Blog Stage 7: Goodbye Civil Rights

       With a tweet, the President’s favored form of communication, Donald Trump vowed to fight for the LGBT community in June of last year. Now, over a year later, the President’s actions could not be further from what he promised. The President has proven that the LGBT community means nothing more to him than a hollow campaign strategy with the Trump administration’s infringement on LGBT rights.

       The attack on the LGBT began as soon as Trump was sworn in with the removal of all content related to LGBT civil rights from whitehouse.gov back in January. This action is a clear encroachment on LGBT rights and yet it was not noticed by nearly enough people nor did it receive the backlash it deserved. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of the Trump administration’s plan for LGBT rights. During the Obama administration, protections were granted to transgender students so they could safely use their corresponding restrooms in public schools. These protections were quickly revoked in February. In April, the Justice Department dropped a federal lawsuit concerning North Carolina’s “bathroom bill, no doubt due to the new President’s disinterest with civil rights. In July, the Trump administration continued their assault by again revoking protections to the LGBT community, but this time removing those preventing discrimination in the workplace. Trump received the most media backlash when he announced his intent to ban all transgender people from the military. Criticism of the military ban was widespread, especially among celebrities who took to social media to voice their disapproval.

       The attack on LGBT civil rights by the Trump administration is hard not to see, yet it is not being fought with much ferocity. With all the Trump scandals, it seems Americans are tired and disenthused with the government, electing stay at home rather than fight these cruel policies. This cannot be the civilian response that goes down in history. We need to organize and call our senators, letting our concerns be heard and fight back.