Hillary Clinton Slams President Trump On LGBT Rights, Tells Activists To Resist
Donald Trump’s former rival Hillary Clinton has hit out at the president for his record on LGBT rights. Speaking to an audience of LGBT activists on Thursday night, Clinton urged them to ensure that the progress they’ve achieved in recent years isn’t undone by Donald Trump’s administration.
According to the Independent, Clinton was greeted with multiple standing ovations from the audience at a fundraising dinner for The Center, an LGBT community group in New York, where she accepted the organizations’ Trailblazer Award. However, Clinton was keen to use her acceptance speech to speak out against President Trump and his LGBT rights record.
Clinton warns LGBT protections may be threatened under Trump https://t.co/xLDT5q8cuk pic.twitter.com/DNN7vnE00f
— The Hill (@thehill) April 21, 2017
“I know that the election hit a lot of us hard,” Clinton said, speaking about her defeat to Donald Trump last November. “But I can tell you this: Even when it feels tempting to pull the covers over your head, please keep going.”
During her speech, Clinton also repeated an infamous remark she made in Geneva in 2011 as secretary of state, saying “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.”
“But I think we have to face the fact that we may not ever be able to count on this administration to lead on LGBT issues,” Clinton continued. “Let’s remember, 2018, the midterm elections… We can never stop fighting.”
According to Bustle, Clinton continued her speech by warning of threats to LGBT rights not just in the United States, but abroad too.
“We’ve heard terrifying accounts from Chechnya of gay and bisexual men being taken from their homes and families, tortured, even killed,” she said. “The United States government — yes, this government — should demand an end to the persecution of innocent people.”
Clinton called on President Trump to ensure that LGBT people around the world enjoy the same rights as those in the United States. She also spoke about proposed cuts in funding for HIV and AIDS research.
“I thought of all our efforts to try to achieve an AIDS-free generation, and we were on the way,” she said. We can, if we stay on that path, finally realize that dream — but not if we are forced off.”
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Since her election defeat at the hands of Donald Trump last November, Hillary Clinton has received several huge ovations, particularly at Broadway shows she’s attended with her husband, Bill Clinton. However, Clinton joked at the dinner that she was “preaching to the choir” when she received another standing ovation from LGBT activists.
In the months following her surprise election defeat, Democratic candidate and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton remained relatively quietly about Donald Trump’s presidency. However, she’s since become openly critical of the Trump administration and its actions. That being said, according to the Inquisitr, Clinton has been keen to stress that she has no intention of launching a third bid for the presidency in 2020 or seeking any other elected office for that matter.
“I know the election hit us hard, but even when it feels tempting to pull the covers over your heads, please KEEP GOING.”
– @HillaryClinton pic.twitter.com/YO3dq7MUT8
— Angie D’Ambrosio (@angiedam2) April 21, 2017
Ahead of the 2016 presidential election in November, Clinton and her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine were widely expected to secure a victory over Donald Trump and his running mate Governor Mike Pence. Whilst Clinton and Kaine did manage to secure a comfortable plurality in the popular vote, they lost the crucial electoral college vote to Trump and Pence.
In a surprise turn of events, Trump secured victories in the perennial swing states of Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Iowa, along with Clinton’s “blue wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which were each predicted to vote for the Democratic candidate, but instead secured Trump’s victory.
[Featured Image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]
