Support for gay rights in the 112th
Congress has dropped over the previous two-year session.
According to the Human Rights
Campaign's (HRC) Congressional Scorecard for the 112th
Congress, the average score for members of the House of
Representatives has dropped more than 10 points, from 50.8 percent in
the previous Congress to 40 percent in today's bicameral legislature.
An even more significant decline
occurred in the Senate, where the average score dropped more than 22
points, from 57.3 percent in the 111th Congress to 35
percent in the 112th Congress.
HRC President Chad Griffin lamented
that the 112th Congress “has more anti-equality members
set on halting our progress.”
“Still, we continue pushing the
envelope and made history with the first ever hearing and Senate
Judiciary Committee approval of the Respect for Marriage Act,
legislation repealing the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act,”
Griffin
said.
One-hundred-and-fifteen Democratic
House members and 22 Senators received a perfect score of 100. No
Republican member received a perfect score. Receiving a zero score
were 211 Republican and four Democratic House members and 14
Republican senators.
After the report's Thursday release,
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley tweeted: “Proud to stand for
#LGBTequality and receive a 100% rating in @HRC's Congressional
Scorecard.”
“I stand for #LGBTequality and earned
a 100% in @HRC's Congressional Scorecard,” messaged Michigan Rep.
John Conyers.
(Read
the entire report at HRC.org.)