Robert Turner, the former head of DC’s Log Cabin Republicans chapter, has left the organization after the group gave an extremely controversial endorsement to President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. Jordan Evans, the only openly transgender elected official within the Republican Party, has also left the group.
Turner posted his reaction and subsequent decision in a social media post that has rocketed around DC insiders – gay and straight.
“It saddens me greatly to say that today, I am ending my association with Log Cabin Republicans, an organization I’ve been heavily involved with for the last decade – including serving as president of the D.C. chapter for three years,” Turner wrote.
“There are many great people still involved with the organization and I hope they press on,” Turner said in his Facebook statement. “From Adam [Savit], the current D.C. chapter president, to Jerri Ann [Henry], the national executive director, who can’t seem to get anything accomplished because of a board of directors who won’t get out of her way,” said Turner in his posting.
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Related: The new head of the Log Cabin Republicans calls Trump’s anti-LGBTQ policies ‘hiccups’
“But for me, there’s no more fight left. The national board’s endorsement of Trump, and their subsequent and hollow WaPo op-ed, is a step too far. And this leaves me sad.”
The endorsement was unusual since it was signed by the group’s board’s co-chairs, but Henry’s name was noticeably absent. The group declined to endorse Trump in the last election.
“There exist many of us who wish to see acceptance take root in the Republican Party,” Evans wrote in an op-ed for The Advocate. “However, with the news of our recent endorsement of President Trump for reelection, it seems that the ‘premier Republican organization for LGBTQ+ conservatives’ couldn’t care less about which form of acceptance qualifies as passable allyship and would instead willfully embrace an administration notorious for hollow words, fairweather friends, and a seemingly endless number of cuts for us to endure.”
“This endorsement ignores the reality of what it means to be queer in our current political climate. It speaks more to a mentality of partisan tribalism than a sincere commitment to fostering inclusion within the Republican Party. With this endorsement, we turn a blind eye to the plights and fears of our colleagues in the queer movement and embrace an administration that has consistently antagonized the LGBTQ+ community through an endless array of rollbacks and rule changes.”
The Trump administration has been notoriously antagonistic to the LGBT community, lobbing over 120 separate attacks on LGBT rights, from giving healthcare workers the right to discriminate to banning transgender people from the military.
While Log Cabin officially opposes the ban on trans military members, former Log Cabin national executive director Gregory Angelo has been lobbying Congress to kill the Equality Act. The proposed law would make discrimination against LGBT people illegal.
