U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin was one of seven House members to switch their vote at the last minute to save an amendment legalizing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers by government contractors. By caving in to the pressure from his Republican peers, Poliquin has let down all of the LGBT Mainers from his district once again.
Poliquin made it clear that he did not care about the equality of his gay constituents as soon as he was elected. He picked Matt Hutson, a former official with an anti-gay rights group, as his chief of staff. As campaign director of Protect Marriage Maine, Hutson was tasked with exploiting the prejudices of voters in an effort to deny gay Mainers the right to marry.
Hutson’s appointment was a particularly egregious affront to gay Mainers because Poliquin holds the office previously held by Maine’s first openly gay congressman, Mike Michaud. Michaud was widely praised throughout Maine for his brave decision to come out of the closet. By contrast, LGBT Mainers in the 2nd District now have to live with the knowledge that the most senior staff person on the team representing them in Washington considers them to be second-class citizens.
Poliquin is in an awkward position politically and personally when it comes to LGBT rights. I know the Poliquin family and have personally met the congressman. People he’s close to have come out of the closet to him, and he’s been supportive of them.
At the same time, he is a vulnerable candidate in one of the most tightly contested campaigns in the nation this election cycle. Many of the rural Republicans whom Poliquin will rely on this November are likely wary of LGBT rights. Indeed, when Maine voted to legalize gay marriage in 2012, a majority of voters from Poliquin’s district opposed the law. If Poliquin has long-term political ambitions, as his compliance to Republican pressure last week suggests, he also may also not want to alienate his Republican peers by abandoning the Republican platform.
Poliquin has taken the politically savvy position of avoiding the issue of gay rights as much as possible. He has conveyed soft opposition to gay rights when pressed. His position is at times absurdly discordant: He supports legislation plainly legalizing discrimination against gay people, but claims that he “abhors discrimination in any form and at any place.”
Poliquin would say that criminalizing anti-gay discrimination would deprive people of their religious freedom. This is the same tired argument used by politicians from earlier decades to justify discrimination against black people or interracial couples. Religious belief is simply not an excuse for legal discrimination.
Unfortunately for Poliquin, politicians who stand against equal rights are not remembered kindly. The good news for him is that it is not too late for him to stop being a bystander and to embrace gay rights.
House Democrats have announced plans to propose another anti-discrimination amendment this week, which Poliquin could support. I suspect, from his initial opposition to the anti-gay amendment last week and from his acceptance of gay people he knows, that Poliquin is privately sympathetic to LGBT people.
As a conservative member of Congress, Poliquin holds special power. LGBT support from brave House Republicans is the catalyst required to upend the status quo and eventually usher in a Republican Party willing to back anti-discrimination legislation. Every prominent Republican who embraces gay rights moves equality away from the realm of partisan issues and closer to that of consensus causes.
Poliquin also has a personal responsibility to demonstrate his support for LGBT people, leading as an example for other resistant conservative Mainers to accept those they know who are gay. As such, LGBT people and allies in Poliquin’s orbit must make it clear to Poliquin that his anti-gay stances are unacceptable.
Emily Cain, Poliquin’s opponent in November, should make LGBT rights a nationally targeted campaign theme to command financial and corporate support.
To make amends to the LGBT community, Poliquin must immediately fire Hutson as his chief of staff. He also needs to co-sponsor and vocally support the Equality Act, a bill before Congress that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in places of public accommodation. The Equality Act is stalled in Congress because it has almost no Republican co-sponsors.
As Poliquin and his peers ensured a victory for prejudice last week, House Democrats in the chamber chanted “Shame! Shame! Shame!” Rep. Poliquin must have been feeling that shame most of all.
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