“I think Trump is very good on gay rights,” gay billionaire and major Trump supporter Peter Thiel told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd back in January, at the start of the Trump presidency. “I don’t think he will reverse anything. I would obviously be concerned if I thought otherwise.”
What a difference seven months makes. Donald Trump is turning out to be, in his actions as opposed to mere words or proclamations, among the most anti-LGBTQ presidents in history. Unlike George W. Bush, who promoted a heinous federal marriage amendment that had no way of passing ― while he left intact President Clinton’s gay-affirming executive orders, including protecting gay federal workers ― Trump is actually using his power to roll back LGBTQ rights as a gift to his ravenous religious right base.
He rescinded guidelines to schools on protecting transgender students, has banned transgender people who are already serving their country in the military ― an actual White House order, rather than just a tweet, went to the Pentagon last weekend ― and his Justice Department has moved to prevent gay, lesbian, and bisexual people from being protected under federal civil rights laws. Trump also appointed a Supreme Court justice who is, by the accounts of legal experts, moving vigorously to dismantle or severely weaken the Obergefell Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality.
And this is just the beginning.
Thiel, who reveled in the attention he got when he spoke at the Republican National Convention (RNC) last year at Trump’s invitation after he came out in support of Trump, was instrumental in helping Trump to be perceived as friendly to LGBTQ people. He lent his support, including financial, plunking down $1.25 million to help elect Trump, and posed himself as a “proud” gay advocate fighting for the cause.
Now BuzzFeed reports that Thiel is quietly throwing in the towel on Trump, citing six conversations with three people close to Thiel. In private, Thiel gave the Trump presidency a 50-50 chance of ending “in disaster” earlier in the year, and, more recently, has said he was “annoyed” at Trump’s first few months and used the word “incompetent” to describe the presidency. And a source quoted by Vanity Fair who recently spent time with Thiel ― who served on Trump’s transition team, sat near him during his inauguration and reportedly had his pick of cabinet posts in which to serve ―said Thiel just doesn’t like hanging out with Trump. Read more via HuffPost