Trump to appeal to LGBT community as he accepts GOP nomination
Donald Trump is expected to appeal to LGBT voters as he officially accepts the Republican nomination on Thursday evening.
After he officially accepts the party’s nomination, he is expected to pay tribute to 49 people killed at a mass shooting at the Orlando Pulse LGBT venue last month.
A transcript of his speech leaked by Correct the Record, a super-PAC in favour of Hillary Clinton for President, reads: “Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Fla., 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted our LGBT community.”
As well as paying tribute to the victims of the shooting, Trump in the speech will also vow to protect LGBT people from further violence.
“As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBT citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology,” he will say.
It is believed that if Trump mentions the LGBt community in his speech, he will be the first Republican nominee to do so at a convention.
The Presidential hopeful has flip-flopped on LGBT issues since starting his campaign, and was earlier this week criticised for using a Queen track just days after choosing an anti-gay candidate as his running mate.
Trump recently appointed Indiana’s Governor Mike Pence as his running mate. Pence stirred up international outrage last year when he signed the controversial ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act’, which gives businesses the right to discriminate against gay people on the grounds of religion.
Governor Pence has previously suggested that HIV prevention funding be drained in order to fund state-sponsored ‘gay cure’ therapy, and earlier this year appeared unable to answer when asked whether it should be legal to fire people because of their sexuality.
Melania Trump, the third wife of GOP Presidential hopeful Donald Trump, was accused of stealing parts of a speech she delivered at the Republican National Convention.
The Presidential hopeful also awkwardly tried to kiss his VP running mate at Republican National Convention.
But as a bonus, anti-gay Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson said he would “go into hiding” if Trump does not win the presidency.
