Staten Island Councilmember David Carr, the one Republican member of the LGBTQIA+ Caucus, speaks at a acknowledged assembly on Feb. 12.
Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit
The queer neighborhood’s widespread anger boiled over within the aftermath of the Trump administration’s removing of a Rainbow Flag from the Stonewall Nationwide Monument, however many main LGBTQ Republicans are usually not talking out concerning the concern in any respect.
Amongst others, Staten Island Councilmember David Carr — the one GOP metropolis lawmaker within the Metropolis Council — additionally didn’t reply to a request for touch upon Feb. 17. His fellow colleagues within the Metropolis Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus rallied on the Stonewall Nationwide Monument simply hours earlier than activists and elected officers re-raised the Rainbow Flag on Feb. 12. Nonetheless, Carr discovered time to submit a Presidents’ Day message on Fb, writing, “The United States has had a rich history of Presidents from 1789 to present. Today, we celebrate all of their achievements, the forthcoming birthday of our first President, George Washington, and the powerful example he has been to all his successors.”
The Log Cabin Republicans of New York’s solely Instagram submit for the reason that flag’s removing previewed a “Wine Wednesday” occasion slated for Feb. 18. The caption learn: “Join us next week!” The Instagram web page for Log Cabin Republicans’ nationwide group, then again, posted a photograph of Donald Trump surrounded by hearts and a cation that reads: “This Valentine’s Day, find someone that loves you as much as President Trump loves America!” The group additionally posted on Instagram to have fun Presidents’ Day.
The Log Cabin Republicans are largely out of step with most of the LGBTQ neighborhood’s broader political priorities. Whereas a lot of the LGBTQ neighborhood is combating to guard the rights of transgender student-athletes to take part in sports activities in accordance with their gender id, Log Cabin Republicans’ interim government director, Ed Williams, expressed opposition to inclusive sports activities insurance policies in a written assertion final month. Williams accused “activists on the far left” of getting “spent years attempting to undermine the hard-won progress women achieved under Title IX by erasing meaningful distinctions based on biological sex.”
“As LGBT conservatives, we firmly believe that respect and dignity for transgender Americans cannot and should not come at the expense of equality for women,” Williams stated within the Jan. 13 assertion.
The group has additionally expressed opposition to gender-affirming look after youth. When the Supreme Courtroom upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming look after youth, Log Cabin stated the choice was “not anti-trans” however slightly “a historic and critical win for children and common-sense.”
The dearth of GOP criticism of the removing of the flag is in step with the broader Republican Occasion’s tendency to oppose LGBTQ rights and its hesitance to cross the president. Throughout a press convention on the Stonewall Nationwide Monument on Feb. 15, Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer expressed some doubt — however nonetheless held out hope — when requested if he anticipated any Republican help for his new laws to guard the Rainbow Flag by making it a congressionally-authorized flag.
“When we did the [Respect for Marriage Act], we did get bipartisan support,” Schumer stated. “It’s a different world, with Trump and all of his horrible, hateful minions, but we’re going to fight to get bipartisan support.”
