LGBTQ equality, and inside-the-White House efforts leading the Trump-Pence administration's attacks on LGBTQ people, including those who bravely serve our nation in the military. It lays out his long record of support for the abusive practice of
so-called "conversion therapy;" his relentless pursuit of a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people; his attempts to block hate crime legislation and funding for HIV and AIDS prevention; and his efforts to undermine access
to health and reproductive care essential to LGBTQ people. He also keeps busy with his extremist agenda by working to undermine science, health, transparency, education, justice and public safety.
Source: HRC.org on 2018 Trump Administration
Aug 28, 2018
Mike Pompeo:
LGBTQ persons have every right that every other person has
The Trump administration is launching a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality in dozens of nations where it's still illegal to be gay.U.S. officials said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is supporting the work by U.S. embassies
and consulates to fight violence and discrimination against LGBT people. In his Senate confirmation hearing, Pompeo asserted: "I deeply believe that LGBTQ persons have every right that every other person in the world would have."
Despite the dozens of countries that still outlaw homosexuality, LGBT rights have proliferated in recent years in many parts of the world. Two dozen countries now recognize same-sex marriage, according to the [International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Trans and Intersex Association ILGA report on State-Sponsored Homophobia], while another 28 recognize domestic partnerships. The last U.S. laws outlawing same-sex activity were invalidated by the Supreme Court in 2003 in Lawrence v. Texas.
Source: Josh Lederman, NBC News, on 2019 Trump administration
Feb 19, 2019
Sam Clovis:
Science on homosexuality is unsettled; behavior is a choice
Sam Clovis has argued that homosexuality is a choice and that the sanctioning of same-sex marriage could lead to the legalization of pedophilia, a CNN KFile review of Clovis' writings and speeches has found. Clovis made the comments between 2012 and
2014 in his capacity as a talk radio host, political activist, and briefly as a candidate for US Senate in Iowa. Clovis has repeatedly argued that the science on homosexuality is unsettled and that "LGBT behavior" is a choice.
The American Psychological Association has said that while there is no scientific consensus on the causes of sexual orientation, "most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation."
Asked for comment on Clovis' beliefs surrounding the science of homosexuality, a USDA spokeswoman told CNN: "The Supreme Court settled the issue in 2015." The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: CNN.com coverage of 2017 Trump Administration nominations
Aug 21, 2017
Page last updated: Nov 02, 2024