Honestly are we shocked?

Robert Kabel and Jill Holman — who serve as chair and vice chair respectively of self-loathing gay political group the Log Cabin Republicans, r— announced its endorsement of Donald Trump to be re-elected Thursday in an op-ed for the Washington Post.

While the chasm between left and right in this nation continues to grow and even the definitions of “liberal” and “conservative” seem to be up for debate, there is one unambiguous sign of progress: The arc of history for America’s LGBTQ community continues to bend toward equality and inclusion. But even as we celebrate our victories, we know there is more to be done.

Though the visibility of LGBTQ business leaders such as Tim Cook and Peter Thiel is part of a rapidly changing corporate environment, LGBTQ individuals can still be fired just for being gay in a majority of states in America. And while numerous societies have moved to ensure widespread equality for gays and lesbians, our LGBTQ brothers and sisters face persecution in too many countries abroad.

Not all of these signs of change have been equally visible to the population at large. For LGBTQ Republicans, watching the 2016 GOP conventionbefore Donald Trump took the stage was like a dream fulfilled. The distance between that event and Pat Buchanan’s hate-filled exhortation against the LGBTQ community in Houston in 1992 is a powerful measurement of how far we’ve come. Some of the moral leaders who stood with Buchanan back then were still there three years ago in Cleveland, to be sure. But this time, they refrained from passing judgment on gays and lesbians. And in an extraordinarily uplifting moment, Thiel uttered the words for the first time, “I am proud to be gay. I am proud to be a Republican. But most of all, I am proud to be an American.” He was met with thunderous standing applause from the body of the Republican Party. [snip]

And since taking office, President Trump has followed through on many of his commitments to the United States, including taking bold actions that benefit the LGBTQ community.

He has committed to end the spread of HIV/AIDS in 10 years, through the use of proven science, medicine and technology to which we now have access. This scourge decimated a generation of gay men in the United States and continues to inflict pain, suffering and death at home and abroad.

Trump has used the United States’ outsize global influence to persuade other nations to adopt modern human rights standards, including launching an initiative to end the criminalization of homosexuality, which is considered illegal in more than 70 countries. To lead this effort, the president has chosen the highest-ranking LGBTQ individual in the administration, Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, who brings his experience as the United States’ spokesman at the United Nations to bear on this critical campaign.

In 2016 Log Cabin Republicans declined to endorse Trump. The Republican presidential nominee never met with the LGBT group, which at time was a criterion for its support. (Log Cabin endorsed McCain in 2008 and Romney in 2012 after the candidates met with the organization.)