News

'Love Trumps Hate' Billboard Goes Up in Cleveland

A billboard erected by LGBT activists near the site of the 2016 Republican convention depicts Donald Trump and Ted Cruz engaged in a kiss.

Published July 14, 2016

 (PlantingPeace.org)
Image Via PlantingPeace.org

A prominent billboard depicting GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump kissing erstwhile opponent Ted Cruz and trumpeting the slogan "Love Trumps Hate. End Homophobia" went up today near the site of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

The billboard is the work of LGBT activist group Planting Peace, which says in a statement on its web site that it hopes to send a message to the Republican Party, which is widely perceived as being hostile to gay rights:

We challenge the GOP to think about how many times their children could hear messages like these and not be impacted or question their value and worth? These messages sink our young people into a spiral of depression and directly correlate to queer youth attempting or actually committing suicide. The blood of these children is on the hands of the anti-LGBT platform of the republican party. This is not theory. This is not a dramatization. These are facts. For example, when HB2 passed, the Trans lifeline, a suicide prevention hotline for the transgender community, saw their suicide hotline calls increase 100 percent for transgender children.

Earlier in the week, the Republican Party platform committee rejected proposals from within to include planks acknowledging LGBT issues, the Dallas Morning News reports, opting instead to include statements affirming marriage as a union between one man and one woman and opposing transgender bathrooms.

Sources

McGaughy, Lauren.  "If Trump Didn't Already Do It, Anti-Gay Platform Could Alienate Republican Millennials."   Dallas Morning News.  13 July 2016.

McLaughlin, Tom.  "Destin Natives Behind 'Love Trumps Hate' Billboard."   NWFDailyNews.com.  14 July 2016.

David Emery is a West Coast-based writer and editor with 25 years of experience fact-checking rumors, hoaxes, and contemporary legends.