Trump Includes Support For LGBTQ in Nomination Acceptance While Paypal Founder Makes History

Paypal Co-founder Peter Thiel pledged his support for Donald Trump last week as he became the first openly gay speaker at the Republican National Convention to speak about his sexuality.

This all occurred as Donald Trump again directed comments towards the LGBTI community in his final acceptance speech, another sign he is attempting to make the Republican Party mare gay-friendly.

“As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens, from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.” Trump said.

Trump is the first Republican presidential nominee to offer support to the gay community in an acceptance speech.

Following the cheering from the crowd, Trump continued by saying, “And it’s so nice, as a Republican, to hear you cheering for what I just said.”

Supporters of Trump argue that the rare moment is a sign that this polarising man, particularly to the gay community, shows through his true colours.

Trump who is a New Yorker with gay friends, appears to be portraying the message that he the does not share the homophobic attitudes of many of his fellow Republicans.

Which is why, his friend Peter Thiel, preceded him on the convention stage and declared he was open and proud.

“Every American has a unique identity. I am proud to be gay. I am proud to be republican, but most of all I am proud to be an American.

Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and board member at Facebook, made several economic points during his speech as well, gesturing to Silicon Valley’s success compared to other parts of the country.

CNN had reported earlier in the day that Thiel would announce he was proud to be gay during his speech.

Thiel was the first openly gay speaker to speak at the RNC since 2000 when then-Representative Jim Kolbe spoke, CNN pointed out, although Kolbe did not reference his sexuality during his speech.

Last Updated on Jul 25, 2016