Still no Pride in the White House

There’s absolutely nothing positive or good about the current occupant of the White House, and the fact that he is a pathological liar and a con man is not news. His refusal to issue an LGBT Pride Month proclamation for a second year looks like it reveals his lies to LGBT+ Americans, but it’s much worse than that, it’s a symptom of his regime’s war on LGBT+ Americans. It’s also a rare visible example of the extent of his regime’s anti-LGBT+ animus, and that suggests things could very easily get much, MUCH worse.

The graphic with this post is a composite of all the Presidential Proclamations the current occupant has made about the month of June, 2018 (anything other than such proclamations is excluded). Considering the abject racism of the current regime, proclamations dealing with non-white peoples are infuriating and hilarious, and so, too, are the proclamations about the outdoors and oceans because of the current regime’s war on the environment. So, if the current occupant had finally issued a proclamation of LGBT Pride Month, that, too, would have been hollow and meaningless.

However, the fact that current occupant didn’t make what would have been an empty, meaningless gesture toward LGBT people shows how much the current regime despises us—and how much they think people will focus only on the lack of a proclamation, and not on what it really means.

In June, 2016, the then-Republican candidate Tweeted (of course…) his “thanks” to the LGBT community, and also declared, “I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs." He was lying, and we all KNEW it was a bald-faced lie. Sure, we wanted to believe him, since he repeated the claim several times in front of his fervent fans who on their best days hate LGTB+ people passionately. Since the election, however, he’s spent his time in office proving how much of a lie it was. Consider:

• “Trump administration amasses striking anti-LGBT record in first year” By Sean Cahill, The Hill – January 19, 2018
• “Trump promised to be LGBTQ-friendly. His first year in office proved it was a giant con.” By German Lopez, Vox – January 22, 2018
• “Trump administration dismantles LGBT-friendly policies” By Dan Diamond, Politico, February 19, 2018
• “Ivanka Lied: Donald Trump is the Most Anti-LGBT President in History” By David Badash, Alternet – June 3, 2018

Many people believe, and I agree, that the current regime’s war on LGBT+ Americans is actually the work of Vice President Mike “PLEASE don’t leave me alone with a woman who’s not my wife!!!” Pence, who has always been a viciously anti-gay bigot and a religious zealot who wants to turn the USA into an extremist “Christian” theocracy. He has been working with other far-right religious extremists in the current regime to strip away the human rights of LGBT+ Americans—and they have succeeded beyond their wettest (but chaste!) dreams.

In fact, this is the entire reason that the “Christian” Right in the USA fawns and swoons at the very mention of the name of the current occupant, despite the fact he’s a serial “adulterer”, an admitted “fornicator”, among many other “sins”. It’s not really about him at all, but about Pence’s many successes, such as, attacking the human rights and citizenship of LGBT+ Americans, making abortion all but illegal, and installing far, FAR right extremist religious zealots as federal judges, people who can be counted on to further the extremist religious agenda for decades to come.

Last month, the head of a far-right anti-LGBT hate group declared in a radio interview that, “literally we are a few months away” from ensuring that marriage equality and abortion rights are overturned. All they need for that to happen is for Supreme Court Associate Justice Kennedy to die or retire, or, obviously, any one of the four more liberal justices. Kennedy voted with the majority to enact marriage equality and to overturn state anti-sodomy laws, so replacing him would give the radical rightwing religionists the crucial fifth vote they need to overturn the rulings that they hate the most. If they hold the US Senate after the elections in November, that becomes a very real possibility.

Most Americans have no idea how far the USA has travelled down the road toward becoming an authoritarian “Christian” theocracy thanks to Pence. That’s why no matter what the current occupant says or does, they will do nothing to remove him from office: The current occupant’s bizarre and unhinged behaviour, his trouble with porn actresses he’s had affairs with, and whatever his latest Twitter tantrum is, all provide ample distraction so that no one notices what Pence has been doing to America. If Mike became president, the majority of ordinary Americans would know and would do everything in their power to stop his extremist religious agenda, since it is the opposite of what they want.

That’s what makes the lack of an LGBT Pride Month proclamation so surprising: It provided the perfect opportunity to further hide what they’re really up to with no real cost to them. The fact they didn’t shows the power that Pence and his “Christian” co-conspirators have, such that even that empty and meaningless gesture was too much—going too far for them. And, the current occupant’s pathological hatred of President Obama means it would have been easy to get him to refuse to issue a proclamation precisely because President Obama issued one all eight years he was president: Whatever President Obama did, the current occupant is sure to do the exact opposite. In this case, this also suits the agenda of Pence and his gang.

The USA is in a very precarious position right now, perched on the edge of cliff, teetering between pulling back and recovering, or falling to its national death. Republicans are busy greasing the ground, hoping to push the country past the point of no return, and the only thing between them and success is democracy, specifically, the elections in November.

So, the current occupant’s continued refusal to issue a Pride Month proclamation is a clear example of how little they’re worried about being discovered or stopped. Sure there are voters who are well aware of the extremist agenda of this gang, and if they all really vote, that will help to stop the USA falling off that cliff—but they’ll need more voters to joing them in ensuring Democrats re-take both houses of Congress in November. Whether all the scandals and bizarre behaviour of the current occupant will be enough to help bring about the massive wave Democrats need is a huge and unanswerable question. The alternative, however, is truly terrifying.

The lack of an LGBT+ Pride Month Proclamation, which from this regime would be an insulting and offensive slap in the face for LGBT+ Americans, isn’t important. The ONLY thing that matters is what this regime is doing to the USA, and whether it can be stopped in time.

Can it?