It’s a well-known fact that the majority of LGBT Americans voted for the democratic candidate in last year’s presidential election. And while the community was understandably nervous about what would happen to its hard-won rights under one party rule, many took a wait and see approach to which version of Donald Trump would show up on inauguration day. After all, candidate Trump promised to shake things up, cut through the bureaucracy, and make government work for the people—all wrapped up in two bite-sized slogans: Make America Great Again, and Drain the Swamp. Further, he promised to be a much better friend to LGBT Americans than Hillary Clinton.
Guess what? Like the rest of his campaign rhetoric, there’s nothing to report but divisive policies that run counter to his trademark slogan. Far from being a promised friend, his administration has made it clear that Making America Great Again does not require the LGBT community. That was reinforced recently by the silence from the White House during Pride month.
Far from being a promised friend, his administration has made it clear that Making America Great Again does not require the LGBT community.
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Looked at through the lens of business—as many voters claimed to have done when they cast their ballots—why would you ignore a community that contributes so much to the American economy? Some facts to think about.
Let’s look at the buying power of LGBT citizens and their contribution to the
U.S. economy. According to a January 2017 report by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), LGBT owned businesses contributed $1.7 trillion to the US economy. Couple that with an LGBT consumer spending power number of close to $900 billion a year. Justin Nelson, Co-Founder and President of the NGLCC says that to put those numbers in perspective, the U.S. LGBT community of businesses would be the 10th largest economy in the world. Larger than South Korea, Canada, and Russia.
In contrast, most states still have laws that discriminate against LGBT people in employment and credit issues, and are enacting laws that will preclude LGBT citizens from adopting children based on misguided ideas about what constitutes a family. Even as corporate America continues to lead the way in providing benefits and protections to LGBT employees, the Trump administration is giving shelter to those that don’t want our money for goods, or can refuse to serve us under the guise of religious liberty.
LGBT business owners and tax paying citizens should ask a simple question. How does the IRS view my earned or spent dollar? The simple answer is that to the taxing authority, a dollar is a dollar. But when it comes to how government spends those dollars, is it then Christian money, atheist money, Muslim money, Jewish money, or gay money? If a business can refuse to sell goods and services to an LGBT consumer, then that consumers money is not equal to the money of a non-gay consumer. How is that even fair or possible, given that the IRS views all dollars equally?
For the author of “The Art of the Deal,” we have a simple proposal. If your administration—and by extension the Republican party—is going to ignore the sizable economic and cultural contributions of the LGBT community, then it’s fair to say we should be taxed at a different rate—a partial rate—since that is how this administration sees our citizenship.
LGBT Americans do not get all the benefits of other Americans, yet our dollar is no different in the eyes of our government, so why should we pay full freight? How about a 10% tax bracket for all LGBT Americans and their allies? (It’s a nice nod to the famous Kinsey study from the 50s, that pegged the percentage of Americans as LGBT at 10%.)
Here is one last thing to dwell on, and you don’t have to be an LGBT citizen to understand it. No taxation without representation.
Photo by Matt A.J.