[one_third]Liberal – Nicole Cheney
Coming from an administration with a notoriously anti-gay Vice President, a transgender ban in the military, and legislation attempting to limit the rights of same-sex parents, a worldwide attempt to decriminalize homosexuality does not come from a place of good faith. It is quite clear, considering that the directive does not even come from the President himself, but rather U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell, that it is just an attempt from a conservative government to try to win back moderate voters. In America it is increasingly popular to support LGBTQ rights, at least superficially, demonstrated year after year by corporations who adopt rainbow logos in June for Pride Month. Do these mega corporations sincerely support the best interests of their LGBTQ consumers, or is it just good for business?
In the case of the Trump administration, it’s just good for business. While it would undoubtedly be a good thing if it were possible to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide, it is hardly a reasonable venture on the part of the United States. Even more so, if politicians were genuinely concerned about the well-being of their LGBTQ citizens, there are many domestic measures which could be taken first, such as protection from housing and employment discrimination in all states and increased funding for HIV/AIDS research. This is little more than a publicity stunt.
[one_third]Conservative – Mark Pothen
No moral human being should be cheering for the persecution and deaths of people based solely on their sexuality. For this reason, I fully support Trump’s push to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide, regardless of my staunch disagreement with pro-LGBT policies held by the LGBTQ community.
One would presume that everyone could agree with this sentiment. However, because we must listen to the wisest and most “woke” among us at GLAAD proclaim that since Trump supposedly attacked the LGBTQ community over 90 times, he is hateful and the public shouldn’t believe in any policy pushed by him. This is about as illogical as arguing against an anti-lynching proposal because a supposed racist supports it. It seems most self-identified LGBTQ individuals simply have a negative opinion of Trump and are unlikely to change it.
The opinion that Trump is secretly supremely homophobic and is only supporting this policy to convince the LGBTQ community otherwise has no basis in fact. In all 95 of GLAAD’s supposed “attacks”, not one suggested that Trump was hateful towards the LGBTQ community. Most were tangential ramifications that were not intended to be towards the LGBTQ community. The radical left should overcome their preconceived animus towards President Trump to support this potentially life-saving policy.
[one_third]Independent – Carmel Rafalowsky
Realistically, there’s no way for President Trump to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide. The President of the United States has no authority in any other country or land mass besides America, and very little sway in many others. Even if Trump—or his administration—genuinely wanted to pursue this endeavor, he has no legal or political influence to do so internationally.
I do support the decriminalization of homosexuality in countries and areas where it is a punishable offense. No one deserves to be persecuted, fined, charged, jailed, threatened, assaulted, or killed for something as benign as a sexual orientation. I find such actions cruel, and morally unjust.
That said, I do not support this initiative. There’s no way to enact it, so there’s no point in publicizing such a goal. Trump knows this, his administration knows it, and the general public knows it. That means the aim of this decree was not to promote real change, but rather to garner the good will of LGBTQ+ citizens—preferably those of voting age.
This behavior strikes me as duplicitous, and is not the type of stunt I want to see a president, an administration, a U.S. ambassador, or a candidate engage in.
