In an op-ed published Monday, the New
York Times criticized President Donald Trump's record on LGBT
rights.
That Trump was out of step with the
Republican Party on issues related to the LGBT community was a
popular talking point during the campaign for LGBT Republicans, many
of whom said that Trump would advance the gains made during the
Obama era.
“Yet, the nomination of several key
officials, who have disparaged the LGBT community and sought to
curtail the rights of its members, has exposed the narrative that Mr.
Trump would be a champion of gay and transgender people as a
fallacy,” the Times wrote.
In making its case, the editorial board
cited Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision to withdraw guidance
issued to public schools protecting transgender students and the
anti-LGBT views of Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price
and Mark Green, Trump's pick to replace Eric Fanning, an openly gay
man, as secretary of the Army.
“It's not too late, of course, for
Mr. Trump to act like the transformational Republican on gay rights
that some of his supporters hoped he would be. He could, for
instance, urge Congress to pass a federal anti-discrimination bill.
Yet his record of empty talk makes that seem as unlikely as the sight
of a Republican presidential presidential candidate waving a gay
pride flag,” the
editors concluded.