In a 3-minute video released Thursday,
First Lady Melania Trump defended her husband's record on LGBT
rights.
Transgender people have borne the brunt
of the administration's anti-LGBT policies. President Donald Trump
reversed Obama-era policies that allowed transgender people to serve
openly in the military and permitted transgender students to use the
bathroom of their choice. The administration also argued before the
Supreme Court that LGBT workers were not protected under federal
civil rights law.
(Related: Supreme
Court: Federal law protects LGBT workers from discrimination.)
In the video, Melania Trump says that
her husband's “ultimate outsider” status angered the political
establishment.
“I was shocked to discover that some
of these powerful people have tried to paint my husband as anti-gay
or against equality,” Melania Trump said. “Nothing could be
further from the truth. Donald loves helping people, and he loves
seeing those around him and his country succeed.”
“As the leader of the Republican
Party and president of the United States, Donald has been clear that
gays and lesbians will be treated as he has always treated them:
Equally,” she said, notably omitting transgender people.
For examples of Trump's support for the
LGBT community, Melania Trump said that Trump was the first president
to enter the White House in support of marriage equality. Trump said
that he was “fine” with Obergefell, the Supreme Court case
that found gay couples have a constitutional right to marry. But
Trump has also worked to fill the high court with justices who appear
opposed to LGBT rights. Melania Trump added that her husband was the
first president to appoint an openly gay cabinet member. Richard
Grenell held the post of acting director of national intelligence for
a short time.
The video is part of the Outspoken
campaign, a project from Log Cabin Republicans, which represents LGBT
conservatives.
“Today, we see free-thinkers and
independent voices like gay conservatives and Log Cabin Republicans
silenced, censored, and bullied by cancel culture mobs,” Melania
Trump says. “This is not the America any of us want to live in.
America was founded on God-given rights of freedom of speech, freedom
of religion, and freedom of expression. We are a nation that
celebrates and protects diversity and we condemn those who bully and
intimidate people. We do not want to live in place without freedom
where everyone is forced to think alike.”