LGBT Group: GOP Platform 'Most Anti-LGBT' in Party's History

ByDAVID CAPLAN ABCNews logo
Thursday, July 14, 2016

The country's largest organization representing LGBT conservatives has slammed the GOP for its draft party platform, which remains opposed to same-sex marriage and bathroom choice for transgender people.



"There's no way to sugar-coat this: I'm mad as h*** -- and I know you are, too," Gregory T. Angelo, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, wrote in a fundraising email sent Tuesday evening. "Moments ago, the Republican Party passed the most anti-LGBT Platform in the Party's 162-year history."



Angelo continued, "Opposition to marriage equality, nonsense about bathrooms, an endorsement of the debunked psychological practice of 'pray the gay away' - it's all in there."



The GOP's current draft platform -- prepared in advanced of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, kicking off July 18 -- defines marriage "as the union of one man and one woman" and calls for a reversal of the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.



Republicans who gathered Monday to shape their party platform also refused to reverse their opposition to bathroom choice for transgender people.



Faith In America, a non-profit organization "dedicated to influencing media and faith community narratives on religion and sexuality," also harshly criticized the draft party platform.



"The addition of conversion therapy in the GOP's platform shows they're far from finished fighting against the LGBT community," Faith In America executive director Eliel Cruz said in a statement. "Conversion therapy has been denounced by all leading medical organizations. The practice stems from a religious-based archaic understanding of sexuality that believes homosexuality is a choice and is sinful."



The Faith In America statement does clarify, though, "The language included in the platform does not specifically mention the words 'conversion therapy.' It mentions that parents should be allowed to seek whatever treatment or therapy they deem fit for their children. This language extends to 'physical and emotional' therapy as well."



Rachel Hoff, an openly gay defense lobbyist for a center-right policy center, was among the GOP platform committee members who gathered Monday to shape the party's platform. She called for the GOP to take a neutral position on same-sex marriage.



"We are your daughters," she said, choking back tears. "We are your sons, your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues, the couple that sits next to you in church."



Hoff's proposal would have put the GOP on neutral ground on same-sex marriage, acknowledging "diverse and sincerely held views" in the Republican Party, encouraging the "stability of all families" and welcoming "a thoughtful conversation" around marriage.



But the GOP platform panel swiftly rejected the proposal, after one member quickly called for a vote. Roughly 20 of the 112 members on the panel voted in favor of the change.



And Giovanni Cicione, a Ted Cruz delegate from Rhode Island, proposed adding that LGBT individuals "in particular" have been targeted by Jihadi terrorism. "If we're going to be competitive in blue states, then we need to address these issues," he said, citing presumptive presidential candidate Donald Trump's struggling poll numbers among young people. "We need to do something here."



But opponents said that it was wrong for the platform to single out any groups, eventually rejecting the proposal and instead adopting a condemnation of violence on "all human beings."



The party's draft platform is at odds somewhat with Trump, who has made overtures to the LGBT community. At a rally last month in Dallas, he said, the "LGBT community is starting to like Donald Trump very, very much lately."



Citing Trump, the Log Cabin Republicans' Angelo said, "This isn't my GOP, and I know it's not yours either. Heck, it's not even Donald Trump's! When given a chance to follow the lead of our presumptive presidential nominee and reach out to the LGBT community in the wake of the awful terrorist massacre in Orlando on the gay nightclub Pulse, the Platform Committee said NO."



Delegates will adopt an updated set of policy prescriptions - known as the party platform - at the RNC. The process of updating the 62-page document began this week.



The Log Cabin Republicans are credentialed for the RNC.



ABC News' Ryan Struyk contributed to this report.

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