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Trump’s Nominees on the Record on LGBTQ Issues

President-elect Donald Trump and his team are swiftly revealing important Cabinet, White House, and other key nominations for his second term. 

Trump’s LGBTQ record is documented on the GLAAD Accountability Tracker and includes a history of deploying policies across federal agencies to target LGBTQ people.

The LGBTQ records of his nominees includes:

Marco Rubio—Secretary of State

  • Attacked the Biden administration’s new guidance around Title IX protections in a letter to the Secretary of Education that includes the baseless assertion: “Equally disturbing is the likelihood that your department will weaponize Title IX to force a radical gender ideology in K-12 classrooms.” The letter misgendered trans students. 
  • Attacked a drag artist and used her likeness, without permission, in a baseless campaign ad. The drag queen responded here. 
  • Targeted drag at military bases, falsely claiming it exposed children to “sexually charged content,” causing the cancellation of Drag Queen Story Hour at a library on a U.S. Air Force base in Germany. 
  • Ran advertisements across Florida with anti-trans rhetoric in his U.S. Senate campaign in 2022.
  • Called the Respect for Marriage Act “a stupid waste of time” and voted against it. The legislation was signed into law by President Biden. 
  • Defended Florida’s anti-LGBTQ “don’t say gay/trans” legislation, and claimed the legislation addressed “instruction” on sexual orientation and gender identity in K-3 classrooms, without basis. 
  • More on Marco Rubio’s record

Pam Bondi—Attorney General

  • Actively fought against the legalization of same-sex marriage as Florida’s Attorney General, arguing that allowing same-sex marriage would cause “serious public harm.” She sought to uphold Florida’s ban on marriage equality until it was ultimately overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015. Prior to legal marriage equality same-sex couples could not access the legal benefits that come with marriage, including spousal rights in healthcare decisions, inheritance without a will, and tax benefits associated with marriage, and many states, including Florida, had laws that explicitly prohibited same-sex couples from adopting children or made it significantly more difficult for them to do so.
  • Requested that the Florida Supreme Court overrule a lower court decision that found the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. 
  • Said she would “vigorously defend Florida’s law banning gay adoption in our state.”
  • Following the 2016 Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting, Bondi said, “Anyone who attacks our LGBT community, anyone who attacks anyone in our state, will be gone after with the full extent of the law.”
  • Voiced support for employment protections for LGBTQ workers.

Pete Hegseth—Secretary of Defense

  • Baselessly said transgender soldiers are “not deployable” because they are “reliant on chemicals” and suggested that women should not serve in certain combat roles. There is no evidence of this.
  • Baselessly said “being transgendered [sic] in the military causes complications and differences.”
  • Supported the Trump administration ban on transgender people from military service, stating that those with gender dysphoria should be expelled from the military and their healthcare eliminated. No evidence was ever produced demonstrating a need for the ban. 41 retired generals and admirals said the former president’s ban compromised military integrity. Service
  • Opposed the New York Times’s decision to announce same-sex marriages writing that it was a path to incest and bestiality.
  • As publisher of the conservative magazine The Princeton Tory, he railed against efforts to promote diversity on campus and what he described as the immoral “homosexual lifestyle.”  
  • More on Pete Hegseth’s record

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—Secretary of Health and Human Services

  • Repeatedly promoted the falsehood that HIV is not the cause of AIDS, instead attributing the condition to other factors such as recreational drug use, particularly amyl nitrite (“poppers”), and lifestyle stressors. This is AIDS denialism. 
  • Ended his independent presidential campaign and endorsed Donald Trump, citing a “war on children” among his reasons for the endorsement. Kennedy has baseless theories that linkenvironmental chemicals to homosexuality or gender dysphoria.
  • Supports a ban on transgender health care for minors, a position that contradicts medical consensus. Health care for transgender people and youth is supported by every major medical association and leading health authority. 
  • Tweeted misinformation about transgender health care for young people including that it involves “castration drugs (puberty blockers) and surgical mutilation.” This is baseless.
  • Agreed to be a featured speaker at a Moms for Liberty event called “Joyful Warriors” in 2023. Moms for Liberty is an anti-LGBTQ, a Southern Poverty Law Center-designatedextremist group, that purports to defend so-called “parental rights.” He later pulled out of the event citing a changed schedule.
  • Repeated a falsehood promoted by Peter Duesberg writing, “most HIV-infected Africans showed no sign of illness.” This is a lie. Estimates of tens of millions have died from AIDS in Africa over recent decades, and AIDS is now the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Claimed that a common herbicide causes gender dysphoria. There is no evidence to indicate that the herbicide causes gender dysphoria in humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, “Most people are not exposed to atrazine on a regular basis.”
  • More on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s record

Doug Burgum—Secretary of the Interior

  • Signed into law a bill that permits public school teachers and state government employees to ignore the preferred pronouns of their transgender students and colleagues.
  • Signed two transgender athlete bans into law, prohibiting transgender girls and women from joining female sports teams in K–12 and college. 
  • Signed a bill into law that restricts transgender health care in the state, immediately making it a crime to give gender-affirming care to people younger than 18.
  • Signed a total of eight discriminatory bills into law in 2023 including those above; restrictions on drag performances; a “religious refusal” bill permitting discrimination; and bills adding additional rules for gender markers on birth certificates that discriminate against transgender people. 
  • Defied his party in a rebuke against an anti-LGBTQ resolution that was passed by hundreds of Republican legislators in the North Dakota legislature. Burgum said the resolution, which states that “LGBT practices are unhealthy and dangerous, sometimes endangering or shortening life and sometimes infecting society at large,” is homophobic and divisive.
  • More on Doug Burgum’s record

Sean P. Duffy—Secretary of Transportation

  • Vocal opponent of marriage equality, advocating for legislation that sought to define marriage strictly as between one man and one woman. 
  • Did not vote on Equality Act, which aimed to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in various areas, including employment and housing. His voting history reflects a consistent alignment with conservative policies that oppose LGBTQ rights.
  • Voted in favor of Trump’s military ban of transgender service personnel
  • Introduced legislation that would ban fetal genetic testing meant to determine sexual orientation. The restriction, he said, is necessary to “protect the lives of unborn gay children,” despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting the feasibility of such testing.
  • Opposed to abortion rights
  • More on Sean Duffy’s record

Linda McMahon—Secretary of Education

  • Is the chair of the board at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank she launched with other former Trump administration officials in 2021. The nonprofit espouses an anti-trans stance, claiming to combat what it calls “radical gender ideology” and opposing initiatives that support LGBTQ rights. The organization has campaigned against policies that support transgender rights in education. This includes efforts to restrict participation of transgender athletes in sports and push back against federal protections for transgender students under Title IX. McMahon is one of three AFPI employees nominated to positions in the Trump cabinet, including Scott Turner for secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and  Brooke Rollins, nominee for Secretary of Agriculture.
  • —Criticized of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, stating in a Fox News op-edthat DEI measures are “not pertinent to the training of skilled workers” and that these policies “increase costs and administrative challenges across all apprenticeship programs.”
  • —During her tenure at WWE (1989–2009), McMahon oversaw homophobic and misogynisticcontent including matches that featured homophobic slurs and violent portrayals of LGBTQ characters, which perpetuated harmful stereotypes and contributed to a culture of intolerance in the wrestling community. 
  • More on Linda McMahon’s record

Douglas Collins—Secretary of Veterans Affairs

  • Vocal opponent of marriage equality. And after the Supreme Court ruled in 2015 in favor of marriage rights for same-sex couples, Collins said he would “strongly support a constitutional amendment defining marriage between one man and one woman.”
  • Voted against the Equality Act in 2019, which sought to amend the Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. He baselessly argued the legislation would undermine women’s sports and promote harmful practices regarding children.
  • Co-sponsored the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act, which aimed to protect individuals who oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds.
  • Co-sponsored State Marriage Defense Act which would have defined the terms “spouse” and “marriage” when used in federal laws to always follow the definition used in the particular state where the law is applied. 
  • Defended military chaplains who faced repercussions for expressing anti-LGBTQ views, indicating his support for so-called religious freedom in the military context.
  • Got A+ rating from anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America for his opposition to abortion as the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.
  • Voted against an amendment to legislation that would disallow discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 
  • More on Douglas Collins’s record

Kristi Noem—Secretary of Homeland Security

  • A transgender and gender nonconforming advocacy group, The Transformation Project, sued the state of South Dakota for terminating a contract with the organization, as reported by the Associated Press. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and her health secretary apologized for the incident and agreed to pay $300,000 for the settlement.
  • Signed two executive orders in 2021 banning transgender girls and women from competing on women’s sports teams at public high schools and colleges in South Dakota.
  • Signed into law HB 1080 banning age-appropriate, medically necessary transgender health care for transgender youth in South Dakota. Every major medical association and leading world health authority supports health care for transgender people and youth. 
  • Celebrated the passage of a bill (HB 1217) that would have barred transgender girls and women from playing sports with other women, but later vetoed it citing potential legal backlash from the NCAA. However, she still supported the intent of the bill.
  • Signed a Religious Freedom Restoration Act in South Dakota, which LGBTQ advocates say sanctioned discrimination against queer people under the guise of upholding religious liberty.
  • Opposes marriage equality for same-sex couples. 
  • More on Kristi Noem’s record

John Ratcliffe—CIA Director

  • Said he opposes an individual state’s right to recognize not only marriage equality, but even civil unions.
  • Was given an award by the anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council for his 100% record on “faith and family” issues, including his blocking of DOD funding for gender confirmation surgery.
  • Voted against a resolution expressing opposition to the Trump administration’s ban on transgender soldiers.
  • More on John Ratcliffe’s record

Lee Zeldin—Environmental Protection Agency Administrator

Tulsi Gabbard—Director of National Intelligence

  • Introduced bill that ties Title IX protections for female athletes to “biological sex.” The bill would deny federal funding to schools that “permit a person whose biological sex at birth is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.”
  • Endorsed Florida’s House Bill 1557, the “Don’t Say Gay/LGBTQ” bill
  • Baselessly claimed that the LGBTQ community was trying to gain acceptance for pedophiles by labeling them “minor-attracted persons” and allowing them to teach in schools. There is no evidence for this. 
  • At CPAC in 2024 Gabbard was a featured speaker alongside anti-LGBTQ politicians Viktor Orbán, prime minister of Hungary, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
  • Signed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to recognize a constitutional right to same-sex marriage
  • Became a member of the House LGBT Equality Caucus and consistently voted in favor of LGBTQ rights legislation
  • Apologized for past anti-LGBTQ views before running for president
  • Appeared with her father in an ad opposing same-sex marriage. She criticized “homosexual activists” who sought to “force their values down the throats of the children in our schools.”
  • More on Tulsi Gabbard’s record

Elise Stefanik—Ambassador to the United Nations

  • Voted against the Equality Act in 2021 after previously voting in favor of it. The legislation had not substantially changed in the intervening years. The Equality Act is a bill that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. 
  • Withdrew her co-sponsorship of the Fairness for All Act, which would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to civil rights law. 
  • Voted for the so-called Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which aims to prevent transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. She stated, “Our daughters should not be forced to compete against biological men in competitive sports.” Transgender women are women and some play sports. 
  • Supported efforts to ban transgender health care for transgender youth and criticized what she called “radical ideology” in education regarding gender identity. Trans people are people, not an ideology. Every major medical association and leading world health authority supports health care for transgender people and youth.  
  • More on Elisa Stefanik’s record

Mehmet Oz—Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator

  • Opposed the Affordable Care Act, the law that expanded access to health insurance for millions of Americans and that outlawed rejecting people with preexisting medical conditions, or charging them more for insurance, a provision that disproportionately affected women and LGBTQ people.
  • Mocked his opponent John Fetterman’s disability during his Senate campaign in 2022. 
  • Made the false claim that 80–85% of gender-dysphoric youth would revert to their gender assigned at birth without external influence, citing debunked data. Recent research indicatestrans youth are highly unlikely to reidentify with their assigned sex.
  • Trivialized the experiences of transgender youth by likening their struggles to a boy wearing his mother’s shoes. Such remarks could undermine the rights and protections of queer and trans individuals.
  • Platformed dangerous and discredited so-called “conversion therapy” on his show. He did not endorse the practice but including it legitimizes the harmful practices against LGBTQ people.
  • Said he would support legislation to bar transgender women from participating in women’s sports. 
  • More on Mehmet Oz’s record

Russell Vought—Nominee for Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

  • Key architect of Project 2025, a conservative policy initiative that includes proposals to roll back protections for LGBTQ individuals. This plan advocates for eliminating gender identity as a basis for rights and protections, effectively rejecting any recognition of transgender identities in policy and law. It calls for erasing terms including “abortion,” “reproductive health,” “gender,” and “gender equality” from “every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists.” During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly claimed he “knew nothing about” Project 2025. Vought served as director and acting director of OMB during the first Trump term, and in his chapter of Project 2025 wrote “the President’s budget is in fact a powerful mechanism for setting and enforcing public policy at federal agencies.” More on Project 2025.
  • Used derogatory and inflammatory language regarding transgender issues, baselessly referring to transgender health care as “chemical castration,” and denouncing what he calls “transgender sewage” being introduced in schools.
  • Framed his opposition to LGBTQ rights within the context of religious freedom. He supports policies that allow individuals and organizations to deny services based on religious beliefs, which critics argue can lead to discrimination against LGBTQ people.
  • Has a close affiliation with Christian nationalist William Wolfe, a former Trump administration official who has advocated for overturning same-sex marriage, ending abortion and reducing access to contraceptives.
  • Affiliated with the Center for Renewing America, which promotes Christian nationalist ideals and opposes LGBTQ rights as contrary to traditional values.
  • More on Russell Vought’s record

Brooke Rollins—Nominee for Secretary of Agriculture

  • America First Policy Institute (AFPI) was founded in 2021 to promote Donald Trump’s agenda and is staffed with many who worked in the first Trump administration. Rollins is one of three AFPI employees nominated to positions in the Trump cabinet, including Scott Turner for secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Linda McMahon, chair of the AFPI board, for Education secretary.
  • AFPI has actively opposed so-called “radical gender ideology,” arguing that it is transforming American society negatively. They oppose health care for transgender youth, claiming these can lead to serious long-term health consequences. Transgender people are people, not an ideology. Every major medical association and leading world health authority supports health care for transgender people and youth.
  • AFPI fought against the Biden Administration’s proposed revisions to Title IX, which would expand protections against discrimination based on sex to include gender identity. AFPI argues that this change would force schools to treat transgender individuals according to their gender identity, which they oppose.
  • AFPI opposes participation by transgender women in women’s sports and makes the unfounded claim that transgender women in locker rooms and bathrooms are “biological males” that make women and girls vulnerable and create “opportunities for sexual assault, including rape.” “Biological sex” is not an accurate nor a scientific term, but is used by opponents of transgender people to dehumanize them and deny their equal access to society. There is no data of any kind to support the claim that inclusive bathrooms undermine anyone’s safety. Transgender people are also several times more likely to be the victims of violent crimes than those who are not transgender.
  • AFPI opposes the inclusion of LGBTQ topics in school curricula without parental consent.
  • Former President and Board member of Texas Public Policy Foundation, which has advocated for book bans and spread disinformation about health care for transgender people, which is supported by every major medical association.
  • More on Brooke Rollins’s reecord

Dean John Sauer—Nominee for Solicitor General

  • Opposes same-sex marriage. He supported Missouri’s same-sex marriage ban. In 2015, he was involved in legal efforts to undermine marriage equality during his tenure as Solicitor General of Missouri, arguing for the state to determine marriage rights.
  • Filed a brief opposing President Biden’s Executive Order that aimed to redefine sexual discrimination to include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
  • Linked to campaigns that combine anti-abortion messaging with anti-transgender rhetoric. He contributed $100,000 to a political action committee aimed at opposing a Missouri amendment that would secure reproductive rights. This campaign has utilized baseless anti-transgender rhetoric, capitalizing on existing sentiments against transgender health care for minors, which is already restricted in the state.
  • More on Dean John Sauer’s record

Brendan Carr—Nominee for Commissioner of Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

  • Pledged to eliminate the FCC’s support for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
  • Contributed to Project 2025, a conservative policy initiative that outlines a strategy for reshaping the executive branch. This project includes sweeping proposals that would undermine protections for LGBTQ people.

Lori Chavez DeRemer—Nominee for Secretary of Labor

  • Introduced the Recover Pride in Service Act, legislation aimed at automatically upgrading the dishonorable discharges of military members who were discharged due to their sexual orientation. This bill seeks to rectify past injustices related to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
  • Campaigned for the state legislature as pro-LGBTQ
  • Co-sponsored a “Parents’ Bill of Rights” backed by anti-LGBTQ groups that requires schools to consult with parents before allowing students to use different names or pronouns at school.
  • Voted for bills to ban transgender girls from playing girls’ sports and prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from providing hormone therapy to transgender veterans or flying Pride flags.
  • Co-sponsored with House Resolution 734, a bill to prohibit schools from allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports.
  • More on Lori Chavez’s DeRemer

Harmeet Dhillon—Nominee for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights

  • Represented client Chloe Cole, a prominent anti-trans detransitioner, in a lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente
  • Supported numerous lawsuits aimed at overturning protections for transgender individuals in states including California and Colorado.
  • Her organization, the Center for American Liberty, focuses on legal challenges against policies that affirm transgender rights, including “a lawsuit challenging a Colorado school’s use of a transgender student’s preferred name; a case against a California school district seeking to implement policies that would forcibly out transgender students; and a lawsuit against Vermont for denying a foster care license to a family unwilling to comply with nondiscrimination policies regarding transgender youth,” according to TruthOut.
  • Claimed Maine’s designation as a refuge for trans people fleeing anti-trans crackdowns in red states would be unconstitutional.
  • Praised anti-LGBTQ extremist social media account Libs of TikTok, and supported their false and defamatory claims that trans-supportive parents “groomed” their children.
  • Said, without basis, that “Title IX was passed by Congress to protect women’s rights—not the rights of men pretending to be women.” In fact, transgender women are women, and some play sports.
  • Criticized efforts to support transgender youth, labeling them as “predatory.” Every major medical association and leading world health authority supports health care for transgender people and youth.
  • More on Harmet Dhillon’s record
Kari Lake
Kari Lake (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Kari Lake—Voice of America Director (Designate)

  • Says she has gay friends who are “appalled with the ‘BTQ+’ [bisexual, transgender, and queer] everything they keep adding to it.” Has stated that those same gay friends would oppose a nondiscrimination bill protecting them statewide, and says, “Sane, hard working gay men and women are fed up with being held hostage by the alphabet mafia.”
  • In a March interview on KNST radio, criticized schools that teach students about gender identity, stating that they are promoting “confusion.” “This is why it is so important, and maybe the most important, for people to run for school board, some people with sanity who aren’t going to push this on our children,” said Lake. “Can you imagine back while we were going to school if a teacher would have been talking about all of this crazy stuff? Gender identity? It’s just so lunatic.”
  • Tweeted in May that, “A child’s gender is determined by God at conception, NOT by some Woke Teacher in the 3rd grade. This insanity must end,” falsely implying that schools are somehow responsible for creating transgender youth. 
  • Falsely accused President Joe Biden of promoting “grooming” 
  • Scapegoated the LGBTQ community, writing, “They kicked God out of schools and welcomed the Drag Queens. They took down our Flag and replaced it with a rainbow. They seek to disarm Americans and militarize our Enemies. Let’s bring back the basics: God, Guns & Glory.” 
  • Been a prominent figure in election denialism, particularly following her loss in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race. Lake raised $2.5 million after Election Day, largely from supporters outside Arizona who responded to her claims that the election was stolen from her. She consistently refused to concede, asserting that the election was “one of the most dishonest” in Arizona’s history.
  • Filed multiple lawsuits attempting to overturn the election results, alleging issues such as improper signature verification and faulty voting machines. These lawsuits have been consistently rejected by the courts.
  • More on Kari Lake’s record

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