Senior Republican believes Trump will roll back LGBT rights
By Will Stroude
A senior Republican politician has said he’s received “very positive signals” that Donald Trump will roll back LGBT+ rights when he becomes President of the United States next month.
Despite a number of pro-equality soundbites, Trump made several pledges throughout his election campaign that threatened LGBT+ rights, including promising to appoint conservative Supreme Court justices and supporting the First Amendment Defense Act, which seeks to allow “religious freedom” to discriminate against people based on sexual orientation and gender equality.
According to reports, every one of the President-elect’s cabinet selections so far has expressed anti-LGBT views.
Now, Oklahoma Representative Steve Russell, who believes people should be able to discriminate against the LGBT+ community on religious grounds, has told BuzzFeed that he feels “encouraged” by the recent nominations.
Discussing his disappointment at his religious freedom amendment being stripped from a federal defence-spending bill which was passed on Friday (2 December), he said he believed he would prevail eventually.
“These issues will be resolved, and we have gotten some very good assurances moving forward,” he said. “I am certainly encouraged by the signs that I am getting from the administration that is inbound.”
Trump is yet to deny or confirm his stance in light of these comments.