January 20 was the culmination of a nearly two-year-long TV series: Election 2016. The season finale had everything one usually wants: over-the-top villain, tragic heroine, knight in shining armor, a divided nation aching to be united. Alas, this was no scripted drama but the reality-TV show of our collective lifetimes starring an actual reality-TV star. The villain was Donald Trump, the heroine Hillary Clinton, the knight Barack Obama, and that nation, our own.
The Inauguration of Donald Trump was presaged by a days-long Twitter, Facebook and TV news-sound-bite rant by Trump against America''s greatest living civil rights icon and long-time ally to the LGBTQ community, Georgia Rep. John Lewis. Oblivious to anything but his own resentments, Trump began said rant on Martin Luther King weekend, optics be damned.
Ever a man who speaks truth to power, Lewis gave an exclusive interview to NBC/MSNBC host Chuck Todd. In that interview Lewis asserted he would not be attending the Inauguration because he did not consider Trump a legitimate president. This had come mere days after Lewis had, in an equally unprecedented move, testified against Trump's nominee for Attorney General, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, well-known for his racist and homophobic stances. Sessions has voted against every pro-LGBT legislation every proffered, including the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill. Lewis' testimony against Sessions, televised live and replayed repeatedly after, was searing.
In his sit-down interview with Todd, Lewis, a staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton, dropped his boycott bombshell and gave his reasons for not attending the Inauguration: He cited Clinton's popular vote win, Russian interference, and Lewis' own reading of new security briefings about Trump. He strongly implied Trump had kept Clinton from the presidency not by votes but by an alliance with Vladimir Putin. It's a belief many in the intelligence community share, and which on the very day of the Inauguration from outside the luncheon, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said he would be addressing in Congress.
NBC's interview with Lewis might have just receded into the national consciousness had Trump not instigated yet another Twitter war between himself and a fellow citizen. And had it not been this citizen and that day, Martin Luther King Day. But within hours, every TV network laser-focused on the conflict, putting Trump's tweets on screen and reading them aloud. Soon the numbers of Congresspersons siding with Lewis and boycotting in solidarity grew. By Inauguration day it was 67 House members, more than a third of the Democrats. California reps led with Black Caucus stalwarts Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee giving fierce interviews on CNN and MSNBC on why they would not be attending.
The boycott spilled over into the country. Pledges to not watch the TV broadcast to tamp down ratings, which are so important to Trump, were everywhere on social media, and even repeated on political pundit shows on MSNBC and CNN, as well as the tabloid TV shows.
January 20 dawned with a blood-red sunrise on the East Coast and the threat of rain over Washington, D.C. The weather was unusually warm, mid-40s, the opposite of now-former President Obama's 2009 Inauguration, which was a bone-chilling low 20s for the 1.8 million of us in attendance.
Trump had predicted "millions" would be in attendance at his Inauguration, but TV cameras showed a seemingly sparsely populated National Mall that appeared to be about half as full as Obama's 2009 Inauguration. (Later, at the final Inaugural Ball, Trump would take to the microphone to dispute both the weather and the numbers, as well as asserting the media agreed with him, which it did not.) But NBC's Katy Tur reporting from the Mall pointed out the emptiness. Sad.
The days leading up to the Inauguration had been filled with interviews and other TV programming with and about Obama and Mrs. Obama. By Friday it had begun to feel like the worst break-up ever. The more Obama spoke to the nation from our TVs, the more awful the prospect of his leaving us in the hands of Trump, that TV villain, loomed.
In his final press conference of his presidency Obama spoke to the LGBT community for the last time, speaking first to his commutation of Chelsea Manning's sentence for violation of the Espionage Act. We had covered Manning's case for more than three years in our other reporter role, so we were thrilled by the commutation, even if many others were not. Manning had been dealt a disproportionately harsh sentence, in part, we believe, because at the time of sentencing then-Bradley Manning identified as a gay man. (After sentencing Manning came out as a trans woman and changed her name to Chelsea.) Manning suffered real torture prior to the court martial trial and again as a trans prisoner kept in a male prison. There were several threats of suicide and repeated solitary confinements. Obama did the right thing in commuting Manning's 35-year sentence after seven years.
But Obama also spoke in his press conference directly to LGBT people. An historic moment we will likely not see again in the next four years. We spent several years as a reporter covering Washington, the first out lesbian credentialed to do so. Watching the president speak discursively on LGBT issues in a final press conference was an extraordinary experience for us, as it was exactly 30 years ago that we first went to D.C. to cover the then-Reagan Administration and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Obama had been deemed America's first gay president by Newsweek magazine on May 13, 2012, after his "evolution" on same-sex marriage was complete. He had given an exclusive interview to ABC anchor Robin Roberts, whom we had urged to come out in this column for years before she finally did so. It was one of those moments TV captures and America holds its collective breath. It was an interview we will never forget. We can see it now in our mind's eye as if it were yesterday. The nation's president validating our right to marry on national television.
We shall also remember Obama's press conference January 18 for its same historic moment. He said, in answer to gay White House correspondent Chris Johnson, "I could not be prouder of the transformation that's taken place in our society just in the last decade. And I've said before, I think we made some useful contributions to it, but the primary heroes in this stage of our growth as a democracy and a society are all the individual activists and sons and daughters and couples who courageously said, this is who I am, and I'm proud of it."
Obama explained, "That opened people's minds and opened their hearts. And eventually, laws caught up. But I don't think any of that would have happened without the activism, in some cases loud and noisy, but in some cases just quiet and very personal. I think that what we did as an administration was to help the society to move in a better direction, but to do so in a way that didn't create an enormous backlash and was systematic and respectful of the fact, you know, in some cases these issues were controversial."
Obama, who had been urged for years by activists to issue an executive order to overturn DADT, detailed how a confluence of activism and processes allowed DADT to be repealed by the Congress, which he always believed was the way it had to be done to be effective.
"I think the way we handled, for example, 'Don't ask, Don't tell,'" the president continued, "being methodical about it, working with the joint chiefs, making sure we showed this would not have an impact on the effectiveness of the greatest military on earth. And then to have Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Chairman Mike Mullen and joint chiefs who were open to evidence and ultimately worked with me to do the right thing."
Again, Obama praised gay and lesbian activists, many of whom had been working on the issue for decades. "I am proud of that, but again, none of that would have happened without this incredible transformation that was happening in society out there. You know, when I gave Ellen [DeGeneres] the Presidential Medal of Freedom, I meant what I said. I think somebody that kind and likable, projecting into, you know, living rooms around the country. You know, that changed attitudes. And that wasn't easy to do for her. And that's just one small example of what was happening in countless communities all across the country."
Employing a sports metaphor as he so often has over the years, Obama said, "So I'm proud that in certain places we maybe provided a good block downfield to help the movement advance. I don't think it is something that will be reversible, because American society has changed, the attitudes of young people, in particular, have changed. That doesn't mean there aren't going to be some fights that are important, legal issues, issues surrounding transgender persons. There's still going to be some battles that need to take place. But if you talk to young people, Malia, Sasha's generation, even if they're Republicans, even if they're conservative, many of them will tell you, I don't understand how you would discriminate against somebody because of sexual orientation. That's just sort of burned into them in pretty powerful ways."
Ellen DeGeneres, who has always had a special relationship to Obama, who has been on her show repeatedly over his years in office, compiled a "thank you" video for the former president with various TV actors and personalities, including herself, Jim Parsons, Evan Rachel Wood, Jonathan Groff, Sia, Alan Cumming, Macklemore, Debra Messing, Neil Patrick Harris, Lance Bass, Laverne Cox, and Portia De Rossi. Emmy-winning The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons said, "You presided over a period of time that turned out, in many ways, to be one of the most positive periods ever in the lives of gay Americans. How can we ever thank you?"
Looking star Jonathan Groff said, "I couldn't believe that the future President of the United States said the word 'gay' in the first three minutes of his victory speech, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. You made what seemed truly impossible possible."
Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood, who was also an out speaker at the Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21, was visibly emotional as she thanked Obama for "changing the way people thought about us, and honestly, the way I thought about myself."
Ellen's wife, Scandal star Portia de Rossi, said, "Thank you, President Obama. Because of you, I got to marry the girl of my dreams."
All these moments left us verklempt. Then came the Inauguration.
If you were among those who, like our wife, boycotted the event, we urge you to read the transcript of the dystopian speech Trump delivered to his fan base. It's available on CNN and PBS. The first to never utter the word unity, it was very Hunger Games, and as is so often the case with the new president, filled with outright lies and declamations. There was no outreach to Hillary Clinton's 66 million voters, nor to those millions of other Americans who stayed home or voted third party. It was red meat for the deplorables.
Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist and ABC and Fox News pundit George Will called Trump's speech "the most dreadful in American history." In Will's characteristically mordant style he eviscerated Trump, noting, "In what should have been a civic liturgy serving national unity and confidence, Trump vindicated his severest critics by serving up reheated campaign rhetoric about 'rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape' and an education system producing students 'deprived of all knowledge.' Yes, all.
"But cheer up, because the carnage will vanish if we 'follow two simple rules: Buy American, and hire American.' 'Simple' is the right word."
It is a testament to the sheer awfulness of this past year that we are not just quoting a staunch conservative, but agreeing with him. That is the new Trump world.
Awful, too, was the atmosphere of the Inauguration. When Hillary Clinton arrived (she can be seen on CNN and MSNBC standing outside the doorway to the dais steeling herself with deep breaths in a scene that would make even the hardest-hearted Bernie Bro ache for her), she was described by ABC, CNN and Fox as the "wife of former President Bill Clinton." Talk about the unkindest and most misogynist cut of all. Not only was her position as Secretary of State erased, but so was the fact that she was, in the minds of many, the actual winner of the election.
Yet as if that were not insult enough, she was treated to loud booing as she appeared on the Jumbotron, as well as chants of "Lock her up!" which Trump had not just instigated at his rallies, but had also participated in.
Trump's speech was a mere 16 minutes long. As he approached the podium it began to rain. Then, after a few invocations and a shaky rendition of the national anthem by America's Got Talent alum, 16-year-old Jackie Evancho, who should sue her manager father for damaging her career (and whose sister is transgender), it was over.
A few of the best moments of the Inauguration happened off-stage, but thankfully not off-camera. Former president Dick Cheney, looking as healthy as Satan can look with his new heart, passed a rain poncho over the head of former president George W. Bush. These are glorified dry-cleaner bags, so at one point it looked as if Cheney was trying to suffocate Bush. A moment of much-needed levity.
In another, Hillary Clinton bowed in a namaste greeting to Michelle Obama, who then hugged her. Mrs. Obama had, about an hour before, provided America with the gif they needed when she accepted a gift from Tiffany's from Melania Trump. Cameras caught her "Why the heck would I want a gift from the people who promoted birtherism and made our lives hell for six years?" face. Thank you, Michelle. You will always be the FLOTUS of our hearts.
Melania Trump was exquisitely attired, as befits a trophy wife. But no smile came with the pale blue Oscar de la Renta dress, coat and gloves. Her expression of sheer misery made her look more like a hostage than a newly minted First Lady. At the Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21, signs reading "Free Melania" were seen on CNN.
Later at the Inaugural balls, Melania was again dressed impeccably, but her beauty only served to off-set how tired and out-of-shape Trump looked. Spending hours standing next to the lithe and elegant Melania, who is 24 years younger than he, Trump looked like the prototype for a Viagra ad. He is the oldest man ever elected to the presidency.
Watching the two dance to possibly the worst music ever heard on live TV that wasn't cable access was a sharp counterpoint to memories of the Obamas dancing to Beyoncé singing Etta James' "At Last" in 2009. Each successive ball (there are always several) looked more like a middle school mixer than the last. It wasn't just the dearth of good music (okay, that was a lot of it) and celebrities, it was also the atmosphere, which was funereal. No one looked happy.
After the Inauguration, Trump went to the Oval Office to begin undoing Obama's work over the past eight years. Within hours, Rachel Maddow was reporting the White House website had been scrubbed of the LGBT rights site as well as women's issues, climate change, clean water imperatives and civil rights. In their place? Links to Melania's jewelry line at QVC. (These last were taken down Jan. 21.)
We have said repeatedly here that TV plays a transformative role in our lives. All the most important moments of our collective lifetimes have been viewed on the small screen. Vietnam was called "the living room war" because it was the first war televised in real time into our homes. We all witnessed the planes flying into the Twin Towers over and over again. Obama is correct in saying that the mere presence of Ellen every afternoon on TV has made many Americans realize gay people are people, not monsters.
But Trump wants to change all that, to take us back in time to that Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It to Beaver, all-white, all-straight America of the 1950s. Even though we now know that it was a lie created by Hollywood.
We've elected the nation's first reality-TV star president, the only president to have never held public office, never served in the military, never been held to account in the way elected officials like Obama and Hillary usually are. The Inauguration and the myriad events surrounding it happened in real time for us over the longest day in many of our lives. We literally saw our rights being signed away by Trump, presided over by Nancy Pelosi, who was powerless to stop it as Paul Ryan grinned over Trump's shoulder.
We watched one of America's most virulent homophobes, Mike Pence, who supports conversion therapy, which nearly killed us at 16, and against which we spoke out repeatedly on myriad TV talk shows in the 80s and 90s, be sworn into the second most powerful position in the country. We watched as Sessions tried to explain away his anti-LGBT stances before he is confirmed as the nation's legal protector, our Attorney General. And in the coming days and weeks, TV will show us ever more normalizing of the most racist, most anti-gay, most anti-woman administration in our lifetimes.
TV is the window into our collective consciousness. It made Donald Trump into a star and a ratings juggernaut. Now it has made him into a president. So for everything you want to see �" scripted tales where we survive dystopia �" and for everything you do not �" this unscripted and unnerving new season of Trump: The DC Years, you know you really must stay tuned.