Family Research Council, the anti-LGBTQ hate group Pompeo has professional ties to, is holding an event called “Opportunities for Mike Pompeo” at the same time as the swearing in

NEW YORK – GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today responded to President Trump swearing in Mike Pompeo to be the next U.S. Secretary of State. Mike Pompeo has an extensive anti-LGBTQ record and professional ties to the Family Research Council, a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated anti-LGBTQ hate group.

“President Trump fired his Secretary of State over twitter then rammed through an unqualified replacement who has a consistent record of publicly espousing anti-LGBTQ views and professional ties to fringe anti-LGBTQ activist Tony Perkins,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “Though it is unlikely that Mike Pompeo will prioritize LGBTQ rights in his role as Secretary of State, the fight for safety, equality, and acceptance at home and abroad will not be deterred by his personal anti-LGBTQ agenda or the Trump Administration’s continued attacks on marginalized communities.”

At the same time Mike Pompeo is being sworn in, the anti-LGBTQ hate group FRC, who Pompeo personally consulted during his time as CIA Director, is holding a panel discussion titled “Opportunities for Mike Pompeo.” This event includes Tony Perkins, who recently pushed to have support for the scientifically discredited “conversion therapy” in the 2016 Republican Party platform and Robert Destro who argues that LGBTQ non-discrimination protections are irrational.

Prior to Mike Pompeo’s April 12^th committee hearing, GLAAD Campus Ambassador Tony Hernandez hand-delivered research Pompeo’s anti-LGBTQ record to the Senate offices of all 21 members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations urging them to question Pompeo to his anti-LGBTQ record. Sen. Booker, Sen. Shaheen, and Sen. Coons all heeded the call made sure that Pompeo’s anti-LGBTQ agenda was put on full display. During that hearing, Pompeo directly stated he opposes marriage equality and refused to denounce his past statements calling being LGBTQ a “perversion.”

Mike Pompeo’s anti-LGBTQ record goes far beyond his personal beliefs, Pompeo has worked closely with FRC which openly supported Uganda’s efforts to punish and execute LGBTQ citizens – known as the “Kill the Gays Bill,” promotes and defends the dangerous practice of conversion therapy, and actively opposed overturning laws that criminalize being gay.

Read more on Mike Pompeo’s extensive anti-LGBTQ record and ties to the designated hate group FRC via GLAAD’s Trump Accountably Project.
 

Mike Pompeo’s Connections to Family Research Council:

Consulted with Tony Perkins while serving as CIA Director: “Pompeo has consulted with Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled an anti-gay hate group.” [The Washington Post; 8.24.17].

Has made (at least) six appearances on Family Research Council’s anti-LGBTQ radio show. Live with Tony Perkins: October 6, 2016; March 22, 2016; July 26, 2016; September 3; 2015; July 22, 2015; May 5, 2014.

Family Research Council endorsed Mike Pompeo during his re-election to the U.S. House in 2014, specifically citing his “support for marriage” and “traditional family values” as reasons behind their support: The culture has been challenged beyond all reasonable limits. The strong, conservative men and women elected in 2010 and 2012 need reinforcements…The votes you have cast on the life issue reflect your concern for mother and child and your support for marriage as between one man and one woman.” [Pompeo for Congress, 3.5.14]

One of thirty House of Representative members to join the Family Research Council on an amicus brief challenging the Affordable Care Act in the case National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius. [FRC; 10.27.11]
 

Anti-LGBTQ Record of the Family Research Council (FRC):

Actively lobbied against a congressional resolution denouncing Uganda’s “kill the gays bill:” “The blog Joe. My. God.,working with a reporter from Gay City News, reported that the conservative Family Research Council spent $25,000 “to lobby Congress against approving a resolution denouncing Uganda’s plan to execute homosexuals. The site posted three screencaps from the Family Research Council’s lobbying report; they suggest $25,000 was spent on lobbying what FRC described as “Res.1064Ugandan ResolutionPro-homosexual promotion.” [CBS News; 6.4.10]

Claimed the Ugandan bill that aimed to punish and execute LGBTQ people “upholds moral conduct:” The President [Obama] criticized Ugandan leaders for considering enhanced penalties for crimes related to homosexuality…The President said that “We may disagree about gay marriage, “but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are.” Mr. President as long as you characterize efforts to uphold moral conduct that protects others and in particular the most vulnerable, as attacking people, civility will continue to evade us.” [Family Research Council via the Internet Archive; 2.4.10]

Opposed overturning Texas “Homosexual Conduct” law, which criminalized consensual sexual intimacy between same-sex couples: “To extend homosexual sodomy the same protections given to the marital union would undermine the definition of marriage and could open the door for homosexual marriage. The court should demonstrate judicial humility and decline to deconstruct in radical and revolutionary ways the bedrock social institution of marriage.’” [Family Research Council via the Internet Archive; 6.25.03]

Spent over $75,000 to lobby to keep “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” in place: “The Traditional Values Coalition and the Family Research Council, have each spent more than $75,000 so far on their overall lobbying expenditures this year. Both groups support keeping the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in place.” [Open Secrets; 11.3.10]. Family Research Council President, Tony Perkins, also claimed there is “blood of young marines” on hands of legislators who voted to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. [YouTube, Right Wing Watch; 11.20.10]

Lobbied against LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes legislation: “Social conservatives said the hate crimes bill would violate the First Amendment, and would be a step toward a larger gay rights agenda they oppose. ‘Expanding hate crimes puts America in lock step with the stated agenda of homosexual activists who will turn next to the so-called Employment Non-Discrimination Act, followed by the repeal of the ban on homosexuality in the military and then the Defense of Marriage Act,’ the Family Research Council warned on its Web site.” [The Washington Post; 10.23.09]

Printed and disturbed flyers defending the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy: “Although much attention has been focused on counseling techniques or therapies for unwanted same-sex attractions and on the work of “ex-gay” ministries, there is startling evidence that considerable numbers of people experience significant change in some aspects of sexual orientation, particularly their behavior, quite spontaneously, without therapeutic intervention.”[Family Research Council via the Internet Archive; 7.5.10]

Testified in favor of anti-LGBTQ conversion therapy before legislative bodies in New Hampshire, Washington D.C., Maryland, Massachusetts, and Vermont: “Testimony by Peter Sprigg in Opposition to New Hampshire House Bill S. 587-FN” [Family Research Council; 2.21.17], “FRC’s Peter Sprigg Testifies before D.C. Council on Proposed Sexual Orientation Change Efforts Ban” [Family Research Council; 6.27.14], “FRC’s Peter Sprigg Testifies Before MD State House in Opposition to Bill Prohibiting Sexual Orientation Therapy for Minors” [Family Research Council; 3.2.18], “Family Research Council Expert Testifies Before Massachusetts General Court” [Family Research Council; 6.7.17], Testimony by Peter Sprigg in Opposition to Vermont Bill S. 132 [Family Research Council; 2.26.16]

Lobbied against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) proposed legislation that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. [Open Secrets; bills FRC lobbied, 2013]
 

Mike Pompeo’s Personal Anti-LGBTQ Record:

Vowed to continue to fight against abortion, marriage equality, and related matters “each and every day:” As a Kansan, I hold a deep reverence for the sanctity of life, the solidarity of family, and the solemnity of marriage. I will continue the fight to uphold these fundamental ideals each and every day…I also fully support the traditional institution of marriage. Strong families are the most important building block of our Republic, and we must preserve them for the sake of our community and our culture. [Vote Smart; 1.1.13]

Insists families with same-sex parents are less “ideal”: “I think as you look back at civilization, look back at history, you find the strength of these families having a father and a mother is the ideal condition for childbearing,” Pompeo said. “Doesn’t mean there aren’t great families with single parents, great young men and women raised without either parent. If you’re asking for what is ideal, I think it’s being raised by a man and a woman.” [Vote Smart; 10.22.14]

Opposed the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, suggesting that “when you enter the army you give up a few of your rights, there’s a few things that you can’t do that we get to do a civilians, so I would not a have supported that policy—or would.” [YouTube; September 23, 2010 District 4 Congressional Debate; 9.14.10]

Called the US Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling granting marriage equality to all fifty states as “a shocking abuse of power:” “Creating, out of nowhere, a federal right to marry, flies in the face of centuries of shared understanding of our Constitution,” Pompeo said in an email Friday. “It is a shocking abuse of power. It is wrong. I will continue to fight to protect our most sacred institutions; Kansans and our nation deserve no less.” [Vote Smart; 6.26.15]

 

May Day (May 1) is International Workers’ Day, and since 2000 that has included increased attention to migrant workers. Immigrant rights activists point out that there are various motivations for  making the journey. Some of these reasons include geopolitical causes, the importance of family reunification, and, for asylum seekers (including some LGBTQ immigrants), fleeing persecution and discrimination. Immigrants have been mistreated and unfairly targeted by the Trump administration, we need to recognize their fight for basic rights. May Day gives people an opportunity to talk about the gender wage gap, the mistreatment of migrant workers, the need for a living wage and the lack of protections against employment discrimination for LGBTQ workers. So, let’s take this May Day to acknowledge laborers by remembering that we still have a ways to go before all workers are treated equally.

Here are some resources that illuminate the plight of LGBTQ workers generally and LGBTQ immigrant workers in particular.

A report by Out and Equal cites the impact of the lack of protections on LGBTQ employees:

• 1 in 4 LGBTQ workers reported experiencing some kind of LGBTQ discrimination
• Only 28% feel comfortable enough to be out at work
• Nearly 1 in 10 LGBTQ employees have left their jobs because of the unwelcoming environment the job exhibited

This lack of protection negatively affects businesses as well. Not only are companies missing out on the talent of LGBTQ workers, but businesses where LGBTQ employees are not protected from discrimination face low staff morale possibly incurring more health insurance costs. 

Of LGBTQ workers surveyed, 21% have reported experiencing workplace discrimination resulting in not getting a job, promotion, or a raise. These statistics are even worse for transgender workers at 28%. Surveys show the transgender unemployment rate is three times higher than the national average.

The Movement Advancement Project, MAP, reports on the state of legislative protections for LGBTQ workers across the country, finding that only about half of the states have passed such protections. The states that do have anti-discrimination policies are not always fully inclusive, either, as only 21 of these states include gender identity alongside sexual identity.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), federal legislation that was going to end workplace discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation would have made it possible for LGBTQ workers to count on federal protections if their state had failed to pass legislation. However, legislators have failed to pass ENDA.

LGBTQ undocumented workers, who already face roadblocks to achieving full citizenship and legal protections, are left with even less protection than most workers. These workers, regardless of sexual or gender identity, are more likely to be exploited by their employer, refused adequate pay, and subjected to discrimination at work. From fear of being deported, they are also left with less options for recourse in cases of anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Undocumented LGBTQ employees fear being “outed,” not only as LGBTQ, but for their citizenship status, as well.

The Center for American Progress showed the disparities between annual wages of the general population, versus undocumented workers, LGBTQ families, and a more appalling gap reflected in transgender individuals’ wages.

Luckily, undocumented LGBTQ workers still have the right to report anti-LGBTQ discrimination in their workplace. Undocumented workers can turn to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate their employers’ discrimination. The commission is not allowed to consider citizenship status in their investigation.

Recently we have seen some advances for LGBTQ employees. For example, as of 2017, 92% of all Fortune 500 companies support their employees with non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation, 82% including gender identity in their policies, and 50% including transgender-inclusive healthcare options.

Advocates are also working to create legislation specifically meant to protect and define all LGBTQ workers rights, like the Equality Act, which includes protections across housing, education, and employment. It has been introduced to the House of Representatives and has the opportunity to revolutionize the way LGBTQ workers are treated.

May Day is a good time to advocate for all workers, including those who are LGBTQ and including those who are migrants. There is plenty of information that will help us all understand the plight of LGBTQ immigrant workers and help us advocate for equality and protections for all.

This May Day it is important to reflect on the indisputable fact that rights, protections, and respect for the immigrant community is an LGBTQ issue just as it is a labor issue. According to the Williams Institute at UCLA, there are an estimated 267,000 undocumented people who identify as LGBTQ and many U.S.-born LGBTQ people have documented and undocumented family members, partners, or friends and are therefore impacted by the decisions made regarding immigration policy.

Amplifying this message is crucial under an administration where immigrants and their families face increased systemic attacks. Since taking office President Donald Trump has targeted the immigrant community with unconscionable attacks, including putting an end to the DACA program and subjecting immigrant youth at immediate risk of detention and deportation and attempting to revoke Temporary Protected Status from people from Sudan, Nicaragua, Liberia, Haiti, El Salvador, and Nepal.

GLAAD has put together a timeline to put all of Trump’s anti-immigrant attacks into perspective.

This clear and targeted agenda follows the Obama Administration which expanded the budget for immigration law enforcement by 300 and carried out more deportations than any previous president. And bipartisan efforts to ensure that immigrant youth are permanently protected from detention and deportation are being deprioritized by Congress held hostage by Republican leadership.

Immigrant rights are LGBTQ rights and it is important for us to lock arms across all our intersections and stand united to hold the Trump administration accountable. The Trump white house is capitalizing off anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, anti-Black, anti-POC, anti-disabled, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and anti-woman sentiments that have been at the core of American politics for too long. But together, we have the power to fight back.

TIMELINE: Anti-Immigrant Actions of the Trump Administration

1.25.17 – President Trump Instructed homeland security to take “steps to immediately plan, design, and construct a physical wall along the southern border.”

1.25.17 – President Trump signed executive orders instructing the Department of Homeland Security to hire 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents and forcing the Security of the Interior to move towards hiring an additional 10,000 immigration officers.

1.27.17 – President Trump issued his first attempt on the Muslim Ban, promised during the election, by signing an executive order to suspend entry for immigrants and non-immigrants from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

2.18.17 – Documents outlining the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement plans leaked which included a dramatic increase in immigration and border agents as well as incentives for state and local law enforcement agencies to work with and become immigration agents.

3.8.17 – President Trump issued another executive order in order to ban non-immigrant or immigrant visas from Muslim majority countries, this time affecting Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia and Yemen (Iraq was removed from the original list).

3.27.17 – The Trump administration today threatened to pull some federal funds from localities where local law enforcement do not turn in undocumented immigrants to federal immigration enforcement officers.

6.1.17 – The Trump Administration approved a newly required questionnaire for U.S. visa applicants which seeks to required expanded personal information, including social media activities, travel, residential, and employment history.

7.28.17 – President Trump called immigrants “animals” while speaking to law enforcement officers in Long Island, New York.

8.2.17 – President Trump along with Sen. Tom Cotton (AK) and Sen. David Perdue (GA) unveiled a proposal to issues what Trump called a “merit-based” system to immigration, cutting down on the those allowed to enter the country and granting favor to those who speak English.

8.24.17 – U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that they would not be closing checkpoints during hurricane Harvey in Texas, putting undocumented immigrants and mixed-status families at risk of deportations while seeking evacuation or shelter during the storm.

8.25.17 – President Trump pardons former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a criminal known for inmate abuses, unjustified arrests, and racial profiling.

8.28.17 – The ACLU reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked the National Archives and Record Administration for permission to destroy records on abuses, sexual assault and deaths of immigrants in their detention.

9.5.17 – The Trump Administration ends the DACA program, which protected an estimated 800,000 young undocumented immigrants, including 36,000 LGBTQ DREAMers, from detention and deportation. *Currently under litigation

9.18.17 – The Trump administration announced the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 1,000 people from Sudan who received TPS to live and work legally in the United States due to “ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions.” *Currently under litigation

9.24.17 – President Trump issued his third iteration of the Muslim Ban affecting visas from Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Chad, North Korea and Venezuela.

10.1.17 – President Trump called on Congress to terminate the Diversity Visa Lottery, a program that distributes around 50,000 visas.

10.8.17 – The Trump administration the end of Temporary Protected Status for over 5,300 people from Nicaragua who first came to the United States to live and work legally following the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch, a Category 5 storm.

10.8.17 – The Trump administration revealed hard-line immigration principles that aimed to restick asylum, drastically limit family-based legal migration and build a border wall.

10.12.17 – Reporting reveals the Trump Administration took steps to impose “numeric performance standards” on federal immigration judges.

10.12.17 – Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a request for information to identify new facilities to expand immigrant detention sites in areas surrounding Chicago, Detroit, Salt Lake City, and St. Paul, Minnesota.

10.20.17 – The Trump Administration announced the end of  Temporary Protected Status for over 59,000 Haitians who came to the United States to live and work legally following the devastating 2010 earthquake in their country.  

10.24.17 – President Trump issued an executive order that placed minor children and spouses of refugees in the United States from 11 counties on hold and barred from resettlement.

10.29.17 – President Trump retweeted three anti-Muslim propaganda videos from a known hate group that falsely alleged violence from Muslim immigrants.

11.15.17 – The Department of Justice issued letters to 29 jurisdictions threatening to withhold federal law enforcement grant money from localities’ that limit their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agents.

12.15.17 – President Trump attacked the Diversity Visa Program saying the 50,000 visas that are awarded through the program each year sends us ‘their worst.’

1.3.18 – Acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tom Homan, called for politicians in sanctuary cities to face criminal charges for their policies.

1.5.18 – The Trump Administration requested $33 billion from Congress for border militarization including funding for a border wall and additional border security.

1.8.18 – The Trump Administration announced they are ending Temporary Protected Status for over 200,000 people from El Salvador who came to the United States to live and work legally following devastating 2001 earthquakes in El Salvador.

1.11.18 – President Trump reportedly called Haiti and counties in Africa “shithole countries” while speaking about opposing including protections for people from those places in an immigration deal.

1.16.18 – Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen disclosed the Trump Administration’s intent to prosecute state and local officials in jurisdictions that limit partnerships between state and local officials in jurisdictions and federal immigration enforcement aimed at targeting undocumented immigrants.

1.18.18 – The Department of Justice filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States after a federal district court ordered the government to resume accepting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal applications.

1.24.18 – The White House issued demands that any Congressional deal to protect Dreamers that include an end to family reunification and the diversity visa lottery as well as $25 billion for a border wall.

2.12.18 – The Trump Administration released its 2019 budget proposal which included adding $782 million to hire and support 2,750 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, $2.8 billion to increase immigration detention to 52,000 beds per day, and  $1.6 billion for border wall construction.

3.6.18 – The Department of Justice sued the state of California over laws passed by the state legislature to restrict federal immigration enforcement officers from working as an arm of local law enforcement.

3.27.18 – The Trump administration announced it will include a question about U.S. citizenship in the 2020 census.

3.27.18 – The Trump administration announced the end of Temporary Protected Status for thousands of people from Liberia who came to the United States to live and work legally after being displaced by civil war.

3.29.18 – Immigration and Customs Enforcement revoked guidance limiting the detention of pregnant women.

3.29.18 – The State Department announced a new policy to require almost all visa applicants to submit extensive personal social media information for review in order to travel or immigrate to the United States.

4.5.18 – President Trump signed a proclamation calling for the deployment of National Guard troops to the U.S. Southern border for increased militarism and surveillance.

4.5.18 – President Trump called immigrants coming to the United States from Mexico rapists during a speech on tax reform, harkening back to the anti-immigrant fearmongering that was a staple of his 2016 campaign.

4.6.18 – The Department of Justice announced a “zero-tolerance” policy to prosecute immigrants entering the U.S. at the Southern border and called on federal prosecutors to make prosecuting undocumented immigration offenses a priority.

4.10.18 – The Justice Department announced that it is ending its Legal Orientation Program, which provides people who are detained and facing deportation information about the law and their rights. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed this decision on April 25, 2018, after massive pushback.

4.26.18 – The Trump administration the end of Temporary Protected Status for over 9,000 people from Nepal who first come to the United States following the discretion caused by a 2015 earthquake.

4.30.18 – President Trump was directly asked whether he felt like he should apologize for his anti-immigrant rhetoric during the 2016 campaign and he responded: “There’s no reason to apologize.”

Check out theses immigrant rights organizations for more ways you can become involved: