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JOSHUA LYNSEN
Friday, October 31, 2008
Two
years
after
they
were
swept
into
office,
most
new
U.S.
House
and
Senate
Democrats
have
made
good
on
their
pledges
to
back
gay
rights.
Nearly
60
percent
of
freshmen
House
Democrats
and
all
but
one
of
the
freshmen
Senate
Democrats
scored
85
or
higher
on
the
Human
Rights
Campaign
Congressional
Scorecard
released
last
week.
The
scorecard
also
shows
that
nine
of
the
41
scored
freshmen
House
Democrats
earned
perfect
marks.
Five
of
the
nine
scored
freshmen
Senate
Democrats
and
independents
received
perfect
scores.
“I
think
that’s
illustrative
that
a
lot
of
these
Democrats
are
pro-equality,”
said
David
Stacy,
a
HRC
senior
public
policy
advocate.
Activists
had
expressed
concerns
two
years
ago
that
some
freshmen
House
and
Senate
Democrats
could
vote
conservatively
on
gay
issues.
But
John
Marble,
a
National
Stonewall
Democrats
spokesperson,
said
with
few
exceptions,
the
new
lawmakers
generally
supported
gay
issues.
“Even
though
we
have
some
people
who
stand
out,”
he
said,
“I’m
really
proud
that
as
a
whole,
our
caucus
continues
to
get
better
on
LGBT
issues.”
Scores
of
House
members
were
based
on
support
of
the
Employment
Non-Discrimination
Act,
a
hate
crimes
bill,
efforts
to
repeal
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell,”
and
other
initiatives.
The
average
score
among
freshmen
House
Democrats
was
about
79
of
100,
a
number
brought
down
most
by
Reps.
Heath
Shuler
of
North
Carolina,
and
Joe
Donnelly
and
Brad
Ellsworth
of
Indiana.
Shuler
scored
10,
while
Donnelly
and
Ellsworth
scored
30.
Jon
Keep,
president
of
Indiana
Equality,
said
he
was
not
surprised
at
the
scores
for
Ellsworth
and
Donnelly.
“Brad
Ellsworth
comes
from
the
southern
part
of
the
state,”
he
said.
“And
in
the
southern
part
of
the
state,
even
the
Democrats
are
very,
very
conservative.”
Keep
said
Indiana
Equality
members
are
working
to
educate
Ellsworth
and
Donnelly
on
gay
issues.
“But
keep
in
mind,”
he
said,
“both
of
these
people
have
replaced
very
conservative
opponents.”
Also
scoring
below
50
percent
among
freshmen
House
Democrats
were
Reps.
Tim
Mahoney
of
Florida,
who
got
45,
Jason
Altmire
of
Pennsylvania,
who
got
35
and
Christopher
Carney
of
Pennsylvania,
who
earned
40.
Nine
freshmen
House
members
received
perfect
scores,
including
Reps.
Laura
Richardson
of
California,
Joe
Courtney
of
Connecticut,
Kathy
Castor
of
Florida,
Mazie
Hirono
of
Hawaii,
Phil
Hare
of
Illinois,
Niki
Tsongas
of
Massachusetts,
Keith
Ellison
of
Minnesota,
Albio
Sires
of
New
Jersey,
and
Peter
Welch
of
Vermont.
Ellison,
the
nation’s
first
Muslim
elected
to
Congress,
was
among
the
freshmen
lawmakers
that
had
pledged
to
support
new
rights
and
protections
for
gays.
“If
my
gay
neighbor
suffers
from
discrimination,
then
I
suffer
as
well,
and
so
does
the
entire
community,
just
as
when
my
female
neighbor
is
held
down
by
a
glass
ceiling,
or
my
new
immigrant
neighbor
is
treated
in
a
way
that
makes
him
or
her
feel
unwelcome
in
our
country,”
he
told
the
Blade
in
2006.
Stacy
thanked
Ellison
and
the
other
freshmen
members
who
demonstrated
a
commitment
to
gay
rights
during
their
first
term.
“We
are
greatly
appreciative
of
their
support,
but
I
think
that
demonstrates
that
members
often
reflect
the
views
of
their
district,”
he
said.
“It’s
important
as
we
look
at
who
we’re
voting
for
that
we
make
sure
that’s
the
case
with
respect
to
LGBT
rights.”
All
14
ranked
freshmen
House
Republicans
received
zero
scores.
Patrick
Sammon,
president
of
Log
Cabin
Republicans,
said
he
expected
the
low
scores
because
the
new
House
Republicans
hail
from
staunchly
conservative
districts.
“It’s
not
at
all
surprising
because
the
Republican
Party
got
wiped
out
[in
2006]
in
moderate,
middle-of-the-road
districts,”
he
said.
“And
that’s
where
you
would
have
Republicans
who
were
good
on
our
issues.”
New
GOP
senators
generally
scored
the
same.
Among
the
three
freshmen
Senate
Republicans,
Sens.
Roger
Wicker
of
Mississippi
and
John
Barrasso
of
Wyoming
received
zero
scores,
but
Bob
Corker
of
Tennessee
got
20.
Scores
for
Senate
Democrats
were
based
on
support
of
the
President’s
Emergency
Plan
for
AIDS
Relief,
a
hate
crimes
bill
and
other
issues.
The
average
score
among
freshmen
Senate
Democrats
and
independents,
including
three
who
previously
served
in
the
House,
was
about
93.
“We’ve
generally
had
good
leadership
among
members
of
the
Senate,”
Marble
said.
“And
hopefully
this
year
will
add
even
more
people
…
who
have
been
pretty
strong
voices
on
our
issues.”
Five
freshmen
senators
received
perfect
scores,
including
Sens.
Benjamin
Cardin
of
Maryland,
Sherrod
Brown
of
Ohio,
Robert
Casey
Jr.
of
Pennsylvania,
Sheldon
Whitehouse
of
Rhode
Island
and
Bernard
Sanders
of
Vermont.
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