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This One Trump Tweet About Supporting The LGBT Community From 2016 Is Going To Make You Livid

by Lea Rose Emery
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Trump's latest announcement that he plans to reinstate the ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military is yet another major insult to the LGBTQ community. He, in characteristically un-presidential style, took to Twitter to announce that that the army shouldn't be expected to deal with the "medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."

Many have rightfully come out enraged about the announcement. And one of the best responses has come from author Mark Harris, who is married to playwrite Tony Kushner, and used Trump's own words against him. Because, as ever, Trump's support is changeable and his promises seem made to be broken.

Look at this tweet from President Trump in 2016. It's hard to see how a trans military ban is him 'fighting for' the queer community. And the idea that Hillary's people were a bigger threat to queer 'freedoms and beliefs' than he is is just laughable. Yet again, Trump has betrayed the queer — and specifically the trans community — and let us all down.

The truth is, anyone in the LGBTQ community who thought Trump would actually support them was burying their head in the sand. It was clear that he was pandering to literally anyone and everyone. Plus, with such a loose grip on things like reality and truthfulness, it's ridiculous to think that he would stick to any of the promises he made.

For those of us in the queer community who were totally against him, it may have seemed like he might not do too much damage to the queer community specifically. It seemed like maybe the LGBTQ community wouldn't be a target for him, maybe it would just be silent indifference or ignoring Pride Month. We were wrong.

The signs were all there. Many around him — including Vice President Mike Pence — have a terrible record when it comes to the LGBTQ community. And it seems that queer people, especially trans people, have become a target. Trump is taking us back decades in terms of trans rights even though society is becoming more and more progressive and accepting of the queer community. There has been so much amazing trans-exposure and trans-acceptance in the past few years — and it's scary to see how politically we can be so far from that right now.

So it's another broken promise from Trump, though not a surprising one. But reading that tweet from 2016 is infuriating, even if I never believed it to begin with. Because there are no limits in this new political landscape — he'll do what he wants. And he doesn't care who he's lied to or who he discriminates against.