Richard Grenell

—Lied when he tweeted that [Wanda Sykes] “…wants kindergarteners to be taught sex education by people other than their parents,” ascribing to her a viewpoint she never espoused when retweeting a clip of Sykes in the opening segment of the 94th Academy Awards. He added “Don’t support Wanda Sykes movies.” In fact, her comments at the Oscars were limited to, “We’re going to have a great night tonight, and for you people in Florida, we’re going to have a gay night. Gay gay gay!”

—Criticized the Equality Act, falsely claiming it would grant “special rights” to LGBTQ people and is an attack on religion. The Equality Act bans all forms of discrimination against LGBTQ people. It doesn’t give “special rights.” The Equality Act also expands protections for religious belief, providing protections for people who are discriminated against because of their religion. Polls show Americans in every major faith group overwhelmingly support the Equality Act and its tenets that businesses cannot refuse service to LGBTQ people based on religious objection. Religious-based organizations have recognized they can serve LGBTQ people without conflict to their religious beliefs. 

—Touted the launch of an initiative that claimed to push for the decriminalization of homosexuality “around the globe.” Advocates for global equality called the effort “nothing more than self-promoting Twitter photos” and “smoke and mirrors” and noted that LGBTQ discrimination actually increased around the world during the Trump administration.

—As the Republican National Committee’s senior adviser tasked with LGBTQ outreach for Trump’s re-election bid, repeated the egregious lie that the Trump administration was “the most pro-gay president ever” while that same administration was, at the same time seeking to: reject recognition of sexual orientation and gender identity protections under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act; fight to the Supreme Court to allow discrimination against LGBTQ workers, parents and customers; ban trans girls and women from participating in sports; remove health care protections for transgender Americans; eliminate protections for trans students; and ban transgender people from serving the military. The Washington Post’s fact check determined Grenell’s claims were “absurd” and awarded “four Pinocchios”—the highest rating for lies or “whoppers.” “Trump is pro-Grenell, but that doesn’t mean his administration is pro-gay, the Post reported.”

—Became a special adviser for national security and foreign policy at the anti-LGBTQ American Center for Law and Justice, which was founded by anti-LGBTQ televangelist Pat Robertson. 

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