Log Cabin Republicans Refuse to Endorse Trump

After endorsing John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012, the Log Cabin Republicans are declining to endorse the Republicans' 2016 nominee for president, Donald Trump.

The nation's most prominent LGBT Republican organization released a statement on Saturday that acknowledged the conflicting nature of Trump's LGBT positions.

"Mr. Trump is perhaps the most pro-LGBT presidential nominee in the history of the Republican Party. His unprecedented overtures to the "LGBTQ community"--a first for any major-party candidate in our nation's history--are worthy of praise, and should serve as a clarion call to the GOP that the days of needing to toe an anti-LGBT line are now a thing of the past.

But Log Cabin Republicans have long emphasized that we are not a single-issue organization, nor are our members single-issue voters. Even if we were, rhetoric alone regarding LGBT issues does not equate to doctrine. As Mr. Trump spoke positively about the LGBT community in the United States, he concurrently surrounded himself with senior advisors with a record of opposing LGBT equality, and committed himself to supporting legislation such as the so-called "First Amendment Defense Act" that Log Cabin Republicans opposes."

Trump has avoided using opposition to LGBT rights as a rallying cry for the GOP's right-wing base, instead whipping up resentment for Muslims, Mexicans, and immigrants. During both the Republican National Convention and the third presidential debate, Trump acknowledged the violence that LGBT people face in the Middle East, but his words were widely seen as a cynical plea for gay votes and dollars, and possibly female support.

As Log Cabin pointed out, Trump supports "religious discrimination" legislation that would allow LGBT people to be refused service based on religious grounds. Trump also picked the man associated with Indiana's "turn away the gays" bill, antigay governor Mike Pence, as his running mate. Unlike Hillary Clinton, Trump is opposed to marriage equality and has been silent on the so-called Equality Act, which would ban housing and employment discrimination against LGBT people.