Of all the terrible things that can be said about the current White House, “bigoted bullies” — who also happen to be sexist, racist, and dumb — has to be among the most accurate.
The queer media advocacy organization GLAAD reports that Donald Trump has attacked the LGBTQ+ community at least 426 times during his 45th and 47th presidencies. In one of his most recent purely performative offenses, Trump signed an executive order banning transgender U.S. women and girls from participating in the Olympics — out of nearly 100,000 athletes total qualifying for the games over the past 22 years, only one was a transgender woman.
Arlington is just another formerly respectable entity bending the knee to the would-be tyrant. The city council recently voted 5-4 not to reinstate LGBTQ+ protections into its antidiscrimination ordinance, becoming the first major U.S. city to take such a drastic and unpopular stance. Supporters of the vote claim state and federal protections already do enough to ensure queer Arlingtonians can live safely. Detractors say local support is even more important. They also add that reinstating protections costs nothing for Arlington taxpayers.
The vote was clearly made under duress. The White House intends to revoke federal monies from cities that “violate” federal antidiscrimination laws by offering “opportunities, benefits, or advantages” based on protected traits, including race, gender, and sexual orientation. Arlington stood to lose more than $60 million in federal funds.
Colleges and universities, major media conglomerates, white-hat law firms — many otherwise unassailable institutions are bending the knee for federal dollars. Strongarming these power players is something a despot would do, not the “duly elected” leader of an erstwhile democratic country. America is looking less like its former strong, antifascist self and more like some C-average backwater cult. And workaday Americans are noticing.
An aggregate of current polls shows Trump’s net approval rating way underwater, with disapproval as high as 60% or more with approval in the 30% range. His current net approval is the second lowest for a president at this point in his second term since the 1940s. The only one lower is disgraced former president Richard Nixon in the heat of Watergate.
Aside from inane culture-war nonsense, the chief criterion driving his abysmal numbers is the economy. At a pitifully attended speech in Pennsylvania the other day allegedly to assuage voter fears, Trump instead trotted out his greatest hits of grievances, even saying that families with children do not need any more than two dolls at Christmas. What he hasn’t addressed is slowing GDP growth, rising long-term unemployment, high costs for essentials (housing, food), stagnant wages for non-college graduates, and increased household debt with a weakening labor market, stalled inflation reduction, and burgeoning public perception of economic hardship, especially among low-income groups. And Trump won’t concern himself with any of these problems anytime soon. He’s got a gaudy ballroom to build. Maybe he can add the total construction costs to the $2.3 trillion in national debt that has accumulated since he took office.
You might not hear much of the country’s bad economic news because the White House will not release government inflation data or reports on unemployment and GDP. “We’re doing so great, you don’t need to see the evidence!” Inflation has been rising every month since Trump’s inauguration after reaching a three-year low in January thanks to former President Joe Biden. Why are gas prices falling? Because the economy is falling. Fast. And lower interest rates are partly due to rising unemployment.
Arlington’s entire antidiscrimination ordinance will remain suspended until further notice, which also means no protection for other groups, including ones based on race and religion.
A conservative advocacy organization that supports the council’s vote, Texas Values said in a statement, “Texas Values recommended that the Arlington City Council remove the terms ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ from the ordinance in order to comply with federal directives, as well as newly enacted state law such as the Texas Women’s Privacy Act (S.B. 8), which went into effect last week.”
This column reflects the opinions of the editorial board and not the Fort Worth Weekly. To submit a column, please email Editor Anthony Mariani at Anthony@FWWeekly.com. He will gently edit it for clarity and concision.
