In the wake of scores of Republicans – 12 in the Senate and 39 in the House – supporting the misnamed Respect for Marriage Act, Donald Trump hosted a Log Cabin Republicans "Spirit of Lincoln" gala in the main ballroom of his Mar-a-Lago estate last Thursday night. The event, which was in honor of the LGBTQ organization's 45th anniversary, was scheduled well in advance of the bill's passage and signing by President Joe Biden just days earlier.
Speaking at the event, the former president said:
"We are fighting for the gay community, and we are fighting and fighting hard. 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."
Marriage as an institution between one man and one woman is a tenet of the Republican Party platform, which Trump embraced as the party's presidential candidate in both 2016 and 2020. Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, contends Trump – now an announced candidate for the party's 2024 nomination – "is playing a very dangerous game."
"He appeasing a tiny, tiny sliver of the Republican Party – and he is now alienating tens of millions of Republicans who believe what the truth is, which is that marriage is between one man and one woman," he states.
According to LaBarbera, Trump has gone a step further. "He says he's going to 'fight hard' for the gay community. That's a Democratic talking point – that's not a Republican talking point," he argues. "And there are a lot of people now who are looking askance at Trump and are saying Do we need all the baggage? Do we need all the dumb remarks?"
LaBarbera hopes others in the GOP will stand up for the truth. "Are other Republicans, like Ron DeSantis or Mike Pompeo or Mike Pence who talk a good game about God – are they going to step in and criticize Trump's homosexual policies?" he wonders. "Or are they all going to remain silent?"
The family advocate argues that activists pushing sexual perversion are far more bold and enthusiastic in advancing their cause than social conservatives are in stopping it.
