HRC 'Make America Gay Again' Cap Riffs on Trump

Donald Trump may not realize it, but he's given a hat tip to the Human Rights Campaign.

The LGBT rights group is selling a baseball cap that's a variation on the one Trump often wears at his campaign rallies. The slogan printed on it is "Make America Gay Again," a play on Trump's "Make America Great Again." It also bears HRC's equal sign logo and on the back is printed with "LGBTQ" and "Equality."

HRC isn't the first to offer a twist on Trump's headwear, notes The Hill. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, wore a cap bearing the words "Make America Fair Again" at an event focusing on income inequality, and the Democratic Party has sold caps emblazoned with "America Is Already Great."

Trump hasn't had a lot to say on LGBT issues during his campaign, although he has said, at least, that being gay shouldn't be a reason for being fired from a job. He has a long record of opposition to marriage equality, calling himself a "traditionalist," but unlike some Republican candidates, he hasn't talked much about this topic in the current race. Indeed, LGBT people have generally escaped the bombast he's directed at immigrants, Muslims, and other groups.

Back in 2000, when Trump was considering a run for president on the Reform Party ticket, he told The Advocate he'd favor amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. He also supported LGBT-inclusive hate-crimes legislation (which became federal law in 2009) and an end to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy (which was repealed in 2011).

In the 2000 interview, he also said a Trump administration would be willing to hire a gay person. "I would want the best and brightest. Sexual orientation would be meaningless," he said. "I'm looking for brains and experience. If the best person for the job happens to be gay, I would certainly appoint them."

LGBT Democratic activists are notably unimpressed with Trump and the statements he made in that Advocate interview. "He's not the same person he was 15 years ago," said Earl Fowlkes, chair of the Democratic National Committee's LGBT Caucus, in a conference call Tuesday, in response to Advocate news editor Dawn Ennis's query. Fowlkes added, "He's a demagogue with a bad memory who changes his opinions to suit" his audience.

On the same conference call, Sean Meloy, the DNC's director of LGBT outreach, said Trump is "no better nor worse than any other Republican." Meloy also noted that Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus has called Trump "a net positive" for the party, as he has raised voter interest in the Republican field.

Now, though, some Republicans worry that if Trump wins the nomination, he will turn voters off to the degree that it hurts GOP candidates in congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative races. And in one of his latest stunts, he's threatening to boycott the next Republican presidential debate, set for December 15, unless CNN pays him $5 million, which he says he will then donate to wounded veterans.

Meanwhile, the HRC "Make America Gay Again" cap costs much less, just $26. You can order it here.