In a July 31 Daily Beast column (titled “I’m a Young Queer Conservative. The GOP lied to Me”), former Republican New Hampshire State Rep. Yvonne Bailey wrote that the Republican party misled her about being pro-LGBTQ rights.
“I became more assured that Republicans had embraced gay marriage in 2016 when Donald Trump held a pride flag on the campaign trail,” she wrote. “This was something that no GOP presidential candidate had done before… ever.”
Reports LGBTQ Nation:
“Now, not even two years later, the right has started an all-out anti-gay panic that seriously threatens marriage equality,” she wrote, referring in part to how a majority of House Republicans voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the federal government’s recognition of marriage equality.
“Conservatives are hurling insults at innocent gays online,” she continued. “The majority of House Republicans voted against codifying gay marriage at the federal level. Supporters of marriage equality have been accused by Republican candidates of ‘sexualizing kindergarteners’ and being ‘groomers.’”
“What happened over the last decade? Is it no longer politically convenient to be pro-equality?”
She pointed out that mainstream conservatives attack gay parents like [podcaster Dave] Rubin and [US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his family], saying that gay couples shouldn’t be allowed to raise children.
While it’s hard to argue that Republicans are anti-LGBTQ as the midterms approach, people online had trouble buying Bailey’s argument that there ever was a time that the GOP was pro-LGBTQ.
Read the complete LGBTQ Nation article here. You can also read Yvonne Bailey’s column here.
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