Lara Trump speaks to attendees at a Log Cabin/ Trump Unity event. Credit: Social Media
Picture a half-empty hotel ballroom with LGBTQ-identifying attendees outnumbered by their straight “allies.” No rainbow flags are present among the other decorations and preferred pronouns are an item constantly mocked. That was the scene last Tuesday, October 22, when the Log Cabin Republicans worked alongside the Trump Campaign to hold one of the former president’s Unity events in Charlotte.
According to a story carried by NBC news the gathering had a small crowd; with only a hundred attendees or so that evening. The actual event was reported to have as small a focus on its targeted demographic, and somehow, that was fine with the few LGBTQ+ conservatives in the room, most of whom were white men.
“I’m not voting because of marriage equality, [or] LGBTQ rights, I’m voting because I want more money in my wallet.” attendee Gage West told an NBC reporter. “I want my community safe, and I want to be able to raise a family and know that they’re going to be safe in the future.”
Among the speakers at the Tuesday event were General Matthew Whitaker, former acting Attorney; Ric Grenell, former acting Director of National Intelligence, who is himself openly gay and has spoken at all of the Unity events; and Andrew Wheeler, who previously headed the Environmental Protection Agency during the Trump administration.
Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of the former president and co-chair of the Republican Committee, also made an appearance last Tuesday. Speaking to the crowd for no more than twenty-five minutes, Laura expressed why she felt emboldened to take on a role in the RNC with a story that revisited the 2020 election and claimed “there was something nefarious” about it, but gave no evidence to back up her claim. She then shared other remarks about the upcoming election.
“Right now we are in a fight of good versus evil,” she said. “We are fighting for the future, not just of the country, but the entire world.”
What was missing from her speech? The answer: anything at all to do with the direct rights of the LGBTQ+ voters in the room.
Trump fundraiser Bill White, who also appeared at the Charlotte event and is openly gay, pushed back on the question of the former president’s commitment to LGBTQ+ equality. White challenged critics to attend an upcoming Trump rally, and pointed explicitly to the playing of the Village People’s “YMCA” as evidence of his support for our community
“What does the guy do at every rally?” White asked the crowd. “He puts his hands in the air and does his dance moves to the unofficial gay national anthem, for crying out loud.”
When Rob Smith, a conservative social media influencer who built a presence online by being a gay Black Trump supporter spoke, the topic shifted to what a second Trump presidency might accomplish for LGBTQ+ Americans. The answer? Both society and the government were already free of prejudice against the LGBTQ+ community.
“We are federally protected from discrimination — that is a fact.” Smith proclaimed to the crowd. “We have the right to get married. We have the right to serve openly in the military. So, I think… the problems this country [is] facing are far greater than any small affinity group.”
Don Webber, a 57-year-old financial services company employee also attending, tended to agree with Smith’s sentiment.
“We’re past that. We’ve reached that level of equality,” Webber said. “To me, and perhaps it’s my age, my focus is more on my kids and the grandkids, the economy, the safety of our borders.”
In 2019, when Trump was president, there was federal legislation that was put to vote that would have amended the Civil Rights Act to include anti-discrimination protections for Americans on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, known as the Equality Act. This amendment was blocked by Republicans in Congress at the time, many who are still serving.
Curiously absent from the Tuesday Trump Unity event was the former president himself. In his campaigning for a return to the White House, Trump has appeared at demographically catered events for women, as well as Black, Asian American, and Latino voters. However, Trump has never headlined or even attended any of the LGBTQ+ events himself, nor has his campaign publicly announced any plans for him to do so.