This campaign season has seen the usual assortment of billboards with one Congressional candidate drawing lots of attention through a very divisive message. But the newest billboard on the block is all about love. Or at least, a “Love Trumps Hate” illustration shows former enemies Donald Trump coming together in the most unexpected way. After all of the potshots, the shouting debates, and Cruz’s own terribly awkward exit from the presidential race, the two are “friends” now. Cruz will even speak at the RNC to support Trump (but mostly to defeat Hillary Clinton). And if these two are allies now, this billboard seems to imply that anything is possible.
An organization called Planting Peace hopes for something deeper than a chuckle. With this billboard — planted 5 miles away from the Republican National Convention — they’re calling for the Republican platform to embrace the LGBT community. At issue are the scores of anti-LGBT bathroom laws running throughout the nation. Trump may not be tolerant when it comes to other cultures, but he’s taken a surprisingly progressive viewpoint on the bathroom issue by saying people have a right to choose where to pee. Cruz, on the other hand, has said transgender people should use the bathroom at home. Planting Peace sends a message to the RNC:
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.
Well, this billboard certainly sends a message. If two enemies like Trump and Cruz can appear to love each other, then other fences could be mended too. However, Cruz likely won’t be pleased by this depiction even though his likeness seems to be having more fun than Trump (who looks like he’s delivering a speech). The Texas senator’s own pastor has called for the execution of gay people, and Cruz isn’t likely to change his ways. But this billboard should capture plenty of attention from next week’s RNC attendees.
(Via Planting Peace)