On the (admittedly dim) bright side, there does seem to be something genuinely unique about Trump. I think at least part of it is that he was in everyone's living room for years, lording over celebrities on The Apprentice. There's already quite a bit of hero worship built into the American psyche regarding celebrities, and he pretty well set himself up as a celebeity among celebrities with that show. Combine that with him telling everyone it's ok to embrace that darkness and hate inside everyone else tells them to be ashamed of, and its a powerful combo. The Republicans have mastered the art of that same hate, but everyone but Trump seems to miss the mark.

The irony of them being so hateful that LGBTQ feel comfortable coming out now while simultaneously loving this feeling of being able to show off the real them would almost be funny if it weren't so harmful.