Don’t Bother Looking for a Presidential Pride Proclamation

Instagram released special stickers to celebrate Pride Month. Twitter has a custom rainbow hashtag. But for the leader of the free world, June is just another month.

President Trump did not issue an official Pride month proclamation today, and the Washington Bladereports that no one should be waiting for that traditional announcement. There's also no Pride reception scheduled for the White House, as became a June happening under the Obama administration.

Other parts of the government, including the departments of State and Defense, usually mark Pride month as a time to remember the contributions of LGBT Americans. It's unclear if any of the usual celebrations will come to fruition in the Trump administration.

Pride Month itself is evolving as partly a rebuke of Trump and his policies. In New York, members of the resistance are expected to lead the Pride parade. The usual Pride parade in Los Angeles is being replaced entirely with a Resist March on June 11 that thousands are expected to take part in. On the same day in Washington, D.C., the Equality March will attract LGBT people and allies from across the nation to cap a weekend of Pride festivities.

Trump himself has often claimed to be an ally to LGBT people. But he's missed opportunities both big and small to prove that, while actually undermining LGBT equality.

This weekend, the White House's official Facebook account posted a photo of Frst Lady Melania Trump standing alongside the spouses of other NATO leaders only to omit the husband of Luxembourg's prime minister. The couple wed in 2015, when same-sex marriage became legal in the country. It was at least nine hours before the White House updated the post, long after stories about the snub had been written worldwide.

On the more critical front of transgender rights, the Trump administration revoked guidance that President Obama's Education Department issued to schools. And the Trump administration has no HIV and AIDS policy, except that activists say the proposed repeal of Obamacare would increase transmission of HIV. And although members of his administration have condemned the systemic torture of gay men in Chechnya, Trump himself has said nothing. The U.S. has denied visas to those trying to flee for safety.