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Trump to Address Anti-LGBT 'Value Voters Summit' in Washington on Friday

  • U.S. President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 12, 2017

    U.S. President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 12, 2017 | Photo: Reuters

Published 12 October 2017
Opinion

The non-profit Christian group campaigns against same-sex marriage, same-sex civil unions, LGBT adoption and abortion.

Donald Trump is due to become the first sitting U.S. President to address the anti-LGBT Family Research Council's Value Voters Summit in Washington DC on Friday.

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The non-profit Christian group campaigns against same-sex marriage, same-sex civil unions, LGBT adoption, abortion, embryonic stell-cell research, pornography and divorce

Trump has spoken at the event three times before but this is his first attendance since he took office.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has described the Council as a hate group because of its “intention is to denigrate LGBT people as the organization battles against same-sex marriage, hate crime laws, anti-bullying.”

Other speakers over the weekend include Trump’s former senior aide Steve Bannon and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.

Richard Cohen, the president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, has condemned Trump's decision to address the event.

“By appearing at the Values Voter Summit, President Trump is lending the legitimacy of his office to a hate group that relentlessly demonizes LGBT people and works to deny them of their equal rights," he told The Independent. 

"His appearance puts the lie to his campaign promise to be a friend to the LGBT community. Bigotry is not an American value, and our president should speak out against it.”

"Values voters have waited eight years for a leader who puts America's mission first and respects the values that made America into a great nation,” Tony Perkins, the Council’s president, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Perkins added, “Values voters are coming to our nation’s capital thankful to hear from a president who is fulfilling the promises that he campaigned on. Since the early days of the campaign, President Trump allied himself with values voters, promising to put an end to the 8 years of relentless assault on the First Amendment.”

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