"The headline on a lengthy piece in The New York Times late last month read: "Donald Trump's Big Gay Government." It profiled a certain type of gay man: white, successful, conservative, probably handsome (Trump and company dislike unattractive people), full of themselves, disdainful of most of the rainbow colors that represent the GLBT community beginning with women (although they love Melania), and absolutely indifferent to the civil rights movement that now allows them to be out and proud."
"These are the Log Cabin Republican guys who battled against including transgender rights in our overall fight for equality, the guys who considered transmen and transwomen as freaks with whom they had nothing in common. As the country grew out of its hostility towards gays and lesbians, they found themselves back on top-well educated white men with no further reason to hide in the shadows and no affinity for the women, minorities, and poor people who helped create the conditions for their new-found social respect."
"Trump himself has nothing against white gay men. He's a product of New York and show business. He has often made remarks along the lines of "whatever." He's not religious, and has used evangelical Christians for his own political ends without embracing antigay ideology. He even told a reporter back in 2016 that Caitlin Jenner could use any bathroom she liked in Trump Tower, with an attitude of, "Who cares about this sort of stuff?""
White, successful, conservative gay men inhabiting Trump's orbit display privilege, self-regard, and disdain for other LGBTQ constituencies, especially women and transgender people. These individuals, exemplified by Log Cabin Republicans, opposed expanding transgender rights and minimized collective struggles like AIDS funding. Trump tolerates white gay men, leverages evangelical support, and adopts a transactional approach that sacrifices even high-profile LGBT figures when politically convenient. The A-Gays believe gay rights victories render further advocacy unnecessary and dismiss concerns about transgender soldiers, funding for AIDS, and the Supreme Court's conservative turn. This dynamic deepens divisions between privileged gay conservatives and broader civil-rights coalitions.
Read at San Francisco Bay Times
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