Log Cabin Republicans Have Been Cheerleaders for Trump but on His Revoking Transgender Guidance, Crickets

‘I’m Willing to Give Jeff Sessions a Chance’ Said Log Cabin’s President 

The Log Cabin Republicans just haven’t found the time to comment on – much less denounce – the Trump administration’s decision to effectively tell every public school district in the country they can ignore civil rights law when it comes to children who are transgender. 

Hours before the Trump administration officially revoked President Barack Obama’s guidance directing schools to protect the civil rights of transgender students, an interview with Log Cabin Republicans’ president Gregory T. Angelo appeared in Quartz. 

“I always go back to the fact that we have a pro-LGBT president and leadership starts from the top,” Angelo told Quartz.

“Every time Trump has had an opportunity to distance himself from the LGBT community he’s actually done quite the opposite,” he said.

“Newt Gingrich said ‘transgender’ on the main stage of the GOP convention!” Angelo also told Quartz.

“I’m willing to give Jeff Sessions a chance,” it says, quoting Angelo. 

Attorney General Sessions was the force behind the administration’s decision, 33 days into office, to rescind the guidance. And to be clear, it’s not the guidance from the Obama administration that directly protects trans students – Title IX, a federal civil rights law does – but the guidance made it very clear to schools they have a legal obligation to protect transgender students, and made it exceptionally clear if they did not the full weight of the Dept. of Justice and the Dept. of Education would ensure they did. The Trump move telegraphs to schools the executive branch will look the other way, despite its statement LGBT students must be given a safe environment.

“I think this is a tremendous opportunity for LGBT Republicans. We really are in a unique position, because we are coming from a place of conversation, dialogue and advisement—as opposed to unrelenting opposition, which seems to be the battle cry of the LGBT left,” Angelo said.

The GOP official 2016 platform, by the way, was the most anti-LGBT in history. It’s clear the Log Cabin Republicans have accomplished – what, exactly? The platform opposes same-sex marriage, rights for transgender people, and endorses conversion therapy. It also calls for passage of the unconstitutional First Amendment Defense Act, a sweeping “religious liberty” bill that gives anyone, including individuals, religious groups, corporations, and non-profits, the right to discriminate against LGBT people by claiming they have a “religious belief or moral conviction” that requires them to do so. FADA also gives that same right to discriminate against anyone they believe has ever had pre-marital sex, regardless of gender.

Trump has promised to sign it.

The Log Cabin Republicans, while not endorsing Trump, made clear they support him and will work with him. Their tweets make their position quite clear. A few examples:

In his Quartz interview, Angelo continued to applaud Trump.

“Trump put out a formal statement, saying that preservation of LGBT rights and support for the LGBT community were a hallmark of his campaign, and that he would continue to do that in his presidency. To my knowledge, this is the first time we’ve had a sitting Republican president specifically issue a statement of affirmation in support of the LGBTQ community.”

America is well-aware that Donald Trump’s words are meaningless. He literally lies every day. Literally. The Washington Post this week noted President Trump lies on average four times a day. “There hasn’t been a single day of Trump’s presidency in which he has said nothing false or misleading,” the Post’s Chris Cillizza wrote. 

Let’s get back to Jeff Sessions, Trump’s man at the Dept. of Justice, the man who pushed to have the Obama transgender guidance gutted.

After saying he was willing to give Attorney General Sessions a chance, Angelo told Quartz:

“This comes from my perceptions of what it means to be an attorney general. I believe liberals feel it is the job of the attorney general to interpret the law, and conservatives feel it’s the job of the attorney general to uphold the law. There’s a key difference there,” Angelo said.

“All of the opposition to Sessions from the LGBT left was born from questions about ways he’d interpret law. And time and again during his hearing, Sessions said that he would faithfully execute the laws of the country. In his opening statement, he said explicitly that he recognized the fight for equality that the country’s LGBT community values.”

OK, well, Sessions’ predecessor – and the courts – have “interpreted” Title IX to include transgender students.

The law is the law, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office. 

Yet Sessions chose to go against the law, falsely claiming the confusion supposedly surrounding it warranted revoking the Obama guidance. That’s like saying “people who don’t know they have to file their taxes shouldn’t have to.” That’s not how the law works. 

Yet here is Angelo, the head of the Log Cabin Republicans, supporting Sessions and Trump. And what have the Log Cabin Republicans said in response to the Trump administration’s revocation of the Obama guidance?

Nothing.

Not a thing.

Crickets.