I have avoided directly addressing Donald Trump’s return to the White House in previous blogs. though I have referred to it as we have discussed other issues. It is difficult to have any conversation these days that doesn’t at some point touch on the latest edicts coming from the POTUS. A couple of days ago I was walking around Glasgow following their Mural Trail with a relative, when we were stopped by someone who originated from Glasgow but now lives in Texas with her son. She was commenting on how Glasgow had changed since she had moved to America, but it didn’t take her long to say that as a Democrat she bemoaned the state the country is getting into. Then, yesterday, during a litter-pick with volunteers in a country park just outside of Glasgow, we stopped for a sandwich lunch beside the burn (river, for those outside Scotland). As I sat watching the sun create patterns on the rocks on the riverbed, I overheard a discussion just over my shoulder about the President’s latest controversial statements that morning. You’ll all have experienced similar situations, I’m sure! Probably every day, as each jaw-dropping revelation hits the news.
We may have been horrified by the sheer volume of anti-LGBTQ+ pronouncements since Trump was re-elected, but it shouldn’t be that much of surprise. In theory, at least! I think we have simply been stunned at the way he has been “flooding the zone” this time, whereas last time he started slowly, but ratcheted up the rhetoric as time went on.
So, let’s look at what has happened. Where does his attitude of undermining the health and well-being of LGBT people, all start? For myself, I’m not convinced it is particularly personal, and I’m not sure whether he really believes much of it.
In the beginning…
In the beginning Donald Trump was not anti-LGBTQ+. It is said in a few places that he even had gay staff on his payroll. In his book “The America We Deserve”, co-authored with Dave Shiflett, and published in 2000, he offers his views on a variety of topics, including the economy, education, healthcare, and foreign policy. The book also provides insights into his vision for America at the time.
With regard to LGBT issues, the stance in the book is relatively moderate for its time. He expresses support for non-discrimination policies that protect LGBT individuals in the workplace, stating that he believes in treating people fairly, regardless of their sexual orientation. He also criticizes the Republican Party for being overly focused on divisive social issues, suggesting that the party should adopt a more inclusive approach. He was on record in 2000, when being interviewed by Advocate magazine, as supporting gay marriage and gays in the military.
He was first elected President at the end of 2016 and his inauguration was held a couple of months later in 2017, but during that 2016 election campaign Trump was asked more than once about his position regarding the LGBT community, and he affirmed that he would support them. He was even given a folded LGBT flag at an October 2016 campaign event, which he duly unfolded and held up in support. However, once he took over as President there was a gradual watering down of those previous values. Indeed, minutes after being sworn into office in 2017, the White House website removed any reference to the LGBTQ community. Then on the 2nd February 2017, “ABC News reported that after previously committing to protecting LGBTQ Americans from discrimination, President Trump and his administration had drafted a “License to Discriminate” executive order which would usher in across-the-board discrimination against the LGBTQ community.” That line is taken from a webpage that is still being updated on the GLAAD (“Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation”) website, listing his specific attacks on the community.
If you visit that page, you can see that the measures he took back in 2017, have been repeated once more, because President Biden had rescinded most of them, but whereas what took months and years to enact previously, have now been fast-tracked within days and weeks, which makes you wonder what else is coming down the line. It’s well worth checking out that list and seeing the parallels with this current presidential term. For example, in his previous term it wasn’t till the 26th July 2017 (six months after the inauguration) that he announced that ‘he will ban transgender servicemembers from serving in “any capacity” in the U.S. military, threatening to fire 15,000 currently serving troops’. This time round the policy was reinstated within 7 days (27th of January 2025) of returning to power. Perhaps one of his most offensive postings was made earlier this month relating to army recruitment. Currently that executive order is being litigated in the courts in two states as a preliminary injunction has been issued to stop this order taking place, so it will be a while before we see whether it goes ahead. As I say, President Biden had cancelled most of Trumps previous orders, so one can only hope the next president will do the same – but by then how much damage will have been done? And how many years will it take to bring about any healing?
So, why did his stance change?
Trump is widely reported to have no ethics: no moral principles, or value systems. He claims to believe in the concept of God, but he clearly has no regard for anything God expects (the values and attitudes) from his children. He possibly has no knowledge of what the Bible teaches – check out the Bible for yourself! Or some of my previous Blogs! 😊 He only believes in himself, and what advantage he can get from any deal. If the deal doesn’t give him an advantage, he will walk away. For example, he is only interested in getting peace between Russia and Ukraine, if it’ll get him a financial advantage, personal kudos, and the Nobel Peace prize he has long coveted. “They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question about the award. “It’s too bad. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.”
After coming to power in 2017 he started to shift his position because he saw that the Christian Right was a large and influential element of the electorate that had voted for him. As I said in my last blog: “Exit polls showed that 81% of white evangelical voters supported Trump, both in 2016, and sadly, this was repeated again in 2024“. If he could lock away those votes, he had a good chance of staying in power. So, because the Christian right held conservative values, were anti-abortion, against “same-sex” marriage, in favour of traditional family values, and effectively against anything to do with being LGBTQ+ (especially gay and trans rights), he started embracing these values – not because he believed in them himself, but because they would win him votes.
In his first term as president, he had Mike Pence as his Vice President who had a clear Christian faith and a long record of holding anti-LGBTQ+ positions. In his second term, he has another Vice President who claims to be a Christian, J D Vance, and he seems even more dangerously right-wing than either Trump or Mike Pence. The Guardian recently released a Today In Focus podcast that examines the background of JD Vance that you may find interesting. Mike Pence, to his credit, blocked Trumps attempted coup to hold onto power after losing the election in 2020.
If you want to look at some of what Trump did in his first term you can go back to that accountability tracker link, but you can also look at this page on Buzzfeed News where they have compiled “…A List Of All The Anti-LGBT Stuff Trump Has Done As President”. Keep in mind that this was only about 16-17 months into his first four‑year term, so it is far from complete, but it is a template for a lot of what has happened in the last couple of months. Sometimes it feels longer than that.
One major health blow was that health websites like the Centre for Disease Control were forced to remove anything that did not support the Trump administration view that there are only two genders, male and female. The courts ruled the pages had to be restored where possible, but now a good number of pages have this message: “The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children, by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation, and to women, by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities. This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department rejects it.” In the meantime there is a significant volunteer project that is restoring the CDC website as it was on the day Trump was inaugurated and it is called https://restoredcdc.org/www.cdc.gov/. Their story is told here.
In another bizarre twisting of truth, we have seen the Trumpian Authorities claim the right for freedom of speech, but then that freedom of speech only applies when MAGA issues are contested. If we are talking about LGBTQ+ people, asylum seekers/refugees, the jobless and homeless, people with accessibility and mental health needs, or news that paints a picture of a dysfunctional government, etc., that freedom of speech gets called “radical Leftist propaganda”, “biased and irrelevant”, and funding is then cut off. Three articles illustrate this: one, two and three.
Alongside this, over the last 5-10 years, the Conservative and Religious Right began to view LGBTQ+ rights as part of a larger culture war that threatened traditional family values. Sadly now, even showing you care for other damaged people (such as those in that previous paragraph), gets you labelled as being “woke” (that horrible word which I hate using, and I promise I won’t – unless forced by context). Once you are given that label, it is open season to attack you and dismiss everything you say as being irrelevant and contemptable. Assuredly, I would be in that category, which is why I keep my head down on social media.
The Conservative right forget that Jesus told us to be like the Good Samaritan, and Paul told us to “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Jesus also told us to love our enemies (Matthew 5: 43-48) and he wasn’t just meaning we choose a passive acceptance of them (live and let live) but that we are prepared to take them out for a meal, to listen to their story, to seek to heal their visible and invisible wounds, and to respect and care for them. This is exactly like the Good Samaritan story where Jews and Samaritans were at daggers drawn, because Samaritans were contemptable to Jews. Today Jesus would tell the story of the Good Palestinian (or Good Republican?) 😉.
During his first term Trump was able to demonstrate his support for Conservative values by getting 3 of his appointments made Justices in the Supreme Court. Currently there are six Conservative-leaning Justices and three Liberal-leaning Justices. Thus, Trump has given a huge bias over cases that get referred to the Supreme Court, given its built‑in majority. The court’s ideological balance has significant implications for rulings on issues like abortion, gun rights, affirmative action, federal regulatory power and possibly even same-sex marriage, having previously reversed its Roe vs Wade decision. Only a couple of days ago “Jim Obergefell, who was the plaintiff in the landmark case of Obergefell v. Hodges , which ended with same-sex marriage being recognised across the US, said the hard-won right could “unravel very quickly” now that Trump is back in the White House.” (Pink News)
What do the Christian Right get out of the deal?
To answer that question, I think I need to highlight that a lot of Christians are worried that they sense that there is some sort of threat to Christianity. You can regularly read stories in the Christian press (both UK and US) about people being arrested for praying near abortion centres, or teachers being sacked for calling those who identify as LGBTQ+ as being sinful. In the first instance, if I want to pray about persecution of Christians in a foreign country, I don’t have to go there before I can pray and intercede with God about it. I can bow before God beside my bed, at a desk or table, and pray. I don’t need to leave my house. If I want to pray for someone to be healed who is ill, or for a refugee having a hard time, I don’t have to visit them. I can, but I don’t have to. Is God so powerless that he can’t do anything about it unless I actually go in person to the scene I am concerned with? Either your God is too small, or you are being deliberately provocative. This flies in the face of Pauls teachings in Romans:
“16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” [My emphasis] Romans 12:16-18 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
This is a phenomenon that is replicated on both sides of the Atlantic and Premier Christianity recently published a typical article fanning the flames of fear: “Christianity is being attacked in the West. Why won’t our church leaders admit it?” That article is worth reading as an example of the concerns worrying Christians. However, you will need to hold emotions in check as it is a not very thinly veiled attack on our community. There is another podcast again issued by Premier, covering similar ideas entitled “Arrested for praying in your head? Abortion clinic buffer zones and 21st century thoughtcrime”. This once again is playing the victim card. Many evangelical Christians use Premier as their “go-to” source for Christian news, worship music, theology and devotional tools, so Premier has a significant influence on contemporary church life.
My concern is that over the last 50 years many churches and Christians have made our faith deeply unattractive, and sometimes repellent, to the communities we live in. Possibly the main cause of this has been the debate/shouting match over sexuality, but I also think that the church’s slowness to criticise Israel over Gaza and the West Bank has also been a major fracture line. I haven’t written about that situation because, although there must be LGBTQ+ issues to be explored there (given this is not specifically a political website, but one straddling the Christian/sexuality debate), I just haven’t seen or read enough that is verifiable to comment on. Hopefully one day this will change, but there are no foreseeable positive signals.
Getting back on track, one of Trump’s ideas to protect Christians, was that he announced the creation of a new White House Faith Office to combat discrimination against Christians in federal institutions and ensure religious liberties are upheld across the country. He appointed Reverend Paula White as its leader, but one snag was that she is offensive even to Christian Evangelicals(!), because of her long-held association with the prosperity gospel. This is where preachers promise that those who donate to certain ministries, will be materially blessed by God in this life. The more you give, the more God will bless you with riches and material possessions. That’s just Biblically wrong.
They forget that Jesus, God’s Son and therefore most like God in human form, said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” Matthew 8:20. Later in Matthew, Peter is asked whether Jesus has paid the Temple tax. Seemingly, Jesus doesn’t have the money, so gets Peter to go and fish, and the first fish that bites will have money in its mouth – enough to pay the Temple tax for them both. God offers grace (to whomever will accept it), not BOGOF deals! (Buy One, Get One Free!)
The use of Executive Orders
Executive Orders are a really dodgy method of governing. Some orders will require further Senate confirmation of policy, but the idea of Executive Orders is that it shortcuts the process and enacts the wishes of the President with immediate effect. Because so many executive orders seem to have no regard for people, this again runs counter to the Biblical teaching we have frequently alluded to. Within a Christian framework we are taught to look after those who are weaker than ourselves, to protect them and care for them. Executive orders allow for fewer checks and balances and gives the law of unintended consequences much freer rein, because fewer people have thought through the repercussions. (Consider this week’s Signal debacle, regarding whether confidential information was freely given to a journalist mistakenly added to the chat group.)
In the light of all I have written, it was encouraging to read that the US Catholic Bishops were suing the Trump administration because of the cuts to funding for refugee settlement. Don’t get confused, refugees are those who have been told by the government that they have a valid reason to stay. These are not asylum seekers, or “illegals”. In the UK some “illegals” will have been fleeing persecution and will have a strong case to be granted refugee status, and will ultimately get it, but who knows what will happen in the US? It seems like Trumps policies have almost completely stopped people from crossing the borders, so they are being regarded as successful.
Furthermore, the humanitarian branch of the US National Association of Evangelicals has formally criticised President Trump’s cut in foreign aid. They have requested that the government restore the funding grants that were lost due to the executive order virtual closure of USAID. They have not taken legal action, but simply made a request.
What of the future / How will this affect the UK?
How will these anti-LGBTQ+ ideas affect the UK? That is a difficult question to answer. We see more and more Christians and churches following the American lead and taking a harder line over LGBTQ+ rights, but this is not generally true of society at large, although we see the Tory party and Reform taking harsher attitudes on Trans issues, and even Wes Streeting has adopted policies unsympathetic to Trans issues, even though he is gay himself.
Yes, there are growing concerns about Trans rights, but I am not yet convinced this is broadening to include the rest of the LGBTQ+ diaspora. Nevertheless, we need to be defending our Trans friends, because for many this is very difficult. So, I hope the American disease fails to take root here, and I suspect it probably won’t be as inflammatory, because we are not as culturally Christian as the US, and our political system is different. In addition, I sense people here are horrified by what we are seeing and simply don’t want that hatred set loose over here. But having said that, the insidious fears within American Christianity that society is rejecting Christianity, do easily transfer here as that earlier Premier Christianity article showed. Christians have had it relatively easy here for decades and we have grown complacent, so maybe we do need to get rid of the spiritual flab. We need to be challenged. In various blogs I have challenged the ideas that what Moses and Paul were writing about, is not what we understand to be homosexuality. As I’ve said before, how many people do you know, who go to church, have read every word in their Bibles? How many believe every word of their Bibles without any doubts? I would argue that if you have no doubts – no uncomfortable passages, you haven’t read the Bible properly.
In Conclusion
I am deeply critical of the US administration at the moment – I hope that changes, but I see many policies that are entirely against God’s nature and teachings, and have been inspired by the “angel of light”. God requires justice, mercy and humility, and we simply don’t see that at present.
However, I am also reminded of that quote by Martin Luther King Jr: “That within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different attitude toward individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it. And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls “the image of God,” you begin to love him in spite of. No matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never slough off. Discover the element of good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude.”
Personally, I find it tricky to find the good within Donald Trump and JD Vance, but must believe it is there, because they are both made in the image of God, and we are instructed to pray for them.
Equally, and probably more importantly, those of my readership who pray, could pray for our US LGBTQ+ “siblings”, as many will be facing incredibly difficult decisions and hardships, now and in the coming days.
Changing Minds 