The queer community’s widespread anger boiled over in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s removal of a Rainbow Flag from the Stonewall National Monument, but many leading LGBTQ Republicans are not speaking out about the issue at all.
The national branch of the Log Cabin Republicans, an organization of LGBTQ conservatives, did not respond to Gay City News’ request for comment about the flag’s removal on Feb. 17 — and the group’s New York City chapter also did not respond. The flag’s removal came less than a year after Log Cabin Republicans hosted a party at Trump Tower and less than two years after the group’s Palm Beach chapter donated $237,500 to Melania Trump before she spoke at their fundraiser.
Among others, Staten Island Councilmember David Carr — the only GOP city lawmaker in the City Council — also did not respond to a request for comment on Feb. 17. His fellow colleagues in the City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus rallied at the Stonewall National Monument just hours before activists and elected officials re-raised the Rainbow Flag on Feb. 12. Still, Carr found time to post a Presidents’ Day message on Facebook, writing, “The United States has had a rich history of Presidents from 1789 to present. Today, we celebrate all of their achievements, the forthcoming birthday of our first President, George Washington, and the powerful example he has been to all his successors.”
The Log Cabin Republicans of New York’s only Instagram post since the flag’s removal previewed a “Wine Wednesday” event slated for Feb. 18. The caption read: “Join us next week!” The Instagram page for Log Cabin Republicans’ national group, on the other hand, posted a photo of Donald Trump surrounded by hearts and a cation that reads: “This Valentine’s Day, find someone that loves you as much as President Trump loves America!” The group also posted on Instagram to celebrate Presidents’ Day.
The Log Cabin Republicans are largely out of step with many of the LGBTQ community’s broader political priorities. While much of the LGBTQ community is fighting to protect the rights of transgender student-athletes to participate in sports in accordance with their gender identity, Log Cabin Republicans’ interim executive director, Ed Williams, expressed opposition to inclusive sports policies in a written statement last month. Williams accused “activists on the far left” of having “spent years attempting to undermine the hard-won progress women achieved under Title IX by erasing meaningful distinctions based on biological sex.”
“As LGBT conservatives, we firmly believe that respect and dignity for transgender Americans cannot and should not come at the expense of equality for women,” Williams said in the Jan. 13 statement.
The group has also expressed opposition to gender-affirming care for youth. When the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for youth, Log Cabin said the decision was “not anti-trans” but rather “a historic and critical win for children and common-sense.”
The lack of GOP criticism of the removal of the flag is consistent with the broader Republican Party’s tendency to oppose LGBTQ rights and its hesitance to cross the president. During a press conference at the Stonewall National Monument on Feb. 15, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed some doubt — but still held out hope — when asked if he anticipated any Republican support for his new legislation to protect the Rainbow Flag by making it a congressionally-authorized flag.
“When we did the [Respect for Marriage Act], we did get bipartisan support,” Schumer said. “It’s a different world, with Trump and all of his horrible, hateful minions, but we’re going to fight to get bipartisan support.”
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