DALLAS — The national Log Cabin Republicans organization this week dissolved its Dallas, Texas chapter after a series of issues and missteps by the Dallas chapter’s president, Robert Schlein.
Christian Berle, Deputy Executive Director of the National Log Cabin Republicans, told LGBTQ Nation on Saturday that “there were a number of times and incidents that the leadership in the Dallas group had endorsed positions that contravened our stated policies.”
The latest hubris that propelled the national organization to take drastic action came after the Dallas chapter’s Schlein appeared on the Michelangelo Signorile radio program last month. During a conversation with Signorile on GOP party platform issues, Schlein steered clear of LGBTQ equality rights, instead discussing GOP platform issues regarding national security, Social Security, and the economy:
“What good are rights if you don’t have a job?” asked Schlein.
Signorile pointed out that LGBTQ people aren’t protected from workplace discrimination and could easily lose any job, Schlein said antidiscrimination laws don’t matter either.
“Texas is a right-to-work state. So as an employer, which I am, I can fire anybody at will,” he claimed.
“You cannot fire somebody for being African-American,” Signorile objected.
“Well, I wouldn’t tell them,” Schlein said.
“You wouldn’t tell them, but you’d do it anyway?” Signorile asked.
“I’d find a reason if I wanted to fire them,” Schlein said, defending discrimination against black people while trying to prove an anti-discrimination law would make no difference to LGBT people.
Schlein’s comments provoked a firestorm of protest over what many perceived as being racist remarks.
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Berle told LGBTQ Nation the action taken is simply because the leadership in the Dallas chapter had consistently undermined the credibility, effectiveness and mission of Log Cabin Republicans through their actions.
“The Dallas leadership engaged in a consistent pattern of behavior that forced our Board of Directors to and dissolve the current chapter and start over rechartering a new chapter with fresh leadership,” he said.
The Log Cabin’s national Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper said in a statement released late Wednesday that the previous Dallas chapter has been de-chartered, and the new Dallas chapter will be led by Thomas Purdy as president and a new board.
The Log Cabin Republicans is an organization that works within the Republican Party to advocate for equal rights for gays and lesbians.
