Michele Bachmann's Wednesday withdrawal
from the GOP presidential nomination has been lauded by gay rights
groups, gay weekly the Washington
Blade reported.
Bachmann, the winner of the August Iowa
Straw Poll, ended her bid for the White House after placing a distant
sixth in the Iowa caucuses.
In remarks to supporters on Tuesday
night, Bachmann listed President Barack Obama's support for gay
rights as a reason he should become a one-term president.
“Since day one of Barack Obama's
presidency, I have led the fight in Washington against his liberal
socialist policies,” Bachmann said.
“What we need is a candidate in the
likeness and image of a Ronald Reagan.”
“What we need is a fearless
conservative. One with no compromises on their record. On spending,
on health care, on crony capitalism, on defending America, on
standing with our ally Israel, on securing our border from illegal
immigrants, on defending innocent unborn life, on protecting marriage
as one man and one woman.”
Bachmann, who also opposes openly gay
and bisexual military service, ended her bid with her husband Marcus
Bachmann by her side.
R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of
the National Log Cabin Republicans, said Bachmann's focus on
“divisive social issues demonstrated her lack of credibility.”
The Human Rights Campaign's (HRC)
Michael Cole-Schwartz lamented that Bachmann was only one of several
GOP contenders with a history of opposing gay rights.
“Michele Bachmann has one of the
worst records on LGBT issues of a presidential candidate in a long
time,” he said. “Unfortunately though, her exit from the race
still leaves a field full of candidates who want constitutional
amendments to ban marriage equality, a return to 'Don't Ask, Don't
Tell' and continued workplace discrimination against LGBT people.”