Still Think He's an Ally? Trump Joked About Gays Being Hanged From Nooses

Although President Trump claimed to be an ally to LGBT people and to protect them from Islamic terrorism, recent reports show how he is apathetic to persecution from his own administration. During the campaign trail, Trump openly made fun of running mate Mike Pence for his anti-queer agenda, reports The New Yorker.

After a legal scholar told the pair that even if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade many states would legalize abortion, Trump said to Pence, "You see? You've wasted all this time and energy on it, and it's not going to end abortion anyway." When gay rights were discussed, he went on to point at Pence, stating, "Don't ask that guy -- he wants to hang them all!"

This conversation -- where the president acknowledged his running mate is proudly antagonistic towards LGBTQ people -- is a separate narrative from his platform, where he said he would protect the community.

Since he was elected, Donald Trump has reversed guidances to schools to allow students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity and declared that transgender people cannot serve in the military via Twitter. Recently his Justice Department released a "right to discriminate" memo that creates a broad license for religious organizations and businesses to turn away LGBT people. The DOJ also stated that federal law doesn't protect gay and bisexual people from workplace discrimination, nor does it protect trans people from such bias.