Here’s something completely unexpected that’s been revealed about First Lady Melania Trump: She actually tried to do something nice to show solidarity with LGBTQ people.
Well, color me shocked. Melania actually doing something nice for people? Wow. I’m used to reporting that Melania is usually [1] not [2] nice. [3] Guess it’s time for me to pick my jaw up off the floor. The Washington Blade [4] reported Tuesday that the First Lady wanted to light up the White House in rainbow colors for LGBTQ Pride Month in June but her plans went south at a time when White House Chief-of-Staff Mark Meadows apparently played a part in obstructing anything signifying solidarity with the LGBTQ community, say two anonymous Republican sources who were familiar with her plans.
Meadows played a big part in making certain the Trump White House ignored Pride Month, said one GOP source who spoke on conditions of anonymity, adding this is why President Donald Trump didn’t send out a tweet recognizing the historic celebration, something which he did do in 2019. It isn’t clear whether Meadows was instrumental in shutting down the rainbow lighting proposal.
If Melania were able to do this it would have been really nice and it would have been the first time that the White House was festooned in the rainbow colors since Obama’s administration did this after the Supreme Court ratified same-sex marriage in 2015. Since the Republican Party has long held plenty of animosity for the LGBTQ community, a move like this from Trump could have signified truly positive change.
So it’s sad that this wasn’t the case, but Melania did have the chance to show solidarity with the LGBTQ community a few months later, just before the election in a video [5] produced by Log Cabin Republicans. This is in stark contrast to Meadows, who has spoken out against same-sex marriage and has established a notoriously anti-LGBTQ record in Congress as a member of the House Freedom Caucus.
I’m hoping Melania really did try to do this and kudos to her if she did. It’s worth remembering that in many ways she’s pretty much on the same wavelength as her husband and like him, generally only does things for her own gain. All one has to do is remember that she really did taunt children in immigration detention with that jacket imprinted with “I Really Don’t Care Do U?” on the back.