News

Premature HRC Endorsement Undermines Fight for Equality

May 26, 2011

(Washington, DC) - Log Cabin Republicans firmly disagree with the Human Rights Campaign's pre-emptive presidential endorsement before the GOP candidate has even been determined.

"By prostrating themselves before Barack Obama eighteen months before the 2012 election, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has effectively told the president that he doesn't have to do anything more to earn gay and lesbian votes. Given his lackluster record in the fight for 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal, gay Americans were counting on HRC to hold the president's feet to the fire on his other campaign promises, not to become a branch of his re-election campaign," said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director. "This endorsement also sends the wrong message to potential Republican nominees. There are several possible candidates who deserve to be fairly judged on their own merits, and the dialogue on equality issues for the 2012 campaign has barely begun. This decision makes it clear that Joe Solmonese's greatest priority is an invitation to drinks at a Democratic White House, not securing votes for ENDA, DOMA repeal, or tax equity. Such a pre-emptive endorsement is a mistake and will undermine equality efforts."