Was Trump always against LGBTQ+ rights? Everything in his past says no.

Kate Sosin

LGBTQ+ reporter

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There was a sliver of hope for LGBTQ+ Americans upon Donald Trump’s first election to the presidency. For a Republican, at least, maybe he wouldn’t be so bad for the queer community. The former reality TV star had made promises. He said he would be a “friend” to LGBTQ+ people. He vowed to protect them.

And by all accounts, his past seemed to suggest he meant it. In 2000, during his short-lived bid for the Reform Party’s presidential nomination, Trump touted to the LGBTQ+ magazine The Advocate that his New York upbringing instilled in him a kind of tolerance. He had no problem hiring gay people, he said.

“I like the idea of amending the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include a ban of discrimination based on