US

Vox Upset That Trump Doesn’t Openly Acknowledge Pride Month

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Vox criticized President Donald Trump Wednesday for failing to recognize “Pride Month” as a hallowed tradition for LGBTQ citizens, a community that both former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton lauded during their times in office.

Trump “promised to protect LGBTQ people” during his campaign, but he failed to even give a passing acknowledgement to June as Pride Month, Vox said. Following the Obergefell v. Hodges decision that permitted same-sex marriage, the Obama administration showed their support by lighting up the White House in rainbow colors. Many activists now see Trump’s lack of visual support for the LGBTQ community as proof that he is not a strong supporter of gay rights.

“This lack of action comes despite Trump’s promises on the campaign trail that he will protect ‘L, G, B, T … Q’ people, even posing with the rainbow flag to signal that he’s a different kind of Republican on these issues,” Vox said. “Many people in LGBTQ communities were skeptical of his promises, but they were commitments that Trump made.”

Ever since the 2016 terror attack at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fla., the LGBTQ community has stressed the importance of educating the public on homophobia within the United States.

“By forgoing something as simple as declaring June as Pride Month, Trump has shown how unserious he was about his promises,” Vox said. “Orlando demonstrated to the movement and others why celebrating Pride each year was still necessary: despite all the legal and cultural progress in the past few years, someone still felt emboldened enough to launch a horrific attack in an LGBTQ space.”

“By failing to recognize Pride Month even as the anniversary of such an attack approaches, Trump has offered yet another reminder about the progress left to be made,” Vox said.

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