The Washington Blade on Tuesday
reported that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows blocked efforts
to recognize June as LGBT Pride month.
According to the
Blade,
First Lady Melania Trump wanted to light up the White House in
rainbow colors in celebration of Pride. In 2015, then-President
Barack Obama lit the building in rainbow colors after the Supreme
Court ruled that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right
to marry.
(Related: Obama:
White House “looked good” in rainbow colors.)
“Meadows had a significant role, one
Republican source said on condition of anonymity, in ensuring the
Trump White House ignored Pride Month, which is why President Trump
didn't send out a tweet to recognize the annual LGBTQ celebration as
he did in 2019,” the outlet reported.
(Related: In
tweet, Trump recognizes June as LGBT Pride month.)
Meadows, a former House member from
North Carolina, opposes same-sex marriage. In 2013, he predicted a
constitutional crisis if the Supreme Court struck down state laws and
constitutional amendments that limit marriage to heterosexual
couples.
In its Congressional Scorecard for the
114th and 115th Congress, the Human Rights
Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, ranked
Meadows, a Republican, zero on LGBT rights.
Meadows last year voted against the
Equality Act, a federal LGBT protections bill. Trump has signaled his
opposition to the measure, while President-elect Joe Biden has
promised to make passage a priority. In 2017, Meadows voted in favor
of a floor amendment barring the Pentagon from paying for
transition-related care for transgender people.
(Related: In
reiterating vow to pass Equality Act, Biden reminds voters that Trump
opposes the bill.)
HRC President Alphonso David said in a
statement that the first lady's unrealized plan to recognize LGBT
Pride was “just too little too late.”
“This news is just too little too
late and directly contrary to 4 years of discriminatory and
oppressive anti-LGBTQ policies from the Trump administration,”
David said. “As an example, rather than acknowledging the existence
of Pride Month, the Trump-Pence administration used the month of June
to significantly heighten their aggressive attacks on LGBTQ people –
releasing new rules that sanction discrimination against LGBTQ
patients and sharing plans to restrict transgender people’s access
to emergency shelters.”
“This election, LGBTQ people made
their voices heard loud and clear, turning out in record numbers to
elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. We look forward to an
administration that will stand with our community from day one,”
David said.
In October, Melania
Trump defended her husband's record on LGBT rights, saying that he
treats gays and lesbians “equally.” Notably absent from her
remarks were transgender people, who have borne the brunt of the
administration's anti-LGBT policies.