Gay Republicans swoon over Donald Trump for hosting a gay wedding at Mar-a-Lago

Mar-a-Lago on Palm Beach Island, Palm Beach, Florida, USA. Mar-a-Lago is Palm Beach’s grandest mansion built in 1927.

Mar-a-Lago — the Palm Beach, Florida, resort and home of former President Donald Trump — recently hosted the same-sex wedding of an official from the Tennessee chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans (a gay conservative group) and his partner.

John Sullivan, the vice chairman and treasurer of the Log Cabin Republicans of Tennessee, and Dan Medora tied the knot at the opulent private club owned by the former president last Friday, according to anti-Trump political action committee MeidasTouch Network,

Related:

“An amazing time was had by all at John Sullivan and Dan Medora’s unforgettable wedding at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, FL,” a post on the Log Cabin Republicans of Tennessee’s Facebook page reads. “A celebration of love and style that will be cherished forever. Thanks for the amazing weekend, fellas!”

Stay connected to your community

Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our daily newsletter.

On Instagram, Sullivan reportedly thanked Trump specifically for “giving us the green light to have our wedding at the beautiful Mar-a-Lago club.”

Sullivan’s Instagram account is now set to private, and it is unclear whether the former president personally approved the event. Though with mounting legal bills — more than a half-billion dollars stemming from his many court cases — it seems unlikely that Trump would turn down a paycheck.

As MeidasTouch notes, Trump has been known to crash weddings at his Palm Beach resort, though he doesn’t appear to have attended Sullivan and Medora’s. On Friday afternoon, the former president was in South Carolina for a campaign rally ahead of the state’s Republican primary on Saturday.

While Trump shamelessly courted the LGBTQ+ vote during his 2016 presidential campaign, he repeatedly voiced his opposition to marriage equality, telling journalists in interviews, “I think the institution of marriage should be between a man and a woman,” “I’m opposed to gay marriage,” and “I’m just for traditional marriage.” He also said that he would “strongly consider” appointing Supreme Court justices who oppose marriage equality, and that Evangelicals “can trust me on traditional marriage.”

That has not stopped the Log Cabin Republicans, which bills itself as “the nation’s largest Republican organization dedicated to representing LGBT conservatives and allies,” from supporting Trump. The organization previously held its annual Spirit of Lincoln Gala honoring former First Lady Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2021. The former president was a no-show at that event as well. The group

The Log Cabin Republicans have been compared to “Jews for Hitler.” The group has defended Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill by comparing its opponents to pedophiles who have “wet dreams of gender fluid, indoctrinated, and groomed children.” The group’s President Charles Moran has written op-eds opposing transgender civil rights and also the Equality Act, legislation that includes LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections. An LCR ambassador said she wished society and conservatives were more homophobic.

Trump did attend the group’s gala when it returned to Mar-a-Lago in 2022, telling the crowd that, “We are fighting for the gay community, and we are fighting and fighting hard.” He said this despite his many attacks on LGBTQ+ rights during his time in office.

While the 2022 Spirit of Lincoln Gala took place just days after President Joe Biden signed the historic “Respect for Marriage Act” — an act repealing the anti-LGBTQ+ “Defense of Marriage Act” and requiring the federal government and all U.S. states to recognize legal same-sex marriages — Trump made no mention of same-sex marriage at the event.