So, how does this story relate to why Trump won?
It's the same kind of menacing and harassment (see also the florists and bakers) forcing total submission to the alphabet soup lobby agenda that a good number of people are sick of receiving. The Gaines couple knows full well what happened to Phil Robertson, and he was one of the lucky ones—and yet, despite their right to remain silent (hey, if we're going to make penumbral rights out of SCOTUS rulings, might as well extend them as wide as they can be spread), they're being smeared for not explicitly kowtowing.
The alphabet soup lobby knows we have a right to believe what we (I and others who share my values) believe, and they hate it. Thus, they will do what they can, by way of mob coercion, to starve out those who believe the way we do through the private/corporate sector. I would say it was a huge factor in the people's rejection of Hillary Clinton; this was our way of striking back.
Of course, Trump's open acceptance of the same lobby agenda doesn't help... but at least he's not openly pushing it the way Clinton would.