Former President Trump’s Republican adviser Richard Grenell criticized the Equality Act denounced the rights of transgender youthwas honored on the California Senate floor in the name of Pride Month on Monday.
California’s Republican recognition of Grenell as gay was protested by the California Democratic Congress majority, and at a brief ceremony, several lawmakers called him “the first openly gay man.” He quietly left the assembly hall while praising him as a member of the presidential cabinet.
Grenell is the former U.S. Ambassador to Germany and Senate Minority Leaders Sen. Brian Jones (R, Santee) and Republicans Bill Esseiri (Corona), Tom Lackey (Palmdale) and Greg Wallis. (Bermuda Dunes) were welcomed.
“During Pride Month, we are proud to recognize Ambassador Grenell’s outstanding service to the state and nation throughout his extensive civil service career,” Esseiri said. “Here in the Republican Party, we celebrate individual achievement over identity politics.”
Grenell briefly served as acting director of national intelligence in the Trump administration in 2020. Democratic Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg claim the title Unlike Grenell, he was recognized by the U.S. Senate as the first openly gay presidential cabinet member.
Grenell has repeatedly endorsed right-wing disinformation and called Trump “the most pro-gay president of all time.”He is flagged as GLAAD Accountability Projecttrack the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric of celebrities.
Senator Scott Weiner (D, San Francisco) was one of the members of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus who left the Senate floor on Monday, with Grenell’s recognition directly to the drug activists who were honored in Congress earlier this month. was considered to be the reaction of
State Republicans opposed confirmation of Permanent Indulgence Sisters on the floors of the House and Senate, urging Senate Majority Leader Toni Atkins (D-San Diego): withdraw the invitation Indicted the Houses of Parliament for mocking Catholicism. This famous drag group wears nun customs and has been advocating for AIDS victims for decades.
The controversy arose after the Dodgers announced they would honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with the Community Hero Award, then withdrew the offer following criticism from Catholics, and eventually strengthened their ties with LGBTQ+. A similar uproar followed in Los Angeles after he reinstated the offer with the promise to do so. community.
“It’s their way of celebrating pride by featuring a guy who’s really self-loathing, a gay man, and who takes a lot of anti-LGBTQ stances,” Wiener said in an interview at the Houses of Parliament on Monday. rice field. “There are a lot of gay Republicans who don’t do anything wrong.” [Grenell] that’s right. I’m not lumping gay Republicans together. He is a particularly mean person. “
of Tweet In response to criticism from Weiner, who is also an outspoken gay man, Grenell said he was “honored to be an enemy” and called him an “advocate of pedophilia and child abuse”. He echoed the sentiments of the unsubstantiated right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory about the state senator. .
At a press conference held outside the Capitol by state Republicans to celebrate Mr. Grenell, the former Trump administration official lashed out at Democrats’ policies and what he called the “gay-left mafia.”
“The word ‘tolerance’ originally meant ‘tolerate’. It does not mean that you agree with it, but that you tolerate the opinions of others. Sometimes it’s about not getting up and walking away,” he said. “…we can’t be in the same room with someone who destroys our worldview.”
Asked if he thought it was intolerable for a California Republican lawmaker to walk out of the chamber while the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were similarly honored for Pride Month, Grenell said he was a liberal. I have a friend who is a good friend, and he said, “I will not run away from the place,” worrying about the difference of opinion. .
The dueling Pride Month event at the California State Capitol comes as the state maintains the strongest gay rights policy in the nation and has more LGBTQ+ lawmakers than ever before.
Grenell’s state capitol visit took place on the same day as the California legislature’s approval. ACA5If approved by voters, it would abolish a provision in the state constitution that stated that marriage was between a man and a woman. Same-sex marriage is protected at the federal and state levels, but supporters say the constitutional change would reaffirm marriage equality.
Other senators who walked out of the Senate floor on Monday included Sen. Caroline Mengebar (D-Panorama City), Sen. Susan Talamantes-Eggman (D-Stockton) and Senate Speaker Pro Tem Atkins. .
Atkins, who is openly gay, said she and fellow Democrats were “absolutely opposed to the toxic polarization that Richard Grenell embodies” but that he would not be invited. said he was not asking for
“Senate Democrats hold our beliefs strong enough to recognize that there are people with different points of view,” she said.
