Founder of Gays for Trump running for North Carolina legislature

Peter Boykin, founder of Gays for Trump [Facebook]

North Carolina does not currently have a reputation for being LGBTI-friendly thanks to the 2016 passage of HB2 (House Bill 2), a transgender bathroom bill which also voided any LGBTI-rights ordinances local municipalities had enacted.

Nonetheless, the state elected a record 20 openly LGBTI candidates in the November 2017 election, according to the NC-based Q-Notes.

Boykin, who is married to an African-American man, reports he does not like the term LGBT, preferring to leave the T out of it.

“I prefer ‘Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and allies,’” he told Greensboro’s Triad City Beat. “They have their own agenda. We can support it, but we can’t let them interfere with what we have accomplished. Truly I don’t consider transgender to be gay.”

Boykin is supportive of Trump’s record on LGBTI issues, including his attempt to ban transgender people from serving in the military, a plan that has been struck down by federal courts and is opposed by Defense Secretary James Mattis.

“It was more of an economic thing to make sure the military didn’t pay for the transgender surgeries, which are elective,” Boykin told Triad City Beat. “The school of thought is still out if there is a mental disorder. I hate to say that transgenders [sic] have a mental disorder because at one time homosexuals were considered mentally challenged.”

Boykin’s platform is based on public safety.

“My goal as a representative for Greensboro, NC is to ensure our children and our family’s feel secure and safe when attending school, church, or public events knowing trained individuals are present to safeguard their lives and they will all make it home each and every day,” he said in a statement.

His official website lists him as being anti-abortion, anti-illegal immigration, pro-Trump, pro-Second Amendment, pro-religious freedom, and “pro-human rights (including gay rights),” among others.

Boykin organized a Gays for Trump rally held on 4 March in Washington, DC on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The Washington Blade reported that rally attracted approximately 100 people.

“Donald Trump has delivered for us every single day,” Boykin said at the rally.  “We love a president who is open and honest. We don’t have the fireside chats. We have his Tweets at 3 in the morning.”

At that rally, Boykin’s husband, Tavaris ‘David’ Smith, told the crowd, “I was raised in a Democratic family. I’m a Republican. I voted for Trump. I’m on the American team and I’m gay. God bless America. God bless Trump.”

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