A page devoted to LGBT issues on the
White House website was taken down after President Donald Trump took
office on Friday.
The page, whitehouse.gov/lgbt, was
created by the Obama administration. Activists noted that the LGBT
acronym has been deleted from the entire White House website. A
Department of Labor (DOL) report on LGBT rights in the workplace
titled Advancing LGBTQ Workplace Rights was also removed from the DOL
website.
Chad Griffin, president of the Human
Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate,
called on the president to return the pages.
“Moments ago, President Trump pledged
to serve all Americans, while simultaneously scrubbing every mention
of LGBTQ people from the White House website. The Department of
Labor’s crucial report on worker rights has also disappeared,”
said Griffin. “If President Trump truly believes in uniting the
country, now is the time to make clear whether he will be an ally to
the LGBTQ community in our struggle for full equality. We are
prepared to do whatever it takes to protect our community and our
progress.”
During the campaign, Trump said that he
was a “friend” to the LGBT community, which he pledged to
protect. But his party is openly hostile to LGBT rights.
Lambda Legal CEO Rachel Tiven said that
the action shows how Trump “truly feels about LGBT people.”
“Donald Trump is already sending a
clear signal that he has no intention of serving as the president of
all Americans,” Tiven said in a statement. “He should know that
Lambda Legal is watching the administration's every move, and will
fight him at every turn.”
A White House official said that new
content would be added to the website but would not say whether the LGBT
page would return, the
Washington
Blade
reported.