LGBTs to America: 'We Told You So'

It didn't even take long. Donald Trump's been in office barely six months. Already LGBT people get to tell America: "We told you so."

Maybe listen to us the next time a minority group says someone in power is trying to abuse us, trying to walk back our civil rights, or seems to be hiding their bigotry. We told you so.

I wish I could say it feels good to finally get that out. It doesn't -- but it sure feels necessary.

Our friends and family and allies thought they had sufficient cover for voting against us. No, they guffawed. You silly queers, you think everyone hates you.

You've got it all wrong, said the straight, cisgender people. Trump actually loves LGBT people! Didn't you hear him at the Republican National Convention say "L-G-B-T-Q"? Didn't you see him hold that rainbow flag? Never mind that it was upside down and written on with black marker.

We told you, at the time, to listen carefully to what Trump said during the RNC speech. Did you listen, though?

Trump wasn't advocating against firing us, or saying "love is love." All he said is it's not OK to murder LGBT people. That's the extent of his "support." Then he congratulated the audience for cheering for him.

I know it all sounds new to you, being straight and all. But we're quite familiar with this kind of "love the sinner, hate the sin" shenanigans, thanks. Bigots have for decades claimed they love us; that they're our real friend. Then they try to save us from hellfire by sending us to conversion therapy.

Or, in the cases of those given actual power, they ban transgender people from serving in the military. That's what President Trump did today -- with a series of tweets announcing the new policy.

How trivializing of people's lives to type out a tweet of a policy of this magnitude. That in itself says what Trump thinks of LGBT people. He cares so little about LGBT people that he's using us now to distract from all his problems. One Trump administration source told Axios they're counting on transgender people becoming a campaign issue. Trump readily treats LGBT people this way, like a prop, like something less than human.

Americans should've known. He's done it before.

Candidate Trump used, of all things, the massacre at the Pulse nightclub to advance this lie that he's our big ally. LGBT people knew then what was going on. Yet mainstream media -- which should now apologize -- bought this bogus idea and repackaged it for mainstream American consumption.

Trump said that Islam was to blame in another major speech broadcast, of course, via live television. Turn your hatred toward the Middle East, he railed, hoping we'd be distracted. LGBT people weren't distracted.

But you were, America.

Trump used those 49 killed to advance his Islamophobia. Then he used them to argue for loosening gun restrictions, wishing that the Pulse victims had brought guns before going out to party that night. A Winchester in every pocket! "If the bullets were going in the other direction," he dreamed, just days afterward.

Now here we are.

Even Trump's daughter Ivanka tried to distance herself from her bigoted father -- who failed to mention Pride Month -- by tweeting out an LGBT-supportive message. It's not a good sign when your own brood is backing away from you slowly.

President Trump rolled back protective guidance for transgender students as soon as he got Jeff Sessions confirmed as attorney general. Betsy DeVos played her part and rolled over at the Education Department. He's tried to stop the Census from counting LGBT people. He's threatened us with an executive order to allow discrimination by federal contractors, saying religious people should be allowed to fire LGBT people because they believe that's what Jesus would do. Can anyone name an LGBT person anywhere in the Trump administration? I'm sure you can name a few anti-LGBT staffers -- or Cabinet members.

If you told me Trump is an LGBT ally, it's long past time to admit you were wrong. Maybe more urgently, though, it's time to admit to yourselves that Trump was lying the whole time.

He has no secret plan to stop ISIS. Banning Muslims from coming here won't make you any safer. Mexico isn't paying for the wall. You are. And you'll have to do it while footing the bill for your health care -- the cost of which is going up.

Everything Trump promised about keeping jobs in America by blaming a racial minority, or being tough on national security by blaming a religious minority, was all for show. We told you that too.

LUCAS GRINDLEY is the editor in chief of The Advocate. Follow him on Twitter @lucasgrindley or on Facebook.