Mark the day on your calendar as Nov. 8, 2016: the day Donald J. Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States of America. Throughout the entire election process last night, social media was rattled, or as the kids now say “shook,” at what they were witnessing in front of their very eyes.
A prominent trend of the social media chatter were seen on Twitter and Tumblr. Series of sympathetic posts regarding concerns to all individuals who identify as any of the following: Latino, LGBT+, female, Muslim, or any other form of minority in America.
The point that I am trying to make here is that all of those claiming to the LGBT+ community have a new reality of hardship to face in this country after everything that has been fought for already.
From what was seen from the Pulse Nightclub shooting, Trump did respond once by sending prayers to the families of the victims, but, the fact is that Trump is incapable of showing real sympathy for the 49 deaths and 53 injured people involved. Instead, hardly an hour later, Trump was well prepared to use the situation to prove that he was “right” in regards to terrorism: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/742034549232766976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
If anything, the lack of actual care for the nation’s largest mass shooting should be noted. But, not only is Trump a thorn in the side for the LGBT+ community, his vice presidential choice is not a ray of hope either.
For those who do not know, Trump’s running mate and vice presidential candidate is Mike Pence. Now, as vice president of the US, Pence is an legitimate vision of disdain for the LGBT+ community.
Since the year 2000, Pence has had no intention of supporting the LGBT+ community by any means. In fact, for his Congressional campaign, Pence made his feelings clear on the basis of funding HIV treatment. “Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior,” said by Pence according to a June 14 Buzzfeed article. With that being said, Pence’s position was to remove funding to these services, and instead channel the funds into gay conversion therapy efforts.
The type of conversion therapy he is advocating for is electroshock therapy. This being said, Pence finds it just fine and dandy to abuse individuals in order for them to be his idea of “normal.” Not only that, but while in the state of Indiana, he favored laws and policies that protected individuals that attacked, and discriminated against, members of the LGBT+ community.
All in all, the fact that this is what America has voted for is frightening. For the LGBT+
community, there is no legitimate way to predict what will happen for the next four years to come, meaning there is no way to predict what kind of setbacks will be faced during this time.
Until then, the community will have to see what will come, but at the same time should not give up hope and just let Trump and Pence’s actions undermine everything that has been worked so hard for.