President Trump’s LGBT Gala [My Thoughts]

Hey everyone!

Your friendly Editor-In-Chief Noah here, with a Letter From The Editor to address something I keep getting a lot of emails about.

I’ve held off on covering this for a few days to do my research and let the dust settle.

And now I’m ready to cover it.

So here’s the deal…

Apparently, allegedly, reportedly…President Trump held an LGBT Gala at Mar-a-lago recently.

I say it that way because it’s hard to find much of any legitimate coverage of the event.

Normally I can find 100 articles, Tweets and videos about almost any news topic, but this one has very little.

I did finally find two Kari Lake videos and a Politico article, but that’s about the best I can find.

It appears the event did indeed happen, but the extremely low level of coverage is unusual.

Here are more details from Politico:

Thursday night’s Log Cabin Republicans’ “Spirit of Lincoln” gala in the main ballroom of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago beachfront club was a joyous celebration of gay rights and — in a case of ironic timing — the historic same-sex marriage law signed by President Joe Biden days earlier.

The long-planned event in honor of the conservative LGBTQ organization’s 45th anniversary brought in Republican notables like former Ambassador Ric Grenell, Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus, who emceed the evening in a feathered turquoise gown, and former GOP gubernatorial candidate from Arizona Kari Lake, who was swarmed by guests eager to meet her and take a photo.

But the main attraction, obviously, was Trump. He received a standing ovation after delivering an enthusiastic affirmation of gay rights not often heard in the GOP.

“We are fighting for the gay community, and we are fighting and fighting hard,” the former president and 2024 candidate said. “With the help of many of the people here tonight in recent years, our movement has taken incredible strides, the strides you’ve made here is incredible.”

Throughout the evening, speakers praised Trump for his embrace of the gay community. They credited him for his initiatives to combat the criminalization of homosexuality, his work pushing for public heath initiatives to combat the HIV epidemic, and for appointing the first openly gay Cabinet member, Grenell, as director of national intelligence.

Trump and his administration had a mixed record on LGBTQ issues. He’s been criticized for driving a wedge between gay and transgender communities, and for promoting extreme religious liberty policies and executive orders they say allowed for discrimination against LGBTQ people that pushed the movement backwards. The Log Cabin Republicans’ first female executive director, Jerri Ann Henry, resigned in 2019 over the group’s decision to endorse Trump.

The Log Cabin Republicans’ gala came just days after the Respect for Marriage Act was passed with support of 39 House Republicans and 12 GOP senators and signed into law by Biden. But the issue of same-sex marriage has continued to spark debate inside the GOP. Conservative Christian and right-wing groups lobbied against the legislation, arguing that it stepped on religious liberties.

According to Gallup, 55 percent of Republicans and 71 percent of Americans overall support same-sex marriage.

In an interview on Fox News earlier this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a Trump rival widely viewed as a top GOP hopeful in 2024 — said there was “no need” for the Respect for Marriage Act and called the right’s concerns over religious liberty “valid.”

Trump did not mention the law in his speech. But attendees at the gala were quick to credit the former president: For all his recent missteps, they said he has gone further on LGBTQ rights than many others in the GOP.

Charles Moran, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, challenged other 2024 hopefuls to also say they are willing to fight for gay rights.

“I just heard a Republican candidate for president stand up and say he is willing to fight and I challenge every other Republican to make the same pledge Donald Trump made tonight,” Moran said.

“I’m going to hold all candidates to that same standard,” he added in a later interview. “We’re really at a place now where we’re going to have an open election and there are going to be other Republicans running, and we have a responsibility to look at the entire Republican field.”

So here are a couple comments from me.

First, allowing the event to be held at Mar-a-lago does not mean Trump “hosted it”.

He has a business to run and I’m sure it was a good event for his club.

He did also apparently make a speech although I have been completely unable to find any footage of it.

The event was hosted by the Log Cabin Republicans, which is not a group Donald Trump controls.

My thoughts ultimately come down to this…

President Trump has one goal: to save this Country.

In order to do that, he needs to get elected (again) and get back into office.

In order to get elected, he needs the widest base he can get.

He’s made history bringing new people into the Republican Party and that is his job.

I will also repeat something I’ve said many times: we are electing President Trump to be PRESIDENT, not PASTOR.

I fully stand behind Biblical values and a Biblical definition of marriage, but some of you act like you’d rather have Trump burn LGBT people at the stake.

That’s absurd.

I’d really rather not have to hear about everyone’s sexual preferences, to be honest with you.

I’d rather just deal with everyone as Americans.

And I think that’s President Trump’s point.

He’s trying to cast the widest net possible so he can save this Country.

If you’re upset at the way marriage is defined in this country, your beef is with the Pastors and Priests who have been absolutely derelict in their duty of the last 50 years.

THEY are the ones to lead that fight, not President Trump.

The Pastors and the Preachers gave up the battle for a Biblical definition of marriage.

Gave it up or lost it.

They didn’t have an effective message.

Often they didn’t even try.

Folks, if we don’t save this country and fast, it ain’t gonna matter who does what kind of sexual stuff to who…we’ll be speaking Chinese or Ukrainian and we won’t have a country anymore!

I want President Trump to get back into office…

I want him to appoint strong Republican judges…

And I want him to do what only he can do.

His fight is NOT a battle to define or redefine marriage in this country.

Time for the Pastors to put on their big-boy pants and get back in the game for that one.

President Trump will handle all the rest, and in the meantime if LGBT people like him and vote for him, I’m all good with that.

But that’s just my take…I’d love to know what you think.

Vote in our poll and drop a comment below:

Meanwhile, here is the only video I can find of the event.

It’s of Kari Lake:

At Mar-a-Lago, Kari Lake said she prefers gay men over straight men because they “know how to think right.” pic.twitter.com/5HdHjmIf7I

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) December 19, 2022

Kari Lake: “Whoever thought it was a good idea to invite 500 gay people into a lavish mansion, 2 pools, and a lot of booze? I think we’re going to need the Secret Service tonight.…I know there’s people in this room who would love to be tackled and frisked by the Secret Service.” pic.twitter.com/39XIAmijJE

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) December 17, 2022

I will also happily report this…

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò criticizes President Donald Trump for hosting the event.

Once again, I don’t disagree ideologically, I just feel Trump is being more of a pragmatist.

But this is NOT a bad take:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AglQWAntgas