Members of the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) hosted a Trump UNITY rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 24th. The event was held in a ballroom and included approximately 100 attendees, the majority of whom were straight allies. Despite the noticeable absence of unifying and celebratory symbols like the rainbow flag, the LCR aimed to boost support for the former president among LGBTQ+ conservatives.
Speakers at the event included Lara Trump, co-chair of the RNC, former EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, and former Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), who voted for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation while in Congress before coming out as gay years later. Throughout the evening, speakers openly mocked gender pronouns from the podium and avoided discussing LGBTQ+ related concerns.
The LCR, founded in 1977, has long attempted to bridge the divide between conservative politics and LGBTQ+ rights. As the largest and oldest organization of conservative LGBTQ+ Americans, the LCR subscribes to core Republican values—limited government, a free market economy, and individual liberty—while seeking to make the party more inclusive. Members of both the LCR and the LGBTQ+ community in attendance remained largely undeterred by Trump’s past discriminatory policies.
In 2017, Trump implemented a policy restricting new recruits who identified as transgender from serving openly in the military and required current transgender service personnel to meet specific criteria to remain enlisted. Gage West, a 23-year-old gay Trump supporter in attendance, stated, “I’m not voting because of marriage equality or LGBTQ rights. I’m voting because I want more money in my wallet. I want my community safe, and I want to raise a family knowing they’re going to be safe in the future.”
Despite criticism from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, the UNITY tour presses forward. Whether these outreach efforts will resonate with LGBTQ+ voters may ultimately depend on their willingness to prioritize Trump’s economic message over his record on LGBTQ+ rights.
SOURCES
https://www.advocate.com/election/maga-gays-trump-unity-event