Vice President-elect Mike Pence sought to enjoy a good, all-American musical last Friday, but was instead met with boos from the crowd and an eloquent curtain speech at the end of the night. While, for many, this has sparked an important conversation on freedom of speech and the role of theatre in the civic arena, there’s another gravely important takeaway here.
Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr in “Hamilton: An American Musical” and gave Friday night’s now-famous speech, told Pence that “Hamilton” is indeed a “wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men, women, of different colors, creeds and orientations” who are “alarmed and anxious that [his] new administration will not protect [them], [their] planet, [their] children, [their] parents, or defend [them] and uphold [their] inalienable rights.” The “Hamilton” issue delves much deeper than freedom of expression. People are scared — so scared, in fact, that they felt it necessary to address Pence directly.
Trump has gone after practically every marginalized group there is. However, for the sake of this column, I want to call your attention to LGBT rights and their future in a Trump/Pence administration.
The newly cast Hamilton himself, Javier Muñoz, is an HIV-positive gay man. Many of the actors standing behind Mr. Dixon on Friday, also, are of varying orientations. LGBT individuals, like many others, are terrified not only at the prospect of Trump but of Mike Pence himself.
If you’re active on social media, you probably know that Pence is very, very bad on gay and lesbian rights, but that, folks, is an understatement. He said in 2006 that gay marriage leads to, and I quote, “societal collapse,” and fundamentally believes that homosexuality is a choice rather than an innate identity. But his thoughts matter far less than his actions.
Mr. Pence proposed, during his first successful congressional run, to divert critical researching funding for HIV/AIDS to programs that “provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior” and opposed repealing of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” a Clinton-era act that allowed gay soldiers to serve in the military so long as they keep quiet about it, citing it as “an effort to advance some liberal domestic social agenda.” Pence has been dubbed “one of the most anti-LGBT politicians out there” by Jay Brown, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign.
Although Trump has declared himself as a president willing to fight for the gay community, doing everything from touting a rainbow flag on stage to expressing indifference toward gay marriage, his personal views pale in comparison to what he could do with the appointment of an ultra-conservative Supreme Court justice. In that case, then, the decision to give or take away key rights would rest not with him, but with the court.
Regarding trans rights, the landscape is even bleaker. In the wake of Trump’s victory, Trans Lifeline, a service focusing on suicide prevention among transgender youth, received an unusual number of calls. In addition to this, has thrown his support behind North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed the controversial and discriminatory anti-transgender “bathroom bill.” Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and other progressive health care measures are likely to restrict and in some cases completely bar access to key hormones necessary for transgendered persons.
The reality of the situation is this: it is not good. Not for gay or trans rights. Not for black or Latino rights. And not for women’s rights. When the “Hamilton” cast spoke to Pence, they spoke to this very real, very valid fear permeating all around a country built on diversity, immigration and freedom. Luckily, there are fantastic nonprofit organizations that work tirelessly to defend these groups even when no politician will.
I urge you to donate to The Trevor Project, Lambda Legal, the Transgender Law Center, the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD or the American Civil Liberties Union. And if you really want to be bold about it, go ahead and donate in Trump or Pence’s name.
A lecture on diversity from the cast of a show that put out a casting call for “non-white actors only” will always ring hollow.