President Donald Trump’s 99-minute address to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday night focused mostly on economic and international issues. The event had few surprises apart from some protests from Democratic Congress members, one of whom had to be escorted from the chamber after interrupting Trump’s speech early into the event.

While Trump attacked diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts at several points, he only explicitly mentioned LGBTQ+ issues several times, mostly in attacks on “wasteful” government spending and policies supporting trans youth. Most notably, Trump referred to trans identity as a “lie” and falsely claimed that the federal government has spent $8 million to “make mice transgender.”

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Below are the three largest LGBTQ+-related takeaways from Trump’s speech with additional context and fact-checking to counter his habitual lying.

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1. Democrats protests created some dramatic moments

Early into the speech, after Trump proclaimed that his 2024 election victory “was mandate like has not been seen in many decades,” 77-year-old Rep. Al Green (D-TX) stood and pointed his cane at Trump stating, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid!” Green’s comment referred to Republican plans to cut federal health insurance benefits for poorer adults and kids.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) then warned Congress members “to uphold and maintain decorum” and “to cease any further disruptions.” But when Green continued to stand, Johnson directed the sergeant-at-arms to remove him from the chamber. Green left.

Representative Al Green is a national treasure!

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— Choco Harvey Milk (@chocoharveymilk.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 8:46 PM

Later on in the speech, when Trump mentioned “law and order,” a Democratic Congress member shouted “January 6,” a likely reference to the roughly 140 police officers who were injured when Trump’s supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 to try and stop the congressional certification of Trump’s election loss. The police officers’ injuries from the riots included a broken spine, a lost eye, lost fingers, brain damage, and multiple cases of PTSD, but Trump pardoned all of the rioters at the start of his second presidency.

Other Democrats shouted “Lies!” when Trump made false claims about massive fraud in the Social Security payment system.

At another point in Trump’s address, a group of Democratic representatives stood up and walked out of the speech, including Reps. Jasmine Crockett (TX), Maxwell Frost (FL), Melanie Stansbury (NM), LaMonica McIver (NJ) and Lateefah Simon (CA). A few of them removed their jackets to reveal black shirts with protest messages written in white letters upon their backs: Frost’s message said, “No kings live here” — a reference to Trump’s February social media post calling himself a “king” — and others’ shirts simply said, “Resist.”

We just walked out of the state of the Union. My shirt showed Trump an important message: NO KINGS LIVE HERE. In the spirit of student protestors from the Civil Rights Movement, I’m proud to have protested and walked out with many of my colleagues. This is NOT a normal time.

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— Maxwell Frost (@maxwellfrost.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 8:52 PM

Several Democratic Congress members invited as guests federal workers who lost their jobs due to mass firings overseen by unelected billionaire Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Mother Jones wrote.

Numerous other Democrats stayed seated during the event but held up small placards with short messages like “False,” “Musk steals,” “Save Medicaid,” and “Protect Veterans.” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) held up a small dry-erase whiteboard with the phrase “That’s a LIE!” which later had “No Kings” written upon it. Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM) held up a small handwritten sign that said, “This is not normal!”

Love the “fact checking” by the Democrats at the #SOTU

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— LynnZ

Source: LGBTQ Nation