Rep. Ritchie Torres: No, the GOP isn’t becoming more LGBTQ+-inclusive

“It’s official! The national GOP platform has been stripped of all anti-LGBT language!” wrote Charles Moran, president of the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), earlier this year. Moran and his queer conservative group have been seeking to expand former President Donald Trump’s LGBTQ+ voter support, just as it grew between the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) calls Moran’s claim “an absurdity.” Despite Moran’s claim, the GOP platform promises to ban LGBTQ+ content from schools and roll back legal protections for transgender people of all ages. The platform also promises “religious liberty” protections for Christians who discriminate against queer people.

Related:

Rep. Mark Takano makes direct appeal to progressives wary about supporting Kamala Harris

“This is too important election to sit out,” he said. And it’s not just about Harris’ views.

“Not a single Republican is willing to vote for the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in matters of housing, employment, and public accommodation,” Torres tells LGBTQ Nation. “So if you’re an opponent of the Equality Act, you’re not a friend of LGBTQ equality, you’re an enemy of LGBTQ equality. That’s the reality.”

Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024

Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter.

Daily

Weekly

Good News

LCR also celebrated the 2022 election of now-former Rep. George Santos (R-NY), the first out Republican ever elected into Congress, touting his win as proof of the GOP’s “big tent” and its embrace of the LGBTQ+ community. But Santos resigned after barely a year, embroiled in campaign finance scandals and lies about major parts of his personal biography.

“We have no interest in tokenism,” Torres said of Santos. “We have an interest in policy. We have no interest in any candidate, including LGBTQ candidates, who oppose LGBTQ rights. You cannot be pro-civil rights while opposing the Civil Rights Act, and pro-voting rights while opposing the Voting Rights Act, you cannot be pro-equality while opposing the Equality Act [which Santos did].”

This November, voters have the historic opportunity to expand the number of out LGBTQ+ House members from nine to 15, which would be the largest group of queer national legislators ever to exist in the lower congressional chamber. Torres is fighting hard to make that possibility a reality.

He’s co-chair of Equality PAC, a political action committee that champions LGBTQ+ House candidates and allies who support the Equality Act, which would outlaw anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination nationwide — something Torres calls “the Holy Grail of LGBTQ equality in America.”

“Equality PAC is ushering in a golden age of LGBTQ representation in Congress,” Torres says. “We’re poised to elect the first trans member of Congress, Sarah McBride of Delaware; the first LGBTQ member of Congress from the South, Julie Johnson of Texas; and the first LGBTQ Latina from Washington state, Emily Randall.”

The Equality PAC, which has raised $50 million for its candidates since its founding in 2014, helped Johnson avoid a runoff election by just 100 votes, Torres said. The PAC also helped Randall win a fiercely contested congressional race in her home state.

While he and many other LGBTQ+ people and allies consider the far right “implacable” in its anti-queer stances, Torres says increasing the number of LGBTQ+ House members matters when it comes to forming intra- and inter-party alliances and also its representation from within the queer community.

Take McBride, for instance, Torres says. As the nation’s first-ever trans member of Congress, she’ll be the best person to speak about issues affecting the trans community. This is particularly important as Republicans nationwide vilify trans people as a threat to the safety and well-being of women and children, a decades-old conservative trope.

“When a community exists as an abstraction to you, then you can easily demonize it. You can easily dehumanize it,” Torres says. “But when you have to stare someone in the face in the halls of Congress, it changes the dynamic. It brings the human element that is lacking in Congress.”

In a somewhat similar vein, Amanda Simpson made history during the administration of former President Barack Obama as the first trans presidential appointee. In response to the national media attention and anti-trans commentary, Simpson told ABC News.com, “Being the first sucks.”

If McBride wins, she’ll be the most visible trans politician in the nation and possibly a target for anti-trans hatred at a time when violent threats against public officials have increased.

However, Torres says Equality PAC is fully invested in her success as a public servant, and that also means ensuring she’s protected, supported, and capable of remaining a strident advocate in the House.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s going to excel in Congress,” Torres says. “In order to be a first, you have to be exceptional in order to overcome the barriers that the trans community continues to face. And Sarah is exceptional.”

Torres says Equality PAC has regularly “punched above its weight class” as one of the youngest and smallest political action committees, raising over $50 million from supporters nationwide since its founding.

“That’s no small achievement,” he says.

But he also understands that some progressive voters feel reluctant to support Democrats over their largely unified support of Israel, which has been accused of genocidal actions against Palestinians since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas militants against Israeli civilians and hostages.

While Torres is outspoken about the issue, calling the October attacks “the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust” and touting Israel’s right to defend itself, he also highlights that his view on Israel is quite different from the views of the 194 other members of the House’s pro-LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus.

Growing the caucus and the number of out House members could prove definitive, not only in helping change the United States’ relationship with Israel, but also on many other issues, including protecting LGBTQ+ rights and abortion access nationwide.

“Elected official alliances are important, but ultimately, there’s no substitute for representation from within one’s community,” Torres says, adding, “A wise person once said: If you do not have a seat at the table, then you’re probably on the menu.”

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Don't forget to share: