What did Donald Trump do today?
He issued a statement "celebrating" protections for LGBT people, except in the United States.
After years of Trump completely ignoring LGBT Pride Month, his staff issued a one-paragraph statement urging Americans to "stand in solidarity" with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in "dozens of countries worldwide" where they are mistreated.
Since taking office, Trump has—among other things—
- worked to make it harder for same-sex couples to adopt
- allowed federal contractors to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation
- banned transgender Americans from serving in the U.S. military, an action that he took without consulting the military itself, and
- fought in court to make it legal for employers to fire workers because they think they're gay or transgender.
Trump himself doesn't appear to have strong personal feelings about any of these things. Instead, these sudden changes in policy seem to be his best attempts to guess what certain parts of his political base want.
Why should I care about this?
- It's wrong to say one thing and do another.
- Policy should be made based on what is best for the country, not what's best for the political health of the president.