National
GOP embraces anti-gay bias in platform
Party calls for federal marriage amendment, vexing Log Cabin

Revelations this week that the Republican Party platform would include strong opposition to same-sex marriage and an endorsement of the Federal Marriage Amendment has renewed debate over whether Log Cabin Republicans should withhold its endorsement of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney because of the anti-gay language.
This week, the 112 members of the Republican Party platform committee approved language that affirms marriage as between one man, one woman; criticizes judges for ācourt-ordered redefinition of marriageā; attacks the Obama administration for no longer defending the Defense of Marriage Act; and endorses a Federal Marriage Amendment. Buzzfeed revealed the draft language on marriage in a report on Monday and quoted Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, as taking credit for writing the marriage language.
“We reaffirm our support for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman,” the draft language reportedly states. “We applaud the citizens of the majority of States which have enshrined in their constitutions the traditional concept of marriage, and we support the campaigns underway in several other states to do so.”
During deliberations over the platform, some members of the committee offered amendments to soften the language with respect to marriage ā including delegate Barbara Ann Fenton of Rhode Island, who offered language saying the government should get out of marriage and endorse civil unions for gay and straight couples ā but each of these measures was defeated by voice vote. Log Cabin Republicans had a four-member delegation credentialed to attend the proceedings.
Now that the platform language has been made public ā and assailed by LGBT advocates across the board ā calls are emerging for Log Cabin to decline to endorse Romney.
Log Cabin has precedent for declining to endorse presidential candidates in its own party. In 2004, the organization declined to endorse then-President George W. Bush in his bid for re-election largely over his support for a Federal Marriage Amendment.Ā InĀ an op-ed published Sept. 15, 2004, then-Log Cabin President Patrick Guerriero laid out the case for why his organization didn’t endorse its party’s presidential nominee ā and referenced disappointment with the 2004 Republican Party platform.
“Even as we saw the GOP’s future highlighted with fair-minded prime-time convention speakers, we saw the passage of an extremist party platform that opposes any basic protections for gay and lesbian families,” Guerriero wrote at the time. “The incongruity between the party’s platform and its list of prime-time speakers symbolizes a wider battle for the GOP’s heart and soul.”
This year, the organization has yet to endorse the Republican presidential ticket, but is expected to announce its decision along with endorsements for congressional candidates prior to its national dinner, which will take place this year in D.C. at the Hyatt Regency on Sept. 20. Log Cabin didn’t respond to the Washington Blade’s request for comment on whether the platform will factor into the endorsement, but the organization has said before it would weigh many factors into the decision.
The co-founders of the “Mitt Gets Worse” LGBT campaign against Romney ā Rick Jacobs, chair of the Courage Campaign, and DavidĀ Brock, founder of American Bridge 21st Century ā issued a joint statement on Wednesday decrying the platform language and calling on Log Cabin not to endorse the candidate.
“Surely, the Log Cabin Republicans, who exist to promote full equality in the Republican Party will now find it impossible to endorse Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, just as they had to pass on endorsing then-President Bush in 2004 when he and the Republican Party were then actively pushing an anti-marriage equality amendment to the Constitution while promoting anti-marriage equality state referenda,” Brock and Jacobs said. “The Republican Party and its nominees keep getting worse for LGBT Americans.”
The organization last week submitted a petition to Log Cabin ā which is still available online ā calling on the organization to decline to endorse Romney during the 2012 election based on the candidate’s anti-LGBT record. As of Wednesday, the petition had 35,000 signatures.
But the 2012 platform language is in line with Romney’s beliefs. He backs a U.S. constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage throughout the country even as he said he doubts Congress would have the political wherewithal to pass it. He also pledged to resume defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court.
Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is similarly on the record with beliefs that are in accordance with the platform. As a U.S. House member, Ryan voted in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and 2006. More recently, he voted for amendments to separate bills reaffirming the Defense of Marriage Act.
Gay Republicans had mixed views on whether the platform language should be a factor in the organization’s decision to endorse Romney.
Jim Driscoll, a a gay Nevada-based HIV/AIDS activist who’s backing Romney in the presidential election, has previously called on Log Cabin to endorse Romney and continued to say the organization should do so ā with the caveat that the organization should express consternation over the party platform.
“They should endorse him despite the platform, but they should say it in spite of the platform and condemn those elements in the platform that are completely out of touch with the gay community and out of touch with America,” Driscoll said. “It should be an endorsement with that reservation ā that they condemn that trend.”
Recalling Bush officially won Florida by a margin of 537 votes, Driscoll said gay Republicans were responsible for putting the candidate over the top. Driscoll said the Romney campaign should handle the issue of gay rights “more carefully, perceptively, sensitively, intelligently,” even though he acknowledged that the presidential campaign wasn’t responsible for writing the platform.
Log Cabin Republicans has responded to the platform. On Wednesday, Cooper issued a statement calling the inclusion of anti-gay language “a hollow and short-lived victory” for social conservatives who “know that public opinion is rapidly turning in favor of equality.”Ā But the question of whether the organization will endorse Romney in spite of the language remains.
Robert Turner, president of the D.C. chapter of Log Cabin Republicans, said the platform language shouldn’t play a role in whether Log Cabin endorses because the platform document is unrelated to the candidate seeking the White House.
“The party platform is a document of the Republican Party not of the candidate,” Turner said.
Turner declined to opine on whether the national organization should endorse Romney, saying the decision is up to the national board.
State Department
Protesters demand US fully restore PEPFAR funding
Activists blocked intersection outside State Department on Thursday

Dozens of HIV/AIDS activists on Thursday protested outside the State Department and demanded U.S. officials fully restore President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding.
The activists ā members of Housing Works, Health GAP, and the Treatment Action Group ā blocked an intersection for an hour. Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell told the Washington Blade that police did not make any arrests.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Jan. 24 directed State Department personnel to stop nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending for 90 days in response to an executive order that President Donald Trump signed after his inauguration. Rubio later issued a waiver that allows PEPFAR and other ālife-saving humanitarian assistanceā programs to continue to operate during the freeze.
The Blade on Wednesday reported PEPFAR-funded programs in Kenya and other African countries have been forced to suspend services and even shut down because of a lack of U.S. funding.
āPEPFAR is a program that has saved 26 million lives and changed the trajectory of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic,” said Housing Works CEO Charles King in a press release. “The recent freeze on its funding is not just a bureaucratic decision; it is a death sentence for millions who rely on these life-saving treatments. We cannot allow decades of progress to be undone. The U.S. must immediately reaffirm its commitment to global health and human dignity by restoring PEPFAR funding.”
āWe demand Secretary Rubio immediately reverse his deadly, illegal stop-work order, which has already disrupted life-saving HIV services worldwide,” added Russell. “Any waiver process is too little, too late.”
The White House
Trump bars trans women and girls from sports
The administration reversed course on the Biden-Harris policy on Title IX

President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued another executive order taking aim at the transgender community, this time focusing on eligibility for sports participation.
In a signing ceremony for āKeeping Men Out of Womenās Sports” in the East Room of the White House, the president proclaimed “With this executive order, the war on womenās sports is over.”
Despite the insistence by Trump and Republicans that trans women and girls have a biological advantage in sports over cisgender women and girls, the research has been inconclusive, at best.
A study in the peer reviewed Sports Medicine journal found āno direct or consistent researchā pointing to this conclusion. A different review in 2023 found that post-pubertal differences are āreduced, if not erased, over time by gender affirming hormone therapy.ā
Other critics of efforts to exclude trans student athletes have pointed to the small number of people who are impacted. Charlie Baker, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, testified last year that fewer than 10 of the NCAA’s 522,000+ student athletes identify as trans.
The Trump-Vance administration has reversed course from the Biden-Harris administration’s policy on Title IX rules barring sex-based discrimination.
āIf youāre going to have womenās sports, if youāre going to provide opportunities for women, then they have to be equally safe, equally fair, and equally private opportunities, and so that means that youāre going to preserve womenās sports for women,” a White House official said prior to the issuance of the order.
Former President Joe Biden’s Title IX rules, which went into effect last year, clarified that pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The White House official indicated that the administration will consider additional guidance, regulations, and interpretations of Title IX, as well as exploring options to handle noncompliance by threatening federal funding for schools and education programs.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump ādoes expect the Olympic Committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in womenās sports.ā
One of the first legislative moves by the new Congress last month was House Republicans’ passage of the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” which would ban trans women and girls from participating in competitive athletics.
The bill is now before the U.S. Senate, where Republicans have a three-seat majority but would need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster.
California
Los Angeles Blade names new publisher
Alexander Rodriguez brings deep media, business experience to outlet

The Los Angeles Blade, Southern Californiaās leading LGBTQ news outlet, today announced the appointment of a new publisher, Alexander Rodriguez.
Rodriguez has a long background in queer media, business development, and a deep commitment to the Los Angeles community. He has worked as a lead writer and podcast host for Metrosource Magazine and for GED Magazine; content director for FleshBot Gay; and as host and producer for the āOn the Rocksā podcast. On the business side, Rodriguez spent years working in business development in the banking industry throughout Los Angeles. He also has an extensive background in event planning and management and has served on the boards of many LGBTQ non-profits. As a TV and radio personality, he has served as emcee for LGBTQ events around the nation.
āIām excited to bring my diverse media and business experience to the Los Angeles Blade,ā Rodriguez said. āWe will continue the Bladeās mission of serving as our communityās news outlet of record during these challenging times and work toward building bridges within our community and beyond.ā
Rodriguez starts in his new role on Monday, Feb. 3.
āWe are thrilled to welcome Alexander to the Blade team,ā said Kevin Naff, one of the owners of the Los Angeles Blade. āHis multimedia and business side experience will help us grow the Blade in L.A. and continue our commitment to best-in-class journalism serving the LGBTQ community in Southern California.ā
Rodriguez becomes the Los Angeles Bladeās second publisher following the unexpected death of founding publisher Troy Masters in December. Masters served in the role for nearly eight years. The community will come together for a celebration of Mastersās life on Monday, Feb. 10, 7-9 p.m. at the Abbey.
āTroyās legacy is in good hands with Alexander at the helm alongside our new local news editor, Gisselle Palomera,ā Naff added.
The Los Angeles Blade, launched in 2017, celebrates its eighth anniversary in March. It is the sister publication of the Washington Blade, founded in 1969, which offers unmatched coverage of queer political news and is the only LGBTQ outlet in the White House press pool and the White House Correspondentsā Association, and the only LGBTQ outlet with a dedicated seat in the White House briefing room.
Alexander Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected].
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