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[MIMIC]

But GAF told me on November 10 that he's actually progressive on LGBT issues.

Remember?

If there was one thing that Trump appeared to be progressive on, it was LGBT rights. He flip flopped from Democrat to Independent to Republican so you can't exactly say that you knew what his true feelings were. Like a writer from The Washington Post wrote, his stance has always been "confusing."

Though these actions aren't necessarily surprising coming from a Republican administration, they are surprising coming from President Trump. At times, he has appeared to wholeheartedly support the LGBT community. But throughout his presidential campaign, the actual degree of his support was less clear.

In 2000, Trump seemed to wholeheartedly support LGBT rights. In an interview with the Advocate about his presidential ambitions, he said he supported amending the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

“I like the idea of amending the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include a ban of discrimination based on sexual orientation. It would be simple,” he said. “It would be straightforward. We don’t need to rewrite the laws currently on the books, although I do think we need to address hate-crimes legislation.”

He attributed his stance to the fact that he “grew up in New York City, a town with different races, religions, and peoples. It breeds tolerance.”

Trump said in the same interview that if he became president, sexual orientation wouldn’t be considered in hiring for his administration. “If the best person for the job happens to be gay, I would certainly appoint them,” he said.

Given how much Trump has oscillated on the issue of LGBT rights, it’s difficult to pin down his true views on the matter. He may indeed be farther to the left on this than many of his fellow Republicans. True, he has stated his support for LGBT Americans in the past. But when you’re president, actions speak louder than words.

 

[Red]

He chose Pence as his running mate. That nullified any doubt about where he drew the line.

It doesn’t matter what he’s done in the past. It doesn’t matter. His actions two decades ago do not factor into his current pattern. He is behaving in the way he believes is most expedient, and in the way that most effectively erases Obama’s progressivism.

 

[Monkeyball]

I'M TRYING EVERYTHING I CAN BUT NOTHING IS WORKING.

HE DOESN'T GO AWAY.

Spoiler

I really hate comments like yours. So, so much.

What are you trying?

 

[royalan]

Evan McMullin speaks out against Trump but where was he when his fellow republicans in Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin were disenfranchising black voters? No republican deserves praise for badmouthing Trump when they were silent about all the heinous bullshit their party carried out for generations. Too many liberals are being way too quick to label these assholes "moderates" or "reasonable" when they're the very same people who helped create the environment that allowed Trump to win.

Amen.

Cool your jets. I may be Republican, but, no, I did not vote for Trump or any Republican last election.

There are good Republican candidates out there. However, the current climate is pushing for more extremist and volatile ones instead. I'd say every single individual Trump campaigned against was more qualified and better tempered, but the Republican people chose the blithering orange idiot.

I couldn't support that, or anyone who supported him, so I didn't.

But I'm still conservative. My values are still pretty consistent. But the party itself changed into something wholly unrecognizable to me. Or, rather, the scales fell from my eyes and I realized the "values" they espouse are ones they merely pay lip service to in order to get a vote, then immediately discard.

You're a lot like my step-father. He's very conservative. A religious, church every Sunday, small government, do-for-yourself kind of guy.

But he would never in a million years vote Republican. And why? Because a political party is more than what they write on a platform somewhere and then ignore. The undeniable truth is that the Republican party has not stood for true conservative values in decades. Fuck what they claim to believe, follow what they do. Follow what the people they support do. This is the party that has traded in racism, destructive government, ass-backward social standards (NOT "conservative", ass-backward) and corporatism for decades. This is the party of anti-science, of anti education. This IS the party that gave us Donald Trump. That can't just be excused because some conservatives want to feel good about the party they chose, and absolve them for laying the ground for exactly somebody like Donald Fucking Trump.

And so my stepdad would do anything but support that party. Because you don't have to be a Republican to be conservative. Hell, believe it or not, you can even be a Democrat. My dad islike a lot of older black people.

The Republican party does not deserve a single vote from any well meaning American who actually gives a shit about this country. Nor do they deserve pity.

 

[Kaiterra]

He chose Pence as his running mate. That nullified any doubt about where he drew the line.

It doesn’t matter what he’s done in the past. It doesn’t matter. His actions two decades ago do not factor into his current pattern. He is behaving in the way he believes is most expedient, and in the way that most effectively erases Obama’s progressivism.

Yeah, he ran as a Republican, red flag #1, he played to evangelicals, red flag #2, then he picked Pence, BURNING RED FLAG #3

 

[Measley]

I wonder how LGBT folks who voted for Trump feel right about now.

 

[Kaiterra]

You're a lot like my step-father. He's very conservative. A religious, church every Sunday, small government, do-for-yourself kind of guy.

But he would never in a million years vote Republican. And why? Because a political party is more than what they write on a platform somewhere and then ignore. The undeniable truth is that the Republican party has not stood for true conservative values in decades. Fuck what they claim to believe, follow what they do. Follow what the people they support do. This is the party that has traded in racism, destructive government, ass-backward social standards (NOT "conservative", ass-backward) and corporatism for decades. This is the party of anti-science, of anti education. This IS the party that gave us Donald Trump. That can't just be excused because some conservatives want to feel good about the party they chose, and absolve them for laying the ground for exactly somebody like Donald Fucking Trump.

And so my stepdad would do anything but support that party. Because you don't have to be a Republican to be conservative. Hell, believe it or not, you can even be a Democrat. My dad islike a lot of older black people.

The Republican party does not deserve a single vote from any well meaning American who actually gives a shit about this country. Nor do they deserve pity.

One thing that's telling to me is that in another community I'm in, very heavily liberal, leftist or non-political, with some libertarian representation too, we had one primary member who was an avowed conservative Republican, and before the election, this guy was all "Trump is so gross, I'm embarrassed about him, don't paint us reasonable moderate Republicans with the same brush, honestly I'm thinking of voting for Gary Johnson or writing in McMullin or just not voting blah blah blah"

But then after the election, of course, the rest of us had a lot of shit to bitch about together. Mostly about Trump of course. And this atmosphere is what drove him to start repeatedly bitching about what a biased, oppressive echo chamber the place was, unfair to people with his views, which is strange because if he was so disgusted with Trump and if his views are so reasonable, why would he be so upset???

Well one day somewhat recently it comes to a head. This guy starts bitching again and we start trying to interface with him and eventually he breaks out in a rant about how he thinks all LGBT people are faking it for attention and are all in on a conspiracy to destroy the values that society holds and all kinds of crazy shit like that.

So uh yeah I don't trust Republicans that describe themselves as moderate or reasonable, and opposition to Trump definitely does not by itself a reasonable man make.

 

[Shoeless]

I wonder how LGBT folks who voted for Trump feel right about now.

Well, if they're similar to other Republicans then the need to be right, the need to "win" and the need to avoid being laughed at by libtards and admitting a mistake are more important than any sense of self-preservation.

 

[Tarydax]

Evan McMullin speaks out against Trump but where was he when his fellow republicans in Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin were disenfranchising black voters? No republican deserves praise for badmouthing Trump when they were silent about all the heinous bullshit their party carried out for generations. Too many liberals are being way too quick to label these assholes "moderates" or "reasonable" when they're the very same people who helped create the environment that allowed Trump to win.

Agreed.

Like most Republicans, McMullin's real problem with Trump isn't what he says or does, but how he says/does it. The guy actually supports most of Trump's agenda, he just doesn't like that he (Trump) is incompetent and that he criticizes other Republicans in such a direct and aggressive way. The sad reality is that there really are no moderate or reasonable Republicans left.

 

[BenjiGAF]

"Dangerous Gay Practices" makes it sound like a sports thing without helmets or pads. Like a gay scrimmage.

Spoiler

Are there also Dangerous Gay Tryouts? How do i join?

 

[tedtropy]

This isn't some personal condemnation against you, and I appreciate that you're apparently one of the increasingly few sane Republicans that embrace the traditional tenants of their party, but I have always hated the label "pro-life". As though anyone that were for the legality and access of abortions were somehow "anti-life". It's an inherently loaded term and the right knows it. Everyone wants less abortions. One side is ok with decreasing safe access to them for the sake of their beliefs and I don't see how that qualifies as being "ra-ra-life!"

I was born in a conservative family, registered as a Republican, and voted Republican for over a decade.

I still believe in the tenants of conservatism for many things. I'm Pro-Life, for instance, and also religious. Etc. etc.

But I'm also not INSANE. A large portion of the Republican leaders we have are bigots, misogynists, and racists, and I have no stomach for it. The insane thing to me is "Conservative/GOP" individuals (of whom it's growing to encompass the WHOLE party) making things political that shouldn't be. They should be things any DECENT individual should stand behind, regardless of politics.

Equality for all people, regardless of race, religion, or creed. That shouldn't be "political". That's our foundation.

And yet, yeah, we've enough people in positions of power, and their supporters endorsing them, that want a nation exclusively of their comfort and security. They fear "the other" and their politicians, FOX News, and circle of peers feeds them the phobias of scary "others" - be they big, scary black men, the homosexual agenda, the murderous Islamic aliens here to impose Sharia Law, the drug-dealing and murdering Mexican immigrants taking our women and jobs, etc.

You want to know what the "party of Lincoln" truly is? Afraid to death of their own shadow, and of every individual out there that doesn't think like them, act like them, believe like them, pray like them, eat like them, breed like them, speak like them... Because they've been conditioned for years and years to fear that change, and embrace the "conservatism" that the status quo is always better than change, that a "negative peace" is better than even attempting a "positive change".

I spent twenty years of my life like that. I'm probably a Republican-in-name-only at this point, an alien in my own party and estranged from my own family.

But I can only blame them for that. As I told my mother after she voted for Trump, "Mom, he's everything you raised me not to be, and everything our Bible instructs me to avoid."

Call me Ishmael, I guess.

 

[Saint Gregory]

If there was one thing that Trump appeared to be progressive on, it was LGBT rights. He flip flopped from Democrat to Independent to Republican so you can't exactly say that you knew what his true feelings were. Like a writer from The Washington Post wrote, his stance has always been "confusing."

I know it's beyond a joke at this point but I really don't believe that Trump remembers from day to day what his stances are on these issues. Even Bannon said recently in an interview that they could manipulate him by just making sure whatever they position they wanted him to take on a an issue was the last opinion he was presented. He may act as if he never said anything about LGBT rights when asked tomorrow, just as he thinks everything is just fine in Puerto Rico. He's not all there mentally.

 

[Tezzeractor]

I know some people don't find it shocking anymore, but I'm in disbelief of everything he does. This is insane.

 

[rjinaz]

I know it's beyond a joke at this point but I really don't believe that Trump remembers from day to day what his stances are on these issues. Even Bannon said recently in an interview that they could manipulate him by just making sure whatever they position they wanted him to take on a an issue was the last opinion he was presented. He may act as if he never said anything about LGBT rights when asked tomorrow, just as he thinks everything is just fine in Puerto Rico. He's not all there mentally.

It's two things. One, what did Obama do I must do the opposite. Two, what did the last person I spoke to say about it.

 

[Eusis]

Agreed.

Like most Republicans, McMullin's real problem with Trump isn't what he says or does, but how he says/does it. The guy actually supports most of Trump's agenda, he just doesn't like that he (Trump) is incompetent and that he criticizes other Republicans in such a direct and aggressive way. The sad reality is that there really are no moderate or reasonable Republicans left.

Which is frustrating in that I'm not 100% sure that other options on the right would be better. The damage to foreign relations is the most obvious fuck up relative to the others, but how much shit would they have successfully passed that he can't?

 

[entremet]

Trump is a disgusting and dangerous clown that should've never gotten this office.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Is he dead yet from a major heart attack? No? Fuck. Oh well, hopefully tomorrow.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

I never fell for Trump's LGBT rhetoric, but there was a point in time where I did legit think if nothing else he might be good for gun control---only because he didn't strike me as obsessed with the 2nd amendment, and since he was the outsider I thought he wouldn't need to bow down to the NRA.

Well, needless to say I was wrong.

 

[Garlador]

This isn't some personal condemnation against you, and I appreciate that you're apparently one of the increasingly few sane Republicans that embrace the traditional tenants of their party, but I have always hated the label "pro-life". As though anyone that were for the legality and access of abortions were somehow "anti-life". It's an inherently loaded term and the right knows it. Everyone wants less abortions. One side is ok with decreasing safe access to them for the sake of their beliefs and I don't see how that qualifies as being "ra-ra-life!"

It's how the side is labelled, though. Just as the other side is not necessarily "anti-life", we are not always "anti-choice".

I have pretty good reasons for my own stance, and I acknowledge that pro-choice advocates are literally not sitting there wishing to drink the blood of unborn babies, but that's a topic for a different discussion.

The heart of the matter, in all my statements, is that I come from a very conservative background... and for many people I know who voted for Trump - people I would otherwise attest to being good, honest, hard-working, family-centered, religiously-conscience, and morally upright - the cognitive dissonance and cultural brainwashing is DEEPLY ingrained.

I was in the thick of it... until I escaped that bubble.

You support a party that pushes LGBT bigotry.

I'm sick of caring about conservative feelings. So what, you don't support them now, but you'll support them later once Trump and the teapartiers are gone? You'll still be supporting bigots, and sounds like you've supported bigots in the past.

Whoa there... Geez.

That's some mighty big assumptions there.

I'll support someone who I feel is right for the job, REGARDLESS of politics or political leaning. I've voted Democrat, Independent, and Republican before based on the people in the ballot.

Check your assumptions. I've voted for people I regret voting for before, I've voted for people I'm proud to have supported from the start, and I've learned to do my homework and vote for more than just an "R" or "D" next to a name on a ballot.

I will NEVER support bigots, NEVER support misogynists, and NEVER support anyone who espouses a doctrine that breeds on racial inequality.

But this sort of anger you have towards me is pretty misplaced. It's healthier to direct it towards the individuals who AREN'T trying to change the hearts and minds of the conservative friends and family I spent my life with.

 

[NoRéN]

He chose Pence as his running mate. That nullified any doubt about where he drew the line.

It doesn’t matter what he’s done in the past. It doesn’t matter. His actions two decades ago do not factor into his current pattern. He is behaving in the way he believes is most expedient, and in the way that most effectively erases Obama’s progressivism.

Yeah, he ran as a Republican, red flag #1, he played to evangelicals, red flag #2, then he picked Pence, BURNING RED FLAG #3

Yup. Anyone trying to say that, "we just couldn't tell this would happen" is a bullshit artist just like 45.

 

[To Far Away Times]

He's literally delivering hate speech to an established hate group.

Impeachment yesterday, please.

 

[Timedog]

Dude you can buy Mein Kampf on Amazon. Free speech is free speech.

Whether or not you're able to buy something on Amazon has nothing to do with free speech.

Seemingly no one actually understands what free speech is anymore.

 

[Angelus Errare]

If there was one thing that Trump appeared to be progressive on, it was LGBT rights. He flip flopped from Democrat to Independent to Republican so you can't exactly say that you knew what his true feelings were. Like a writer from The Washington Post wrote, his stance has always been "confusing."

How did he appear to be progressive, all he did was hold up a flag and make a tweet about Hillary not being good for LGBT. That's it! Like was the bar that low for Trump that those two things alone made him some shining beacon for hope for LGBT folks? Like what kind of cognitive dissonance must have kicked in to see this man shit on EVERYONE not white, and Christian but somehow think he was gonna be pro LGBT?

Whether or not you're able to buy something on Amazon has nothing to do with free speech.

Seemingly no one actually understands what free speech is anymore.

Studies have shown that people who yell out "Free speech" the most are the folks least likely to understand what freedom of speech actually is.

 

[Red]

Many people seemed to place their hopes and dreams in Trump’s hands, regardless of his behavior, regardless of if that behavior directly contradicted those hopes and dreams. It was collective madness. Mass delusion and magical thinking.

“He won’t do that”
“He doesn’t mean it”
“He knows what he’s doing”

It is difficult to feel sympathy for those people who will feel the consequences of this, if they voted for Trump in the face of abundant evidence of his will and intent.

 

[Saint Gregory]

How did he appear to be progressive, all he did was hold up a flag and make a tweet about Hillary not being good for LGBT. That's it! Like was the bar that low for Trump that those two things alone made him some shining beacon for hope for LGBT folks? Like what kind of cognitive dissonance must have kicked in to see this man shit on EVERYONE not white, and Christian but somehow think he was gonna be pro LGBT?

It wouldn't surprise me at this point if it turned out to be more social media manipulation by the Russian trolls but there was definitely an impression given during the campaign that Trump was more of an ally to the LGBT community due to some of his past statements and Hillary's positions against gay marriage earlier in her career. No one really should have been confused in my opinion but there were also an impression that somehow Trump was less racist towards black people since he hadn't said anything specifically negative about us during the campaign whereas Hillary had the "super predator" issue and her support of her husband's mass incarceration initiatives. It was like somehow Trump was constantly being judged on what he was saying in the here and now in spite of his past and lack of honesty while Hillary was constantly being judged against her long term record as opposed to how she feels about these issues today.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Look at this gem, don't know if it was before or after his visit to this hate group where he spoke. But in an interview with the new yorker magazine he jokes about Pence wants to hang them all. Talking about gay people.

God, I hate this man.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/23/the-danger-of-president-pence