The Orlando shooting in Mid-June was a tragedy for the LGBT+ community, America and the world. It showed the freedom loving peoples of the world that none are safe from the hatred and tyranny of Islamic extremism and its all prevailing ideology.
However, despite the sadness it spread throughout the world during LGBT Pride month, perhaps– in some odd way– there was good to be had from the tragedy. Out of the ashes, a new chapter?
The presumptive Republican nominee — Donald Trump — in his speech responding to the Orlando massacre used this opportunity to more ardently present his idea of a “[temporary] ban…[of Muslim] immigration into this country to prevent large pockets of radicalization from forming inside America.” This foreign policy stance should come as no surprise to most people, but what made things interesting about the speech is that the lgbt community is the focal point.
Many might say that this is not peculiar; however, look at Trump’s words carefully. “…[the attack] is an assault on the ability of free people to live their lives, love who they want and express their identity.”
For the first time in the Republican party’s history its nominee has publicly recognized and stated that members of the lgbt+ community are expressing their love for who they want and expressing their identity as they want and that the “right of every single American to live in peace and safety in their own country” should not be threatened.
This milestone, this step for further inclusion should not be ignored. Trump, during his primary race days, would often refer to himself as a “common sense” conservative, implying that the old-fashioned conservative way is less relevant now since the American public continues to change. It could easily be inferred that he was referring to the status quo conservative view of lgbt+ rights. Unlike many of Trump’s counterparts and contemporaries, he and his fellow “common sense” conservatives– and the 60% plus of Americans according to Gallup– believe that people in the lgbt+ community should be treated no less than human, but instead should be given the same rights, liberties and freedoms of any heterosexual American. The main focus for Americans now is, “… to work together, including in partnership with our Muslim communities[to destroy radical Islam].”
Some “Trumpsters” call Trump a savior-like figure for America while others, such as Reverend Franklin Graham, prefer to compare Trump to David or Moses from the Bible sent to America to save Her. Whether or not this is the case, Trump has given a new hope for the future of the Republican party and the GOP by potentially turning over a new leaf of general acceptance. With the legalization of gay marriage nationally, the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the acceptance of open transgenders into the armed forces, it is impossible for the GOP to continue down an anti-lgbt path if a Republican White House is truly desired.
Although this is a new step of inclusion for many Republican supporters, Donald Trump has never hidden his support for gay civil right laws. While the majority of his fellow Republican leaders rail against any gay anti-discrimination laws, in 2000 he stated emphatically that he supported them as well as supported the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell”. Furthermore, he believed in, “a very strong domestic partnership that guarantees gay people the same legal protections and rights as married people.” In his book, published the same year, The America We Deserve his dream of America was, “unencumbered by… discrimination against people based on sexual orientation.”
With a Donald Trump presidency, the lgbt+ community will not only have a president that cares about their rights as Americans but a commander-in- chief who will also take up the call to destroy ISIS and further weaken the hold and spread of radical Islam. The lgbt+ community finally has a Republican nominee they can choose to represent their rights. Will the whole of the Republican party accept this new point of view too? Only the future can tell.
Alex Chalgren (@AChalgren) is the CEO and founder of Millennials United for America PAC and the former national deputy director of Students for Trump. He is 18.