Trump refuses to officially acknowledge Pride Month for third year in a row

After launching a series of bigoted policy attacks on the LGBTQ community, Trump added insult to those injuries by refusing to issue an official White House proclamation recognizing June as Pride Month.

Trump declared June as National Ocean Month, National Homeownership Month, and Great Outdoors Month. But — for the third year in a row — he refused to officially acknowledge that June is also Pride Month, a time to celebrate the LGBTQ community.

The first president to recognize Pride Month with an official proclamation was Bill Clinton in 1999. George W. Bush refused to recognize it, but President Obama issued proclamations each year of his term to honor LGBTQ Americans.

While Trump deigned to mention Pride Month on Twitter, a few tweets aren’t the same as an official government action — and they do not erase years of anti-LGBTQ policies pushed by Trump and his administration.

Trump has been attacking the rights and recognition of the LGBTQ community since immediately after he took office. But those attacks have ramped up recently, with the administration taking four different bigoted actions in just the last seven weeks.

On April 12, the Trump administration formalized its discriminatory ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. The move was slammed by the medical community and by members of the military alike, and several states are refusing to abide by the bigoted rule when it comes to members of the National Guard.

On May 22, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced his office was implementing new rules allowing homeless shelters to discriminate against transgender people. The new policy would revoke a 2012 rule implemented by President Obama to reduce discrimination in homeless shelters.

Carson moved forward with the new rule after lying to Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) only days before by claiming he had no plans to implement such a change.

On May 24, the Trump administration proposed new rules to allow doctors and nurses to discriminate against transgender patients seeking health care. “If permitted, this rule will promote ignorance and hate that no American should have to face while seeking care,” Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, told the Washington Post at the time.

And most recently, on May 28, the Trump team announced its intentions to allow adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ parents. Under President Obama, adoption agencies could not receive federal funds if they used discriminatory placement practices, including attempts to reject LGBTQ parents. But the Trump administration wants to change the rules and allow agencies to bar LGBTQ couples and individuals from either adopting or being a part of the foster care system.

Trump often claims to be in favor of LGBTQ rights — but he and his far-right Cabinet officials have relentless attacked the LGBTQ community and steadily worked to overturn many important protections put in place by President Obama. So it comes as no surprise that Trump would claim to support Pride Month, yet also refuse to make that support official.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.