Donald Trump told supporters he did great with the gay population during the 2024 election — but statistics show that LGBTQ+ voters overwhelmingly rejected him. Speaking at a conference at Mar-a-Lago on November 29, Trump appeared surprised to spot members of Gays for Trump in the crowd. He quipped, “You don’t look gay…We did great with the gay population, as you know.” Exit polls say otherwise. CNN’s data from election night reported that only 12 percent of queer voters supported Trump, while 86 percent backed Democrat Kamala Harris.
More broadly, 53 percent of voters, including those who stayed home or voted third party, said they did not support him. Trump’s unpopularity among LGBTQ+ Americans isn’t new. Just 14 percent supported him in 2016, a figure that stayed flat in 2022. Even Gays for Trump founder Peter Boykin has expressed concerns, saying Trump is listening to the wrong people and warning he must abandon “this social conservative crap.” During his presidency, Trump advanced policies widely seen as anti-LGBTQ+, including banning trans people from the military, rolling back nondiscrimination protections, and targeting gender-affirming care. Today, 71 percent of queer adults say Trump has harmed queer rights, and just 6 percent say he’s helped.
