RuPaul on Trump's Pride Month tweet: 'Actions speak louder than tweets'
The television personality took on the president's Pride Month comments.
RuPaul “had one thing to say” about the president’s call to “stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people” on Twitter: “Actions speak louder than tweets,” the iconic American drag queen, TV personality, actor and singer said on “The View.”
In his tweet, Trump voiced support for the international campaign to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide, launched by U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell.
Last week, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway defended Trump’s record on the issue, saying “He's the first president to start as president for approving of gay marriage. That's something that he should be lauded for."
Trump’s tweet came one week after his administration published a proposed rule that would remove discrimination protections in health care for transgender patients. The administration also began implementing a new policy that allows adoption agencies to deny LGBTQ couples the same day.
Two days, the administration also announced a plan to remove housing discrimination protections for transgender people in HUD-funded homeless shelters. In April, Trump’s ban on transgender service members was put into effect.
Nonpartisan advocacy group GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) compiled a list of actions the administration has taken that threatened or rolled back protections for LGBTQ Americans.
RuPaul also weighed in on a controversial reported plan by several men in Boston to hold a “Straight Pride Parade” in late August.
“It’s pride season and we’re talking about shame,” RuPaul explained. “We want to sort of balance the conversation by giving people pride.”
“But the truth is, the opposite of shame isn’t pride. The opposite of shame is love,” he added. “What we are doing is calling attention to love, that’s the key to the pride celebration.”