Gays and lesbians in the United States vote overwhelmingly Democratic. But Donald Trump is the one who has nominated the first openly gay Treasury secretary, hedge fund manager Scott Bessent. Even eight years ago, Trump considered gay marriage “OK.”
I can still remember very well the atmosphere in the German media after Donald Trump’s first election victory in 2016. I will never forget how, on the day after, a deeply concerned colleague approached me and told me, among other things, how unsettled her gay friends in New York City were. I didn’t understand the fuss. Why unsettled? The colleague said that many members of the LGBT community there were concerned about the freedom of gay people. I found that absurd. Trump, a danger to gay life in the U.S.?
In 2016, Trump had even announced in his speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, “As your President, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.” At one of his rallies, he had held up a pride flag with “LGBTs for Trump” written on it. And he employed Peter Thiel, the openly gay co-founder of PayPal, in his transition team.
A few days after his first election victory, Trump gave his first TV interview as president-elect on “60 Minutes.” In it, he was asked what he thought about gay marriage. His answer at the time: “It’s irrelevant because it was already settled. It’s law … And I’m fine with that.”
A Secretary with a Husband and Two Children
Trump appointed Richard Grenell as U.S. ambassador in Berlin, the first openly gay person to hold the office. Vice President Mike Pence, who is anything but LGBT-friendly, had to perform Grenell’s swearing-in at the White House. Grenell’s partner, Matt Lashey, stood between the two, holding the Bible on which the oath was taken.
And most recently, Trump has nominated 62-year-old hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to be the new Secretary of the Treasury. Bessent is married to John Freeman, a former district attorney in New York City, and has raised two children with him. As a young man, Freeman wanted to study at the Naval Academy but decided against it because it would have required him to hide his sexual orientation.
In an interview 10 years ago with the Yale Alumni Magazine, Bessent said, “If you had told me in 1984, when we graduated, and people were dying of AIDS, that 30 years later I’d be legally married and we would have two children via surrogacy, I wouldn’t have believed you.” If Bessent is confirmed by the Senate as expected, he would be the first openly gay Treasury secretary in the U.S. — and a Republican. This is a facet of Trump’s new administration too.
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