The Bishop of Washington made a heartfelt appeal to Donald Trump, urging him to show ‘mercy’ towards LGBTQ+ individuals and migrants.
Just a day into his term as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump promptly signed several executive orders. Among these were policies asserting ‘only two genders’ and numerous directives restricting migrant entry and residency in the country.
At a service conducted on January 21 at the Washington National Cathedral, following Trump’s inauguration, Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde implored the newly sworn-in president to extend ‘mercy’ to LGBTQ+ individuals and migrants.
In what she termed ‘one final plea,’ Right Rev. Budde stated: “Mr President, millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God.
“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.
“And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labour in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”
Budde concluded by once again urging Trump to ‘have mercy on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away’ and to ‘help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here’.
After the service, Trump labeled it as ‘not too exciting’ and expressed dissatisfaction by stating: “They could do much better.”
In the initial 24 hours of Trump’s presidency, the White House website detailed 25 executive orders. Among them was an official policy aimed at ‘restoring biological truth to the federal government’.
This policy identifies ‘two sexes, male and female’, and asserts they are ‘unchangeable’, grounded in a ‘fundamental and incontrovertible reality’. It instructs federal agents to ‘enforce laws governing sex-based rights, protections, opportunities, and accommodations to protect men and women as biologically distinct sexes’. The policy also mandates the removal of any ‘statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications, or other internal and external messages that promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology’.
Numerous other executive orders focus on the treatment of migrants and the criteria for American citizenship, including measures to limit birthright citizenship and ‘secure’ the borders. They also aim to ‘protect American people’ from ‘millions of illegal aliens’ crossing the borders and ‘protect the US from foreign terrorists’ as well as ‘protect the territorial integrity’ of the US.
If these issues have affected you and you wish to speak to someone in confidence, you can reach the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, available Monday to Friday from 4pm-12am ET and on Saturdays from 12pm-5pm ET.