Like it or not, and regardless of whether or not he is perfect on LGBT issues, Donald Trump is objectively the most pro-gay president in American history. If that sounds ridiculous to you, you might only be paying attention to news outlets that are sworn to bashing Trump and his administration. He is definitely due some credit for several actions that positively impact LGBT people at home and abroad. Here are a few:

Trump is the first president in history to support gay marriage at the time of his election

Unlike previous presidents—whether they were Democrats or Republicans —who all were firmly anti-gay marriage at the start of their terms, Trump supported gay couples right to wed from his very first day in office and onward. Many LGBT fearmongered that he would take away this right, but they were wrong. Many people seem to suffer from short term memory loss and can’t recall the time when Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton were arguing about who was more pro-traditional marriage in order to be elected. Trump could have very easily pandered to his traditional conservative base who wouldn’t have batted an eyelash if he said he was against gay marriage, but he did the opposite.

Trump launched a global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality

One of the biggest human rights tragedies that is seen across the globe is the criminalization of being LGBT, particularly in the Middle East and some African countries. When speaking to the United Nations on Sept 24th 2019, Trump said, My administration is working with other nations to stop criminalizing homosexuality. He went on to say, “And we stand in solidarity with LGBT people who live in countries that punish, jail and execute people based upon sexual orientation.”

While many on the right celebrated this initiative, most on the left either didn’t know it happened due to the confirmation bias of the news they consume. Even still, most who were aware refused to give any credit for this historic initiative simply because it came from Trump.

Trump has pledged to end HIV for the LGBT and general communities and is keeping his word

While other presidents would probably be called heroes for the LGBT community for doing the same, no one seems to credit Trump for this. He has secured an absolutely historic donation of free HIV medication for over 200,000 people. Furthermore, he’s invested $716 million into fighting the virus. His progress will objectively save the lives of thousands of LGBT people.

Trump was the first Republican president to celebrate Pride Month

While this may seem like something small, you would have to be completely ignorant of the history of the attitude toward Pride Month and LGBT issues by conservatives to not see that his simple tweet of support for Pride has likely changed hearts and minds within his base. This is unprecedented from a republican President, and is a positive step in the right direction.

Trump continuously nominated LGBT people into government

Patrick Bumatay is the highest-ranking federal judge who is openly a member of the LGBT community. He’s the second LGBT person nominated as a federal judge directly by President Trump. Mary Rowland is the first openly lesbian US District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, also directly nominated by Trump. If he was truly homophobic, this picks wouldn’t make much sense.

While Trump isn’t perfect (because no president is), we need to stop the hysteria that he somehow has a hatred for LGBT people. The proof is in the pudding, and it simply is not true.