EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ERIKA WILLIAMS
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MANAGING EDITOR LARISA KARR
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MANAGING EDITOR EMILY HENDERSON
MANAGING EDITOR CHARLIE HEARD
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NEWS EDITOR MAGGIE HADDOCK
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OPINION EDITOR CATHERINE PIGG
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SPORTS EDITOR SAMANTHA SAVERY
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A8F EDITOR KARRIGAN MONK
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ASSISTANT A8F EDITOR SARAH SHADBURNE
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LAYOUT 8 DESIGN EDITOR BRYCE ALBERGHINI
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR nick haseloff
COPY DESK CHIEF Rebecca Andrews
ADVERTISING MANAGER katie Ritchie
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR eli choplin
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR JAMES hughes
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR karen lopez
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Elizabeth walker
FACULTY ADVISER Michael gouge
The Blue Banner is UNC Asheville’s
student newspaper. We publish each
Tuesday except during summer
sessions, finals week and holiday
breaks. Our office is located in Karpen
Hall 019.
The Blue Banner \s a designated forum
for free speech and welcomes letters to
the editor, considering them on basis of
interest, space and timeliness. Letters
and articles should be emailed to the
editor-in-chief or the appropriate section
editor. Letters should include the writer’s
name, year in school, and major or other
relationship to UNCA. Inclucfe a phone
number to aid in verification. All articles
are subject to editing.
TRUMP IMPLIES PENCE’S
TREATMENT OF LGBTQ+
COMMUNITY WILL LEAVE
BLOOOTRAIL
EDITORIAL STAFF
thebluebanner@unca.edu
Since the beginning of
Trump’s presidency, various
groups of people have called
for his impeachment. Although
a Trump impeachment would
in fact be preferred by many, it
would then default the country
into the hands of Mike Penee,
the former Indiana governor
and current vice president.
During a meeting with
Pence and a legal scholar about
topics such as abortion and
gay rights. Trump gestured to
ward Pence saying, “Don’t ask
that guy — he wants to hang
them all,’’ in reference to the
LGBTQ+ community.
It is one thing to engage in
discussion, even argue, with
views not partial to one’s own;
it is another thing for Trump to
make a joke on the behalf of
the safety and welfare of the
millions of LGBTQ+ citizens
in this country.
Aside from being an entire
ly evil and vulgar comment, it
emphasizes the very real dan
gers the LGBTQ-i- community
face on a daily basis, dangers
and fear that have only been
enhanced since the beginning
of Trump’s term.
Pence has relentlessly cam
paigned against gay rights
as his record of opposition
to gay rights shows in his re
cords of voting as a member
of Congress and governor of
Indiana. His approval of gay
conversion therapy became
well known during the 2016
Republican Party campaign,
according to The New York
Times.
At The Blue Banner, we de
nounce the movement of an-
ti-LGBTQ-i- rhetoric and the
light-heartedness that Trump
and Pence use to diseuss
such topics. In an America
where hate crimes against the
LGBTQ-i- community is twice
as likely as hate crimes against
any other minority group, we
cannot afford to have a presi
dent and an administration that
jokes about the deaths of our
citizens.