Los Angeles – In response to the anti-LGBT platform announced this week by the Republican National Committee, Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur issued the following statement:
“The divisive party platform announced this week is an insult to the millions of Republicans who, like a majority of Americans, are opposed to discrimination and support equality for LGBT people. The platform is the GOP’s most anti-LGBT ever, and it is clear that the Republican Party has been commandeered by voices of discrimination and hate who would target the LGBT community for political gain.
The platform would drag us backwards by resurrecting the Defense of Marriage Act and by calling for a constitutional amendment once again barring marriage to same-sex couples. It ignores the vast majority of studies that show that children raised by same-sex couples do as well as, if not better than, those raised by opposite sex couples, and instead falsely claims the opposite. It supports laws that ban restroom access for people consistent with their gender identity and would subject children to dangerous ‘conversion therapy.’ Above all, it ignores the millions of Republican Party members who oppose discrimination and support LGBT civil rights.
As a bipartisan organization, Equality California counts thousands of Republicans among its members and includes Republicans on its boards. While we may differ from Log Cabin Republicans on certain priorities, we share the common goal of standing against LGBT discrimination and achieving equal rights for LGBT people. The California Log Cabin Republicans are supporting a number of Equality California sponsored bills this year and are advocating for their passage. We applaud Log Cabin for speaking out against this stridently anti-LGBT party platform, and for calling on GOP leadership to draft a party platform that advances full LGBT equality and embodies the values of Abraham Lincoln.”
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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization dedicated to creating a fair and just society. Our mission is to achieve and maintain full and lasting equality, acceptance, and social justice for all people in our diverse LGBT communities, inside and outside of California. Our mission includes advancing the health and well-being of LGBT Californians through direct healthcare service advocacy and education. Through electoral, advocacy, education and mobilization programs, we strive to create a broad and diverse alliance of LGBT people, educators, government officials, communities of color and faith, labor, business, and social justice communities to achieve our goals. www.eqca.org
