Sunday was the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. It could have been an opportunity for bipartisan support for President Trump’s global initiative to decriminalize homosexuality, with both sides coming together to support basic human rights for all. Instead, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden decided to exploit the international holiday and distorted the president’s gay rights record to launch a partisan attack.
Here’s what Biden wrote in an official statement marking the holiday:
Recommended Stories
But let’s review the record. Trump is the first president to enter office supportive of same-sex marriage. For all of Biden’s talk, he and Barack Obama both ran vocally against it in 2008.
Time and time again, Trump has made remarks suggesting total neutrality or even positivity toward the gay community, such as saying it’s “great” to see a gay man, Pete Buttigieg, running for office and tweeting out his recognition of Pride Month. Trump has also given his blessing to his administration’s aforementioned international campaign to decriminalize homosexuality.
As we celebrate LGBT Pride Month and recognize the outstanding contributions LGBT people have made to our great Nation, let us also stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people who live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute individuals….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2019
To be sure, Trump’s de facto ban on transgender military service is an example of an unfair, anti-transgender policy. However, Biden and Obama enforced a transgender military ban for the first seven years of their administration. They only repealed it shortly before leaving in 2016. Were they evil and transphobic that entire time?
It’s a bit rich for Biden to blast Trump over a policy he himself supported and even enforced until practically yesterday.
As far as some of Biden’s other statements, such as Trump “giving safe harbor to hate” and “failing to address the epidemic of violence against transgender people,” these are both ridiculous and vague to to the point of meaningless. Trump does associate with some characters who have anti-gay views, but he also has appointed numerous gay judges, officials, and aides.
As far as “the epidemic of violence against transgender people,” it’s unclear what Biden means. It is true that transgender individuals are murdered at high rates, but it is not true that most of these murders are actually hate crimes or because they’re transgender. Moreover, there’s no reason to think Trump somehow secretly condones these crimes, and it’s unclear what exactly Biden thinks a president can do about them.
The country’s largest grassroots organization of gay and transgender Republicans has already publicly decried Biden’s remarks.
“Former Vice President Biden’s memory must be failing him, but LGBTQ individuals at home and abroad know they are safer now under President Donald Trump’s leadership than ever before,” Log Cabin Republicans Managing Director Charles Moran said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “[The Obama/Biden administration] dragged their feet on LGBTQ equality issues until it was politically expedient for them and got caught in the act. I’m not sure what reality Joe Biden is living in, but it’s not one based on any kind of accomplishments he can take credit for.”
All in all, this is just another cheap identity politics attack from the former vice president. But Biden should be very careful about picking the gay rights fight with Trump — his own record doesn’t exactly shine when held to any shred of serious scrutiny.
