27 January 2017

Retreating to the Past

Salon published an article on Wednesday with the title: "The Orwellian nightmare of LGBT rights under Trump: How the new Department of Justice may promote discrimination" (link here).

While the title may be a bit histrionic, the thesis is clear: Donald Trump is nominating people with backgrounds totally at odds with the mission of the job they've been tapped to fill.

Basically, the foxes are appointed to guard the henhouses.

His choice for the key position at the Justice Department's Office of Civil Rights actually has a history of fighting against civil rights. And, of course, civil rights include LGBT rights.

“We’re going to have a Department of Justice that will not be doing justice,” said an official with Lambda Legal, the advocacy group for LGBT rights.

As a result, the Trump Justice Department will much like it was during the Reagan and Bush administrations, when civil rights were given an extremely low priority. During the Obama years, the Justice Department was a strong advocate for LGBT rights, but no more.

With Jeffrey Sessions the likely new Attorney General -- the same man who opposed same-sex marriage, LGBT job protections, and repealing "don’t ask, don’t tell" -- LGBT Americans no longer have an advocate in the Justice Department. And if FADA becomes law, the Justice Department will actually be protecting businesses and organizations that discriminate against LGBT Americans.

So, as the end of the day, it doesn't matter that Trump held an upside-down rainbow flag for a few seconds. His administration is ready to shaft LGBT Americans for much longer than a few seconds.

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