The Republican National Platform is Harmful to LGBTQ+ People

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has embraced former President Donald Trump’s Republican Party platform. The new platform eliminates the party’s opposition to same-gender marriage, but conservatives want to overturn it. 

Chapter 9, Section 5 of the platform promises to “end left-wing gender insanity,” stating, “We will keep men out of women’s sports, ban taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries (SIC), and stop taxpayer-funded schools from promoting gender transition, reverse Biden’s radical rewrite of Title IX Education Regulations, and restore protections for women and girls.” A Trump-appointed federal court suspended Biden’s Title IX provisions requesting schools to allow trans kids to use gender-appropriate names, pronouns, and facilities. 

The platform also pledges to “restore parental rights in education” essentially promising to oppose anti-racist and LGBTQ+ education. “Republicans will ensure children are taught fundamentals like reading, history, science, and math, not leftwing propaganda. We will defund schools that engage in inappropriate political indoctrination of our children using federal taxpayer dollars.” Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) openly blasted the board and failed to convince it to delete AP exam topics on racial justice and queer theory.

The platform also vows to end the “invasion” of immigrants with the “largest deportation program in American history” and restore Trump’s Muslim travel restriction.

Chapter 8, Section 1 of the platform states, “Republicans will promote a culture that values the sanctity of marriage, the blessings of childhood, the foundational role of families, and supports working parents. We will end policies that punish families.” Additionally, (Chapter 9, Section 3) talks about how Christian discrimination against LGBTQ+ couples and individuals is protected under the platform’s religious liberties clause.

The platform further reduces Republican opposition to abortion and IVF, which many same-gender couples use to have children. Currently, Missouri, Alabama, and Georgia have laws proposing identity to embryos, and a dozen additional states have proposed legislation this year to do likewise.

“Our ranks include men and women from every faith and tradition, and we respect the right of every American to follow his or her deeply held beliefs. To protect religious liberty, Republicans support a new Federal Task Force on Fighting Anti-Christian Bias that will investigate all forms of illegal discrimination, harassment, and persecution against Christians in America.” the platform states.

“We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied life or liberty without due process and that the states are, therefore, free to pass laws protecting those rights. After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the states and to a vote of the people. We will oppose late-term abortion while supporting mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, access to birth control, and IVF (fertility treatments).”

This month, the Republican Party will decide whether to embrace the new platform at its national convention in Milwaukee.