Even though the Republican National Committee claims “President Trump Has Taken Unprecedented Steps To Protect The LGBTQ Community,” which the Human Rights Campaign refutes, the RNC’s recycled platform acts as a dog whistle for the Conservative Christians in the Grand Old Party.
Members of the RNC’s executive committee held a meeting on the evening of Wednesday, June 10 to approve a scaled down convention in Charlotte, North Carolina for official business while Jacksonville, Florida plays host to the Trump’s acceptance speech as the Republican presidential nominee.
During this meeting, it was decided to keep the RNC’s 2016 platform in place for another four years. The reasoning behind this move was to prevent passage of a new platform by delegates at the Charlotte convention.
The 2016 Republican platform includes language on the opposition of same-sex marriage:
Traditional marriage and family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is the foundation for a free society and has for millennia been entrusted with rearing children and instilling cultural values. We condemn the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor, which wrongly removed the ability of Congress to define marriage policy in federal law…. In Obergefell v Hodges, five unelected lawyers robbed 320 million Americans of their legitimate constitutional authority to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The Court twisted the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment beyond recognition.
Also, included in the 2016 platform is the endorsement of conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth:
We support the ability of all organizations to provide, purchase, or enroll in healthcare coverage consistent with their religious, moral, or ethical convictions without discrimination or penalty. We support the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.
In an editorial in the Los Angeles Times, Seth Masket, professor of political science and director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver, explained:
In four years, the Republican Party has shifted in its priorities. The 2016 platform calls for a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriages, an issue that has dropped in priority for the GOP and could prove more of a political embarrassment this year. The old platform also included coded support for gay conversion therapy. Republican candidates may find the need to distance themselves from their own platform this year.
Masket also elaborated how the Republicans, in abandoning the chance to write a new platform, have abandoned their individual beliefs for their belief in Trump.
On his Twitter page on Friday, Trump requested a new platform from the Republican National Committee.
The Republican Party has not yet voted on a Platform. No rush. I prefer a new and updated Platform, short form, if possible.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2020
Meanwhile, on the fourth anniversary of the shootings at the Orlando, Florida LGBTQ nightclub, Pulse, the Trump Administration removed nondiscrimination protections concerning healthcare and health insurance for LGBTQ people, especially transgender individuals.
Sources: ABC News, Republican National Committee, Human Rights Campaign, Los Angeles Times, Donald Trump Official Twitter Page, NPR,
