GOP picks moderately LGBTQ+-supportive Tom Emmer as their next speaker nominee

(Update 10/24/23 5:10 p.m.) – Emmer has withdrawn his nomination as the next House Speaker, finding no way to secure the necessary votes to assume the role. Former President Donald Trump also made statements against Emmer’s nomination, which may have helped sink his chances.

House Republicans have Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) as their third candidate for House Speaker. While he has more recently supported federal protections for LGBTQ+ workers and same-sex marriage — despite his previous opposition to both — he has also supported the rights of transgender military members. But he has opposed the rights of trans children. His mixed record on queer rights makes him a moderate among the House GOP.

Though the House GOP has pledged to make sure that they have the 217 votes to put Emmer into the speaker’s chair, it’s unclear if that will actually occur. The two previous nominees — Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) — have both alternately failed to get the necessary support from House GOP moderates and far-right-wingers, respectively.

Related:

Temporary House Speaker Rep. Patrick McHenry has long anti-LGBTQ+ record

He has called same-sex marriage an attempt by the “radical left and their allies in Hollywood and academia to destroy our traditional American culture.”

In 2007, as a state representative, Emmer sponsored a bill proposing a constitutional amendment for Minnesota to only recognize marriages between men and women. As a candidate for governor in 2010, the anti-LGBTQ+ group National Organization for Marriage supported him because of his opposition to same-sex marriage.

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In 2010, the retail store Target came under fire when it was revealed they had donated money to a political action committee that supported Emmer’s bid for Minnesota governor, prompting an apology from then-Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel. During his candidacy, he also opposed a state bill to stop anti-LGBTQ+ bullying in schools, saying that parents — not the government — should protect queer kids from being bullied in government-run schools.

Emmer lost his bid for governor to pro-LGBTQ+ candidate Mark Dayton, making Dayton the state’s first Democratic governor in 20 years.

In 2015, Emmer also supported the First Amendment Defense Act, an unsuccessful federal “religious freedom” bill that would have prevented the federal government from punishing anyone who discriminates against same-sex married couples.

Emmer has differentiated himself from his Republican colleagues by supporting trans rights for service members. However, he doesn’t support the rights of trans student-athletes.

In 2016, he supported an executive order by then-President Barack Obama banning federal contractors from discriminating against trans individuals. In 2017, he voted against an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have banned the military from providing transition-related medical care to transgender service members.  In 2023, he voted in favor of allowing transgender people to serve in the military and overturning the Trump administration’s ban on trans military service.

But in April, Emmer supported federal legislation to ban transgender student-athletes from participating in school sports. “House Republicans… passed this bill to protect the safety and fairness that we should have in women’s sports and to make sure that no female athlete is ever forced to compete against a biological male, period,” Emmer said.

It’s unclear how Emmer feels about “Don’t Say Gay” laws censoring LGBTQ+ content in public schools, trans-inclusive school policies, and gender-affirming care for trans youth. Emmer was also one of the few House Republicans who didn’t vote against certifying President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.