The country's most prominent gay conservative advocacy group is distancing itself from what it calls the "radical" transgender movement that has been at the center of a cultural firestorm in recent years.
Ross Hemminger, the president of the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), announced in an op-ed published Thursday by Townhall.com that his organization is renewing its focus on prioritizing the representation of gay, lesbian and bisexual GOP voters.
"Fifty years ago next year, Log Cabin Republicans was founded on a simple conviction: that gay Americans who believe in limited government, individual liberty, and equality deserve equal protection under the law and a voice inside the Republican Party," Hemminger began the op-ed. "From the start, Log Cabin Republicans grounded its advocacy in constitutional principles — equal protection, limited government, and individual freedom."
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Hemminger noted that in 2015, the group's board of directors voted to "add the 'T' under the umbrella of our mission," which is now being reversed.
"At the time, we did not believe that we would find ourselves where we are today," Hemminger wrote. "The transgender movement has ceased focusing on adults at all — nearly all of their efforts and those of their aligned special interest groups focus on minors."
"They push schools to teach radical gender ideology; they want biological men in women’s sports regardless of the consequences; perhaps most offensively, they support gender reassignment treatments for minors, often without the knowledge or consent of the parents, knowing full well these treatments are mostly irreversible," the op-ed added.
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The LCR chief lamented that "gay men and women are losing public support across the country, and support for gay marriage and other once-widely accepted rights is eroding," alluding to polls showing such declines.
He suspected the root cause is that voters "weren't alive or cognizant" to the decades-long fight for gay marriage and in the court of public opinion and that "their view of the gay community is based on today’s radical transgender activists."
"That is why, after significant discussion with our membership, our Board of Directors voted to refine Log Cabin Republicans’ national advocacy focus to concentrate specifically on issues of sexual orientation and conservative values — in other words, we are an LGB advocacy organization, as our founders envisioned and as our moral center calls us to be," Hemminger said.
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Hemminger stressed that membership of Log Cabin Republicans remains "open to all conservatives" and it welcomes all allies aligned with its mission.
"Issues of sexual orientation — marriage, adoption, military service, nondiscrimination rooted in equal treatment, and religious liberty protections applied fairly — are grounded in constitutional clarity," Hemminger wrote. "They align directly with the Republican commitment to limited government and equal protection under the law."
"When we remain focused on those principles, we win," he added.
