According to progressive blog ThinkProgress, only one Democrat in the entire U.S. House of Representatives has the distinct pleasure of being an anti-gay homophobe Or, he’s the only one willing to put his name to it.
The D.C.-based blog looked at 10 different pieces of anti-LGBT legislation introduced during this current session of Congress. They found that 144 U.S. House members had sponsored or co-sponsored at least one of them. Seven GOP members had signed onto five or more of the proposals, placing them on ThinkProgress’ “GOP’s 7 Worst Members for Gay Rights” list.
But, it was Wilmington’s Rep. Mike McIntyre who caught our attention. The Tar Heel Democrat was the only member of his party to support any of the anti-gay pieces of legislation. He co-sponsored a proposed federal constitutional amendment on marriage.
McIntyre has long taken anti-LGBT stands, frustrating LGBT community members in Wilmington and Eastern North Carolina who find themselves torn between wanting to vote for the usually-LGBT-friendly Democratic Party but who find McIntyre lacking as a candidate. Community members have long worked to push McIntyre to more LGBT-friendly positions, but the politician has been staunch in his opposition to equality.
You can read ThinkProgress’ full post here. The pieces of legislation they studied are below:
- H.R. 337, the Restore Military Readiness Act
- H.R. 875, the Marriage Protection Act of 2011
- H.R. 958, the We the People Act
- H.R. 3828, the Military Religious Freedom Protection Act
- H.J.RES. 45, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage
- H.RES. 143, directing the Speaker, or his designee, to take any and all actions necessary to assert the standing of the House to defend the Defense of Marriage Act
- H.CON.RES. 25, expressing the sense of Congress with respect to the Obama administration’s discontinuing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act
- H.AMDT. 573Â to H.R.2219, to prohibit the use of funds to enforce the directive of allowing chaplains to perform same-sex marriages on Navy bases regardless of any applicable State law requirements
- H.AMDT. 546Â to H.R. 2219, to prohibit the use of funds in contravention of section 7 of title 1, United States Code (the Defense of Marriage Act)
- and H.AMDT.1096 to H.R.5326, to prohibit the use of funds to be used in contravention of the Defense of Marriage Act