Salon talks to Republican LGBT advocate Gregory Angelo about Trump’s ban on trans people serving in the military
Gregory T. Angelo, the president of an influential pro-LGBT group known as the Log Cabin Republicans, has expressed disappointment about President Donald Trump’s new policy banning transgender individuals from the military. Earlier today he released a condemning Trump’s new policy as “a disservice to transgender military personnel.” Angelo spoke to Salon by phone today about Trump’s decision and why he still feels the president’s relationship with the LGBT community is largely positive, his views on Trump’s administration and his advice for members of the LGBT community. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Nothing has changed in that regard. I mean, what you have in Donald Trump is someone who has long had interactions with members of the LGBT community, going back to his days as a real estate tycoon in New York, continuing through the days of reality television, and perpetuating through until today. So there is an awareness and a sympathy that Donald Trump has for the LGBT community regarding his personal relationships. When that intersects with policy, that’s where things can get a little muddy. But it doesn’ t contradict the fact that Trump brings a cultural awareness of the LGBT community to the White House in a way that past Republican presidents have not. What you’ re seeing is a fair amount of confirmation bias that is taking place in people, where you have folks who are in the pro-Trump camp that see President Trump as being able to do no wrong and you’ re seeing folks who are part of the hashtag-Resistance who feel that anything and everything the president does is beyond the pale. I would argue that there is no more consistent organization than the Log Cabin Republicans when it comes to advocating for the LGBT community and we as an organization have always lifted up the president when he has done things have benefited the LGBT community and we have always opposed things that the president has said or done that do not benefit the LGBT community. And if you’ re going to cherry pick members of Trump’s cabinet, let’s go there, then. You have Nikki Haley, who says that the Trump administration opposes all forms of discrimination including discrimination against individuals because of sexual orientation. You can talk about Secretary [Betsy] DeVos, who has met with transgender members of Log Cabin Republicans and individuals like Caitlyn Jenner. You can talk about Peter Thiel and the role that he has played in the Trump transition team and clearly the starring role that he played on the night of the GOP convention in which Trump was nominated.
