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It’s no alternative fact: Trump’s administration wasted no time hitting refresh on the White House website, immediately dumping the page dedicated to gay rights — but making sure there’s one dedicated to Melania’s QVC jewelry line (until being tipped off that they’re off-the-rails tacky and removing said QVC mention).
Pages dedicated to Climate Change, Civil Rights, and Healthcare were also unceremoniously removed.
Now, searching the word “gay” only brings up one entry on the entire White House website, and it’s not the same “gay” that led you to this page.
Rather, the word is used in that archaic way to express joyfulness and youthful whimsicality (i.e., “Let us now to the picnic, Gertrude, for there shall be assorted comfits, dainties, sack races, and gay frivolity to be found there.”)
The page dedicated to Grace Coolidge, First Lady of 30th President Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929), reads like it hasn’t been revised or even looked at since the man held office, and includes the below passage:
To Grace Coolidge may be credited a full share in her husband’s rise in politics. She worked hard, kept up appearances, took her part in town activities, attended her church, and offset his shyness with a gay friendliness.
She “kept up appearances” and “offset his shyness.” There’s an avowedly modern feminist slant if there ever was one. Sadly, that’s about the extent of “gay friendliness” we’re expecting from Trump’s presidency.
And yes, we checked: there are still zero entries for “LGBT” or “LGBTQ,” either.
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This post was originally published on Queerty and is republished here with permission.
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