There’s good chance you aren’t familiar with the men and women who are being slowly elevated to members of Donald Trump’s cabinet.
If they’re names and faces you’ve never seen before, then perhaps you should know this: so far, there’s nobody within Trump’s cabinet who will support the basic human rights of those who identify as part of the LGBTIQ community.
These are just a handful of the people who now hold significant positions of power within the most significant and powerful government in the world.
Jeff Sessions
Jeff Sessions has just been named Attorney-General, and although he said he supported LGBT rights throughout the campaign trail a quick look at his history tells a slightly different story.
The Huffington Post last month ran an article titled, "Pick Any LGBTQ Rights Issue. Jeff Sessions Has Voted Against It."
Some of the highlights? Sessions has voted in support of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and twice against the push to expand the definition of hate crimes to include attacks on people because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Nikki Haley
South Carolina governor Nikki Haley will serve as the ambassador to the United Nations and has not had a solid track record when it comes to protecting the rights of the LGBTIQ community.
Just this year, presidents of seven evangelical Christian colleges asked the Governer to protect them after a mandate on the use of bathrooms by transgender students meant they would have to allow transgender students to use their preferred bathroom.
In response, Haley did not shut down their plea.
“South Carolina has a proud tradition of upholding religious freedom,” she said in a response provided to The Associated Press.
“I look forward to working with the universities to make sure we continue to honour that tradition.”
Additionally, in 2010 she is quoted as saying marriage is between “one man and one woman,” and three years later backed a South Carolina ban on same-sex marriage.
Mike Pompeo
Mike Pompeo will serve as the Director of the C.I.A. During a 2014 interview with a Kansas State University radio station, Pompeo outlined his opinion of same-sex marriage.
“I don’t agree with [same-sex marriage]. I think marriage ought to continue to be between one man and one woman," he said.
“I think as you look back at civilisation, look back at history, you find the strength of these families having a father and a mother is the ideal condition for childbearing.
"Doesn’t mean there aren’t great families with single parents, great young men and women raised without either parent. If you’re asking for what is ideal, I think it’s being raised by a man and a woman.”
Additionally, Pompeo has a zero rating with the Human Rights Campaign and voted to protect anti-same-sex marriage opinions as free speech while serving in congress.
Betsy DeVos
Betsy DeVos will be Trump's Education secretary.
DeVos and her family reportedly donated $400,000 to victims of the Orlando shooting, which is positive. However, many believe her consistent opposition to LGBTIQ rights overrides this one, albeit generous, donation.
According to Politico, DeVos and her husband Dick DeVos have “given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group whose founder called the battle against LGBT rights a ‘second civil war.’”
According to Pink News, DeVos family organisations have also made large donations to anti-gay marriage causes. It is believed they donated $500,000 to the National Organisation for Marriage, and $100,000 to Florida4Marriage.
Reince Priebus
Reince Priebus is Trump’s new chief of staff.
He doesn't have a voting record, however, it's not difficult to uncover his personal stance on LGBTIQ issues. As chairman of the Republican Party, he arguably spearheaded one of the most anti-LGBT platforms to date, which pushed for the repeal of same-sex marriage.
Mike Pence
Mike Pence is Trump's Vice President.
He made international news last year when he signed Indiana’s ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act’, which gave businesses the right to discriminate against gay people on the grounds of religion.
He also recently confirmed plans to roll back Barack Obama’s executive protections on LGBT rights, so that “the transgender bathroom issue can be resolved with common sense at the local level”.
Ben Carson
Ben Carson will work for Housing and urban development. In October this year, he spoke at the Pensmore National Symposium on Religious Liberty in Missouri, and said that opposition to same-sex marriage is the only thing preventing the U.S. from descending into “utter chaos.”
Carson urged his audience to be strong in their faith against an “ever-growing government.” Failure to take a strong stand against government, he warned, will lead to mass killings.
“The peace we experience now,” he added, “will be a memory only.”
During his speech, Carson also said “the transgender stuff” is “absurd” and “the same silliness as safe spaces” on college campuses.
In 2013, he compared homosexuality to bestiality."Marriage is between a man and a woman," he said.
"It's a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality - it doesn't matter what they are, they don't get to change the definition."
The people named above are just a selection of the incoming US government cabinet. Other appointments, like Mike Flynn, White House national security adviser, Elaine Chao, Transportation secretary, and Tom Price, Health and Human Services secretary all reportedly have a history of not supporting LGBTIQ rights.
Hear Mia Freedman, Rosie Waterland, Jessie Stephens and others debriefing about the US election on a special Mamamia Out Loud bonus episode, here:
Top Comments
My question is...who cares? So they dont support same sex marriage. So what? Neither do I.
I wrote a comment below about how it's not just about gay marriage, but all LGBT+ rights.
And people DO care. Funnily enough, some people think homosexual couples should be afforded the same civil rights as heterosexual couples.
God bless you Mike Pence!
Seriously? You support someone who wanted to jail homoseuxal couples for applying for marriage licences? Who believes smoking doesn't cause lung cancer? Who has said sex education shouldn't be taught in schools and that condoms don't protect against STIs? Who doesn't want LGBT+ people serving in the military? Who voted against raising the minimum wage?
Why are any of those stances worth supporting?