Gay Republican claims party is ‘ready to move on’ from LGBT discrimination
By Will Stroude
Gay Republican Rachel Hoff has insisted that the future of LGBT rights within the Republican party is hopeful in an interview with Think Progress.
The current official Republican platform has been described the most anti-LGBT in the party’s history, and defines marriage as between a man and a woman, states that parents have the right to force their children into conversion therapy, and pushes back on including trans people in sex discrimination laws.
Howver, Hoff, who is the first openly gay person to serve on the Republican National Convention’s platform committee, believes that the wider party doesn’t feel as strongly as the platform committee, and suggested that the party is “ready to move on” from anti LGBT discrimination.
“A huge number of people have come up and thanked me for being their voice in the room,” she said, describing the reaction she received after vocally opposing the discriminatory policies that made their way into the official Republican platform.
“It’s especially touching when it’s fellow LGBT Republicans. Most of the people are just people who want to see our party either fully support pro-LGBT policies or move on from anti-LGBT policies”.
She continued: “There’s a perception that we’re really far behind the left, but you will remember that Barack Obama did not support marriage equality until 2008.
“Plenty of Republicans, national Republican leaders, came out for marriage equality before Hillary Clinton. And so I would encourage some memory of recent history in terms of the rhetoric that’s directed toward the Republican Party on this issue.”
During the republican convention in Cleveland, Donald Trump appeared to commit to improving the lives of LGBT americans, saying “As your President, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens”.
However, his running mate Mike Pence is well known for his anti-LGBT views, including believing that anti-HIV funds should be abandoned while believing the state should spend money on conversion therapy.
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