The Trump administration just proposed a new rule regarding gay anti-discrimination policy. Naturally, President Trump’s critics had a meltdown.
BuzzFeed’s headline was apocalyptic: “Trump’s Latest Proposal Would Let Businesses Discriminate Based On LGBTQ Status, Race, Religion, And More.” They weren’t the only ones up in arms. The National Center for Transgender Equality said, “Trump and his cronies want to destroy our well-being.” California Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee called it “taxpayer-funded discrimination that targets women, people of color, and the LGBT community.”
These people need to take a deep breath. Once again, the Trump administration faces hysterical cries of homophobia that are completely unsubstantiated.
First off, this is just a proposed rule, to be entered in the Federal Register. The entire point of such a proposal is to solicit feedback from the public and make changes before it becomes official policy.
A level-headed look at the actual policy in question reveals no real cause for concern. It all dates back to an Obama-era policy, which went beyond federal anti-discrimination law and added extra requirements that businesses must comply with in order to receive federal government contracts. This included a requirement that businesses not engage in discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and similar categories, even though sexual orientation is not currently protected under federal anti-discrimination law.
The Trump administration’s proposed change would not revoke this Obama-era rule. It would not exempt federal contractors from current employment anti-discrimination law, nor would it grant them any new ability to engage in any discrimination with regards to whom they offer services.
Trump’s proposed change simply carves out a narrow exemption for bona fide religious claims in regards to employment decisions, making religious organizations who “discriminate” by only hiring those who live according to their religious beliefs eligible for federal contracts. This would only apply to a small minority of businesses.
I spoke with Cato Institute senior fellow Walter Olson, who said: “This is not some apocalyptic rule opening the door to whimsical discrimination. This is a narrowly drawn rule for a minority of federal contractors. It’s really not that radical and not that new.”
So once again, left-wing critics consumed by Trump Derangement Syndrome are pushing fake outrage in an attempt to falsely smear Trump as homophobic. There are many valid criticisms to be made of the president, and no, his record on transgender issues is certainly not perfect. But Trump is by far the most pro-gay Republican president in history, and hysterical critics only discredit themselves when they overreact to and lie about his various policies in pursuit of their victim narrative.
