August 20, 2020

USA: Donald Trump Is The Most Pro Gay President In American History. He Has Been A Champion For Our Community. 20 Years Ago, LGBT Media Swooned Over Donald Trump’s Support For Gay Rights.

Fox News
written by Brooke Singman
Thursday August 20, 2020

EXCLUSIVE: Former acting Director of National Intelligence Ambassador Richard Grenell has joined the Republican National Committee as a senior adviser focused on political outreach, specifically to LGBT voters, Fox News has learned.

An RNC official told Fox News that Grenell recently joined the GOP, after serving as the first openly gay U.S. Cabinet official in history.

"As America's first openly-gay cabinet member, I can confidently say that President Trump has done more for gay and lesbian Americans than any other president, and it is not even close," Grenell said in a statement to Fox News.

Grenell went on to slam Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, saying that during his "four decades in Washington, he consistently fought against marriage equality and even threatened to cut funding for schools who taught acceptance of homosexuality."

"From President Trump's global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality to becoming the first president to support gay marriage on his first day in office, he has been a champion for our community and I am thrilled to be part of the fight to re-elect him for four more years," Grenell said.

Grenell served as U.S. ambassador to Germany from 2018 to 2020, as the presidential envoy for Kosovo-Serbia Negotiations, and as acting director of National Intelligence in 2020, where he declassified a slew of documents related to the Russia investigation.
Prior to joining the Trump administration, Grenell was a spokesman at the United Nations, and in 2012, briefly served as national security and foreign affairs spokesman for then-candidate Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. He was the first openly gay spokesman for a Republican presidential candidate.

Grenell, this week, was featured in a new ad for the Log Cabin Republicans, which claimed Trump "made history for #LGBT Americans."

Meanwhile, Grenell’s addition to the RNC comes after the party marked Pride Month in June by highlighting Trump’s speech at the United Nations calling on dozens of countries to decriminalize homosexuality, and “historic” LGBT appointments, like Grenell’s.
Earlier this week, Grenell participated in a Team Trump bus tour in Nevada. Grenell also tweeted this week, in response to Goodyear's equity policy, "Would @goodyear allow employees to wear this hat?"
USA Today
written by Robert Kabel, Chairman of Log Cabin Republicans and author of "Inside and Out: The Odyssey of a Gay Conservative"
Thursday August 20, 2020

Democrats are using their convention this week to tout their agenda for the next four years, including their promise to stand up for the lesbian and gay community. For years, Democratic Party leaders have taken for granted the lesbian and gay community — along with other minority communities — thinking they had no where else to turn. Those days are over.

I've fought for civil rights for gay Americans for the past four decades. Today, the Republican Party is delivering real results and leadership for our community:

It hasn’t always been this way. For years, the GOP generally stood against the inclusion of gay and lesbian conservatives. As one of the Republican National Committee's first openly gay members, and a longtime leader of Log Cabin Republicans, I've worked tirelessly alongside many friends and colleagues to pull the party into the future. Today, thanks in large part to the leadership of President Donald Trump, the party has delivered meaningful policy victories for gays and lesbians.

It should come as no surprise that Trump’s agenda has been a boon to the gay community. Through his philanthropic work over the years with charities combating the AIDS crisis, his previous support of amending the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation, and his early support of gay couples having the same rights and protections as straight couples, Trump was an ally long before he was president. He is likely even the first private club owner in Palm Beach, Florida, to admit an openly gay couple.

He didn’t abandon these principles when he assumed his position behind the Resolute Desk.

Working for LGBT Americans

In 2019, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced that pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences Inc., would donate pre-exposure prophylaxis medication for uninsured, high-risk HIV individuals.

As part of the president's “Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America” initiative, this medication, which could run up to as much as $20,000 per patient, per year, would be distributed to up to 200,000 individuals each year through at least Dec. 31, 2025.

The Trump plan is focused on communities most in need and has received support from those who have been involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

In similar fashion, Trump announced during Pride Month in 2019 that his administration was launching a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality. His leadership on this issue couldn’t be more necessary — even in 2020, 72 countries still identify same-sexual orientation as criminal, including eight where it is punishable by death.

This campaign was spearheaded by former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, an openly gay member of the administration who subsequently served as acting director of U.S. national intelligence, becoming the first openly gay Cabinet member in our history. In coordination with the United Nations, the European Union and other human rights organizations, the campaign’s goal is to pressure nations into ending homophobic laws, securing the safety and freedom of all LGBT individuals throughout the world.

As the Trump administration continues important strides on the world stage, the victories at home continue as well.

Actions speak louder than words

Mary Rowland, a member of the Lesbian & Gay Bar Association of Chicago, was confirmed in 2019 as a federal district judge for the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois. Additionally, Trump pick Patrick Bumatay, an openly gay Filipino American judge, was confirmed to the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit late last year.

These accomplishments should not suggest the president's work is finished.

Before being elected president, Donald Trump supported amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation; his administration's resistance to protecting gay, lesbian and transgender employees from discrimination in the workplace in the recent Supreme Court case was thus disappointing. I'd also encourage the president to reconsider his stance on transgender men and women serving in the military.

In a second term, the president must work to resolve the ongoing tension between LGBT Americans' justified demands for equality and the concerns of religious conservatives. He must work with Congress to correct the gaps in access to (and quality of) care faced by LGBT Americans.

America has come a long way in accepting the gay community, and though I’m proud of where we are, I know there is still more work to be done. As November approaches, it’s vital to elect someone who will continue this progress. That’s why in 2019, Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s largest organization of LGBT conservatives, endorsed President Donald Trump for reelection.

As Democrats spend the week declaring themselves the party of inclusivity, remember that actions speak louder than words. Today, the GOP has proved itself to be the true party of equality.

NBC News published February 20, 2019: Richard Grenell On Global LGBT Decriminalization: I'm Supported By Both Parties.

Ambassador Richard Grenell talks about his global initiative to end criminalization of homosexuality in an exclusive interview with NBC News’ Josh Lederman. The U.S. ambassador to Germany says he has bipartisan support for the cause and discusses the possibility of using economic aid as leverage to force countries to decriminalize homosexuality.

Fox Business published February 19, 2019: Trump WH aims to end global criminalization of homosexuality. Constellations Group CEO Bill White on how the Trump administration launched a global effort to end the criminalization of homosexuality.

The Rubin Report published February 23, 2020: Ambassador: Exposing UN Waste & Trump's Pro Gay Policies.

Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report talks to Richard Grenell (US Ambassador to Germany) about what it’s like to be the US Ambassador to Germany under President Trump. Richard shares his experience in getting other nations on board for Donald Trump’s policy to decriminalize homosexuality in other parts of the world. He also shares what he feels is the liberal elite’s hypocrisy on the issue of gay rights and equality. He has personally encountered many international partners who don’t understand why some Americans are vocal supporters of gay rights in the west, but remain completely silent on the issue for people around the world. Richard also discusses how LGBT groups like GLAAD, which once demanded tolerance and diversity, have changed course and support the worst aspects of cancel culture. Richard also gives an insider’s look at how the UN really operates. He describes what he sees as the extreme waste due to the UN general assembly policy of distributing resources like jobs evenly whether or not countries have people with the necessary skills or not. People end up being hired who don’t have the necessary skill set to fill quotas, and money and resources are wasted. Richard also discusses how Donald Trump has been successful at being a disrupter and breaking up groupthink. Richard details what he calls the Trump doctrine to foreign policy and whether or not it’s effective. He gives numerous examples of international policies that Barack Obama could not get accomplished that Trump and his negotiation skills have successfully gotten done. Richard also describes how an America first policy benefits us, but other nations as well. All this and more.
UPDATE 8/30/20 at 12:47pm: Added info below.

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