The president of the North Carolina-based group Gays for Trump is a lead organizer of a July 1 MAGA [Make America Great Again] Free Speech Rally on the National Mall near the White House.
Peter Boykin, who founded Gays for Trump during the 2016 presidential election campaign, said the July 1 rally on the Mall would be a non-partisan celebration of the Make America Great Again theme, which he said would help make the country a better place to live for “everyone, gay, straight, black, white – everyone.”
He said that to him and others working with him on the July rally, “Make America Great Again is more than a political slogan. It is a way of life.”
Boykin said that although those expected to speak at the rally will be mostly conservative activists, including LGBT people, who support President Donald Trump, there will be an “open mic” period in which anyone who attends can speak.
According to Boykin, organizers of the event have obtained a permit from the National Park Service for a space for the rally across the street from the Washington Monument grounds on Constitution Avenue near the White House.
He said the event would also promote another Washington, D.C. event planned by the same organizers for the Labor Day weekend, which is being billed as the MAGA Awards and America’s First Fashion Show with Andre Soriano.”
Soriano, a clothing designer who’s gay, was among the Trump supporters that spoke at a pro-Trump march and rally on the Mall and at Lafayette Park across the street from the White House held on March 4 that was initiated and organized by Boykin.
Boykin said the free speech rally planned for July 1 represents a change from an earlier plan by Gays for Trump to hold a “Deploraball Pre-4th of July Picnic” on the Mall on July 1 to celebrate Trump’s first Independence Day as president. He said most of the space suitable for a picnic on the Mall had already been taken for other events on the July 4th weekend, in which thousands descend on the Mall for the annual fireworks show and other events.
