Trump, Allies Out-of-Step with U.S. Catholic Voters

by HRC staff

Post submitted by Lucas Acosta (he/him), former Deputy Director of Communications, Politics

Trump’s campaign will announce his “Catholics for Trump” coalition -- elevating extremists and cementing himself and his campaign as out of step with modern Catholic voters.

Trump’s campaign will announce his “Catholics for Trump” coalition -- elevating extremists and cementing himself and his campaign as out of step with modern Catholic voters. 

U.S. Catholics are more likely to support LGBTQ rights than the average American largely due to Catholic values of inclusion and justice 

PRRI: 72% of white Catholics and 71% of Hispanic Catholics support LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections versus 69% of all Americans 

PRRI: 68% of Catholics describe themselves as “more supportive” of transgender rights versus 62% of all Americans

Throughout his administration, Trump has elevated Catholic anti-equality extremists:

C-Fam’s Austin Ruse

Austin Ruse said “sexual orientation and gender identity is code for odious sexual behavior and gender lunacy” [Reuters]

Ruse said that Matthew Shepard’s death was a convenient excuse for supporters of “the gay agenda” to pass LGBTQ-friendly policies. [Media Matters]

The Trump Administration invited Ruse’s organization, C-Fam, to be part of the U.S. delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women. [The Guardian

American Principles Project’s Sean Fieler:

Fieler said “The problem with gay marriage...is it promotes a very harmful myth about the gay lifestyle. It suggests that gay relationships lend themselves to monogamy, stability, health and parenting in the same way heterosexual relationships do. That’s not true.” [New York Times]

Fieler said “unlike the gay lifestyle, the transgender lifestyle has not been, and perhaps never can be, normalized.” [Daily Signal]

Fieler’s company was awarded a federal grant by the Trump Administration to promote an app that sowed doubt about contraception. [The Guardian]

Susan B. Anthony List’s Marjorie Dannenfelser

Marjorie Dannenfelser was on the board of anti-LGBTQ SPLC-designated Hate Group Alliance Defending Freedom. [ADF

Dannenfelser applauded the administration for allowing medical providers to deny lifesaving care to LGBTQ people. [Reuters

Dannenfelser worked with Mike Pence on the Trump administration's failed campaign to repeal Obamacare and make it harder for LGBTQ people to gain access to affordable health care. [Reuters]