The already-waning gay conservative Log Cabin Republicans group has lost yet another member following the group’s embarrassing support for Trump 2020. Executive director Jerri Ann Henry, the first woman to lead the group, quit on Friday, The Washington Blade reports, making her the group’s most high-profile resignation over the endorsement.
“Although Henry—a Republican who’s an alumnus from the marriage-equality movement—was hired under a promise to advance pro-LGBT policies within the Republican Party, her voice had been effectively sidelined for about two months. Sources say disagreements about the direction of Log Cabin—with some wanting to pursue pro-LGBT policy goals, while others wanted to support Trump—led to a decision to prohibit Henry from speaking publicly for the group,” said the report.
Of course, you can’t support both LGBTQ liberation and Donald Trump, but that didn’t stop Log Cabin Republicans board chair Robert Kabel and vice chair Jill Homan from publishing a buttkisser of an endorsement in The Washington Post earlier this month, falsely claiming that the Trump administration has taken “bold actions that benefit the LGBTQ community.”
Resignations followed in response, including from Robert Turner, the president of the group’s D.C. chapter, board member Jennifer Horne, and member Jordan Evans. However, The Blade reports at least one other board member, Rachel Hoff, also quietly resigned, while “Casey Pick, who once worked as programs director for Log Cabin, has repudiated the organization in a Facebook post.”
“With this endorsement,” Evans wrote in an op-ed, “we turn a blindeye to the plights and fears of our colleagues in the queer movement and embrace an administration that has consistently antagonized the LGBTQ+ community through an endless array of rollbacks and rule changes.”
The damage has been done, though. When Trump was questioned last week about his homophobic and transphobic policies, he used the group’s endorsement as a figurative shield, telling reporters, “Well you know I just got an award and an endorsement yesterday from the exact group. You saw that … no, I’ve done very well with that community.” Hope that endorsement was worth it, ya’ll.